Rooted in its last stronghold in Syria, IE uses human shields

Some 1,000 civilians are trapped in Baghuz, in the east of the country; US-backed SDSs prepare for final badault

BAGHUZ, Syria.- Some jihadists obstinately defended yesterday what remains of the "caliphate" of

Islamic State (EI)

against the advance of Syrian and Kurdish forces. Rooted, the fighters used as a human shield about 1,000 civilians in a city east of

Syria

that they still control.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) plan to announce their victory over ISIS in the coming days, but the jihadists, entrenched in the city of Baghuz, in less than half a kilometer square, fight against fierce resistance.

For several days, US President Donald Trump has promised a quick defeat of the ultra-radical organization. Yesterday, he urged his European allies to repatriate and bring to justice the hundreds of foreign jihadists detained in Syria by the FDS.

But in the Deir Ezzor province on the Iraqi border, the latest battle against the SDS EI does not begin, despite support from the international coalition led by Washington.

Jihadists planted an ocean of mines and dug tunnels to hide. In addition, they launch regular kamikaze attacks.

Yesterday, not far from the front, planes flew over an SDS base.

"He closed all the streets" of his sector in Baghuz, said an SDS spokesman, Mustefa Bali, who said that there could still be 2,000 civilians in the area.

The group is surrounded by "a few hundred square meters and has hostage a number of civilians who refuse to break free," he said in his Twitter account.

"Civilians who have fled say that EI uses them as human shields," said an international coalition spokesman, Colonel Sean Ryan.

According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH), nearly 40,000 people have left the area since the beginning of December. Mainly relatives of jihadists, including French, Germans and especially Iraqis

ISIS jihadists managed to seize very quickly important territories in Iraq and Syria in 2014, after which they proclaimed a "caliphate".

They created their own administration, executed and tortured those who did not respect their faith and their attacks, even abroad.

Trump had badured that the end of the "caliphate" of employment insurance would be announced soon. Yesterday, he tweeted that the "caliphate" is "ready to fall".

"The United States calls on Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to repatriate more than 800 ISIS fighters captured in Syria to be tried," he said. he declared.

"There is no alternative, since we will have to release them, the United States does not want these IS fighters to spread all over Europe", he insisted.

The announcement of the victory against the jihadists could trigger the withdrawal of the 2,000 US military deployed in Syria, which worries his allies.

Yesterday, President Bashar al-Assad said that only the Syrian army could protect groups in the north of the country, apparently alluding to Kurdish groups allied with the United States, who fear an badault by Turkish forces after the departure Americans. .

Al-Assad said in a speech in Damascus, the capital, that every foreign troop in the country would be treated as a force of occupation.

He did not specifically mention the announced withdrawal of US forces, but said that "no one should bet on the protection of Americans". He hinted that the Syrian army would return to the area once the Americans withdrew.

"Every inch of Syria will be released and any intruder will be an enemy," said the Syrian president.

AFP and ANSA agencies