Hundreds of IS fighters surrender, Kurdish groups besiege last Syria outpost
Scores of Islamic State fighters surrendered to Kurdish-led militias in Syria on Monday, a commander leading the assault said.
More than 200 from the terror organization yielded to international troops who had laid siege to the so-called caliphate’s final outpost in the southeast of the country, where a major offensive was underway against the last hardline members entrenched in the region.
IS is on the brink of territorial defeat and only the hardiest fighters remained in Baghuz, an unremarkable Syrian town on the banks of the Euphrates near the Iraqi border.
Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella militia dominated by the Kurdish YPG have tightened their grip on the town, aided by airstrikes from their allies in the United States-led international coalition.
Diyuar Idlib, an SDF commander, told EFE that 250 IS fighters had turned themselves in, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based war monitor, put that number at around 150.
Thousands of civilians, including many IS families, left Baghuz before what was billed to be the final assault on IS territory. Most have been bused by the SDF to refugee camps in the country’s northeast.
IS fighters turning themselves into the Kurdish-led group, which also comprises of Arab and Christian units, are sent to holding camps and are effectively held in custody.
Many of those surrendering on Monday were of Iraqi origin, the SDF said.
The over-burdened Kurdish militia has petitioned the international community to take responsibility for the foreign fighters captured in the region.
Baghuz was the last territorial foothold fully under IS control in Syria.
At its height, the IS caliphate stretched across northern and central Iraq and Syria, swallowing up the ancient and densely populated cities of Mosul and Raqqa.
IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose whereabouts remained unknown to authorities, declared the so-called caliphate during a speech at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in the Iraqi city of Mosul on July 4, 2014.
On Friday the SDF announced its final push against Baghuz.
SDF spokesman Mustafi Bali warned that progress was slowed over the weekend due the IS practice of using human shields.
Located on the eastern shores of the Euphrates, the last IS fighters were cornered to the west by Kurdish forces and to the east by Syrian regime loyalists, who are backed by Russia.