Islamic State loses ground in last Syria enclave
The insurgents have been mounting a desperate last-stand defence of the enclave at Baghouz, where dozens of militants have been killed
Baghouz — Islamic State militants accompanied by relatives surrendered to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) by the hundreds on Thursday as the jihadists lost ground to a US-backed assault aimed seizing the last shred of IS territory, the SDF said. Many of the men were limping as they crossed out of the enclave at Baghouz along a dirt path over a rocky hill, accompanied by weeping children and fully veiled women, dragging suitcases and backpacks behind them, a Reuters journalist said. SDF fighters said many of them were foreign fighters. The insurgents have been mounting a desperate last-stand defence of the enclave at Baghouz, the final patch of Islamic State territory that once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria and which has been besieged by the SDF for weeks. The jihadists had sought to counter-attack three times in two days, the SDF said, deploying more than 20 suicide bombers. In a statement, the SDF said its fighters had made progress into the remaining IS-held part of the enc...
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