Rain of fire on the last ISIS redoubt in Syria – 03/03/2019

Kurdish and Arab forces, supported by the international anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States, they bombed intensely this Sunday the last drought of the jihadist group ISIS in Syria, with the aim of end the "caliphate" as soon as possible self-proclaimed almost five years ago.

After the evacuation of thousands of civilians in recent days, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has maintained an offensive against radical group fighters since Friday, entrenched in an area of ​​the small town of Baghouz, in Deir Ezzor province, near the Iraqi border.

After reconquering the majority of the city, Kurdish and Arab fighters keep the jihadists of the Islamic State in a limited area of ​​1 km2.

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Journalists from AFP instead they checked that there were also air strikes against the positions of jihadists.

Another journalist from AFP, about 400 meters from the fire line, he heard the constant artillery fire. The entire area was covered with thick smoke as a result of these attacks.

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An underground ammunition depot exploded and caused a huge explosion, which destroyed part of an improvised camp set up by the jihadists.

On the roof of a house near the attacks, an SDF commander explained that most of the camp had already been found.

"There are tunnels, we do not know how many ISIS members are still in the area. They are cut off. There are also many antipersonnel mines in homes and on all roads"said the military official.

After a vertiginous growth in 2014, the Islamic State proclaimed a "caliphate" covering a vast territory straddling Syria and Iraq, where it applied a radical interpretation of Islam.

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However, in the face of continued military offensives in recent years, the territory of the "caliphate" has been considerably reduced, to the point of currently limited at positions in a part of Bahguz.

Faced with these positions, the SDS maintain the offensive even during the night.

On the roof of the house, the commander Rustam Hbadake receives information on the progress of operations through a walkie-talkie.

With the help of a digital tablet, determine the coordinates and then request an air attack. A little later, a plane of American origin appears in the sky to launch its bombs.

"Since the beginning of this offensive, we have managed to capture 13 or 14 positions," said the army chief. "We can listen to your radio communications. we hear them speak in Russian"he said.

The jihadists, he added, "They use a lot of suicides," especially women. "We are facing an enemy who is attacking us with car bombs, motorcycles and bombs," he said.

Many families of French jihadists in contact with a journalist from AFP insist that there are women and children in the last ISIS redoubt.

Since early December, some 53,000 people (mostly jihadist families) managed to flee the combat zoneaccording to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH, based in London).

Among this crowd, the SDS They arrested about 5,000 suspects belonging to the Islamic State and tried to escape, mixed among the refugees.

The vast majority of displaced people are displaced to the Al Hol field in northern Syria, where they are piled up in extraordinarily precarious conditions.

The fall of the Bahguz redoubt it would mean the territorial end of the ISIS caliphate. This group had already been expelled from Iraq in 2017 and is currently planning its survival as a clandestine organization.

The US armed forces warned that without sustained action against ISIS, this radical organization would only need 6 to 12 months to be reborn.

The battle against ISIS is currently the main front of the war in Syria, which It has already made 360,000 deaths since 2011. At present, the government of Damascus has regained control of about two-thirds of the country's territory.

AFP Agency.

GML