BAGHOUZ, Syria -- U.S.-backed forces on Saturday declared military victory over the Islamic State group in Syria after liberating the last pocket of territory held by the militants, marking the end of a brutal self-styled caliphate the group carved out in large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The nearly five-year war that has devastated cities and towns across north Syria and Iraq ended in Baghouz, a minor border village where the cornered militants made their last stand, under a grueling siege for weeks.
"Baghouz is free and the military victory against Daesh has been achieved," tweeted Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, referring to the Islamic State by its Arabic acronym.
The fall of Baghouz brings to a close a global campaign against the Islamic State group, which spanned two U.S. presidencies and saw a U.S.-led coalition unleash more than 100,000 strikes.
The campaign put an end to the militants' proto-state, which at its height four years ago was the size of Britain and home to some 8 million people. But the extremist group still maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq. It's not known whether the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is still alive or where he might be hiding.
Islamic State affiliates in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Afghanistan and other countries continue to pose a threat, and the group's ideology has inspired so-called lone-wolf attacks that had little if any connection to its leadership.
The "caliphate's" end also marks a new phase in Syria's civil war, now in its ninth year. The country is carved up, with the Iranian- and Russian-backed government of President Bashar Assad controlling the west, center and south, the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces holding the north and east, and Turkish allies controlling a pocket in the north.
At a ceremony held later Saturday at the nearby al-Omar oil field, a senior U.S. diplomat, William Roebuck, said the territorial defeat of the Islamic State group is a "critical milestone" that delivers a crushing and strategic blow to the extremist group. But he stressed it remains a significant threat.
"We still have much work to do to achieve an enduring defeat of [the Islamic State]," he said.
The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, appealed for continued assistance to his group until the full eradication of the extremist group.
Asked by reporters during a visit Saturday to Lebanon whether the U.S. will provide additional funding to prevent a resurgence of the group, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "our mission hasn't changed."
"We still have work to do to make sure that radical Islamic terrorism doesn't continue to grow," he added.
The victory declaration sets the stage for President Donald Trump to begin withdrawing most of the 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in northern Syria, as he announced in December. Trump, however, later agreed to leave a small peacekeeping force of 200 soldiers in Syria to ensure Turkey will not get into a conflict with the Syrian Democratic Forces. Turkey views Kurdish members of the Syrian Democratic Forces as terrorists.
The Kurds fear being abandoned by the Americans. They are squeezed between a belligerent Turkey from the north.
Saturday's announcement came a day after Trump declared that Islamic State militants no longer control any territory in Syria, a victory he had been teasing for days.
Ciya Kobani, a Syrian Democratic Forces commander, announced the end of the operation Saturday from the roof of a building where the force's yellow banner had been raised: "We have been victorious against Daesh," he declared.
At its height, the Islamic State group ruled a third of both Syria and Iraq, holding millions hostage to its harsh and violent interpretation of Islamic law.
Information for this article was contributed by Zeina Karam and staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/24/2019