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AFP
US-led coalition forces back the offensive of de facto forces with air strikes and artillery
A US-backed militia alliance has begun what it says is the latest step in a campaign to eliminate the Islamic State (IS) group from northeastern Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces on Monday launched a ground offensive against jihadist militants around Hajin, a city in the Middle Euphrates Valley.
The international coalition supporting Kurdish and Arab fighters said that she was expecting a "difficult fight".
The United States has recently estimated that the country still has about 14,000 militants in Syria.
Most are thought to be in an area extending east from the Euphrates to the border with Iraq, about 25 km from Hajin and in the desert areas of the south and center of the country, where the Syrian government is fighting.
Between 15,500 and 17,100 militants would be based in Iraq, where the IS no longer controls any territory. Many are hiding in the vast western desert.
At its peak in 2014, the IS established a "caliphate" extending over all of Syria and Iraq, the size of which was similar to that of the United Kingdom. and which had more than 7.7 million people.
SDF fighters launched the operation to drive out the "remnants" of IS of Hajin and the remaining countryside of the eastern province of Deir al-Zour after clearing Baghuz and Dashisha areas to the north and south .
An anonymous SDF commander told the news agency that at least 15 ISIS militants were killed on the first day of the Hajin offensive.
"The clashes will be fierce in Hajin because Daesh [IS] has strengthened its positions, but we will take control, "added the commander.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based surveillance group, has reported that air strikes, artillery fire and ground attacks against the positions of the United States EI were the heaviest in months.
The SDF has also installed a humanitarian corridor for civilians to flee Hajin, he added.
"The multi-ethnic Syrian Democratic Forces remain committed to liberating the people of northeastern Syria from [IS’s] Said Major-General Patrick Roberson, commander of the Coalition's Joint Special Operations Task Force.
"Going forward, we will continue to coordinate with the SDF and other partners to promote regional security and stability that will ensure a lasting defeat of [IS]. "
Last month, EI issued an audio message from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in which he declared that the caliphate "would remain", adding, "EI is not limited to Hajin" .
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The location of Baghdadi is not known, but a spokesman for the coalition told AFP that he thought that high-value targets might still be present in Hajin.
In a separate development Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 21 pro-government fighters had been killed in an ambush by IS militants in the remote Tulul al-Safa region of Suweida, in the south-west of the country.
The Syrian state media reported violent clashes in the region and said the government aircraft and artillery had shelled the "hiding places" of the IS, killing or injuring many activists.
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