The last remaining ISIS terrorists in eastern Syria were holed up in a square kilometer in the small town of Baghouz, announced Adnan Afrin, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
"The fighting is fierce. There is significant resistance," he told AFP in Al-Omar oil field, the main staging base for the SDF's offensive against the very last shred of ISIS.
The Kurdish-led force had mounted an offensive against ISIS’ final position over the weekend.
The few hundred fighters of various nationalities holding out in their last bastion by the Iraqi border have launched bruising counter-attacks in recent days, Afrin said.
The extremists are also clinging to an adjacent camp, where a number of civilians are believed to be gathered.
Afrin said it was impossible to provide accurate figures but he estimated the total number of fighters, men and women, at around 1,000.
"There are many tunnels in Baghouz now. This is why the operation is dragging on. There are many suicide bombers attacking our positions, with explosives-laden cars and motorbikes," he said.
People continued to trickle out of the last ISIS redoubt every day, trudging up a dirt road to a collection point where SDF fighters and volunteers provide first aid and carry out a first screening.
The major influx of the past few days slowed to a trickle on Thursday but it was unclear how many civilians remained trapped inside the extremists’ last redoubt.
