The ongoing battle against the remaining ISIS fighters in the middle Euphrates River Valley will end within a few days, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told the Rojava Network on January 31.
“The battle against the Islamic State in Deir Ezzor countryside lasted for a long time and was filled with surprises,” Mustafa Bali added while explaining that the large number of terrorists who are surrendering is a sign of ISIS defeat.
According to a new report of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the remaining fighters of ISIS are now besieged within a 4km2 pocket on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. The monitoring group said that these terrorists are currently trying to protect the leadership of ISIS.
The rapid collapse of ISIS’ positions encouraged more than 36,250 people to flee the Euphrates Valley. The number includes at least 23,000 Iraqi citizens who are reportedly refusing to return to their country.
It remains unclear if the SDF and the US-led coalition are planning to storm the last positions of ISIS or to push the terrorist group into accepting a surrender agreement. In both cases, the battle appears to be in its final chapter.