The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have declared a final military victory over Daesh terrorists.
“Baghouz has been liberated. The military victory against Daesh has been accomplished,” Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF media office, wrote on Twitter. The SDF has been fighting to capture Baghouz, an enclave north of the Euphrates River near the Iraqi border, for weeks.
Earlier, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declared that the entire territory of Syria has been “100 per cent eliminated” from Daesh terrorists.
In turn, the Syrian envoy to the UN called the White House ‘s announcement of victory over Daesh a ‘bluff’.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that the final terrorist group’s enclave would be “gone by tonight.”
Baghouz remained the last Daesh stronghold in the Arab Republic, with the Kurdish-led SDF conducting operations in the area and the US-led coalition conducting bombings.
According to Syrian state media reports, the US-led coalition’s strikes in the region caused multiple civilian casualties.
Since the beginning of February, around 15,000 people have fled Baghouz and its environs and only militants remain there, according to the head of the SDF press service.