Fighting fierce with ISIS holdouts

U.S.-supported Kurds in Syria report ‘remarkable progress’

A woman is frisked by a U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter at a screening area after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria, Friday, March 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A woman is frisked by a U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter at a screening area after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria, Friday, March 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria -- The ground assault into the last area held by the Islamic State group intensified Saturday as U.S.-backed Syrian fighters made "remarkable progress" in heavy clashes, including the capture of a hill overlooking a tent encampment for the extremists, officials with the Kurdish-led forces said.

The capture of the last pocket still held by Islamic State fighters in Baghouz village would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group's hold on territory in Syria and Iraq -- their so-called caliphate that at the height of the group's power in 2014 controlled nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria.

Since the last push by the Syrian Democratic Forces began Friday night, the Kurdish-led force has been advancing slowly on two fronts as the extremists used snipers and booby traps to slow the push on the last area they control, Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman Mustafa Bali said. He added that the militants tried to detonate a suicide car bomb against advancing fighters but the attempt failed.

Bali tweeted Saturday that "heavy clashes" were taking place in the area on the east bank of the Euphrates River. Later in the day, he tweeted that heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of Baghouz, adding that "[Syrian Democratic Forces] made a remarkable progress since yesterday evening [and] recaptured many positions from ISIS."

Zana Amedi, a Syrian Democratic Forces commander, said that "an active ground force" is advancing into Islamic State-held territories as the extremists resort to sniper fire and booby traps.

Another Syrian Democratic Forces commander who goes by Aram, said the assault into the last Islamic State sliver of land intensified later Saturday.

Two helicopters for the U.S.-led coalition were seen circling the area of fighting around noon Saturday. A loud explosion later was heard from a distance and thick black smoke billowed into the sky, apparently a coalition airstrike.

The military campaign to uproot the militants from the eastern banks of the Euphrates began in September, pushing them down toward this last corner in the village of Baghouz, near the Iraqi border. The military operation was halted on Feb. 12 as the Syrian Democratic Forces said a large number of civilians and hostages were holed up in the territory, which sits atop caves and tunnels where they had been hiding.

By Friday, more than 10,000 civilians had left the Islamic State-held area and the extremists released some Syrian Democratic Forces fighters they had taken prisoner in earlier battles.

"We expect it to be over soon," Bali said.

Another Syrian Democratic Forces commander, Adnan Afrin, said "there are fierce battles" with Islamic State fighters firing thermal missiles at advancing troops and using drones. Afrin said eight Syrian Democratic Forces fighters were wounded, some critically.

Afrin said the buffer area between the Islamic State and the Syrian Democratic Forces had been closed after the Kurdish forces' advance. He said there have been no suicide attacks but that some land mines went off.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said 10 Islamic State gunmen were killed in fighting in the Baghouz area. It added that Syrian government forces and their allies clashed with Islamic State gunmen who tried to cross to the west bank of the Euphrates River, leaving seven Islamic State members dead.

Amedi, the Syrian Democratic Forces commander, said the Kurdish-led force cannot rely on airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition because Islamic State gunmen are trapped everywhere "so if you just rely on airstrikes and then advance on the ground that will cause heavy casualties."

"At least now, we are trying to advance on the ground with rare airstrikes," he said. "Now it's mostly clashes. There are almost no airstrikes this morning. There were few airstrikes in the morning and nothing else after that."

A Section on 03/03/2019

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