150 Islamic State fighters surrender in eastern Syria
Some 150 Islamic State fighters have surrendered to US-backed forces in Baghouz, the extremist group’s last enclave in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitoring group said on Monday.
The IS fighters were among more than 400 people to leave the area on Monday after the US-backed rebels staged an assault in recent days, the Observatory said.
Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led rebels, tweeted on Monday that the battle to retake IS-held Baghouz “is going to be over soon”.
Ciyager, an official with the rebels, said that 200 more people were expected to be evacuated from the village later in the day.
Dozens of men, women and children climbed hills on foot and were later seen getting into small trucks after they were searched by rebel fighters.
A rebel spokeswoman said that the offensive has slowed down but that pressure is being kept up away from the evacuation corridor to prevent fighters from infiltrating or sabotaging the area.
She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on this issue.
Source: 150 Islamic State fighters surrender in eastern Syria | South China Morning Post