Iraq News

US Defense Secretary warns of 'tough fight' to oust ISIS

The international coalition battling the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) faces "a tough fight" to oust the extremists from their last holdouts in Syria, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday (October 2nd).

While the extremists have lost almost all of the self-declared "caliphate" they held across Iraq and Syria four years ago, Mattis warned that destroying the group completely was "still going to take some time", AFP reported

"Make no mistake about it, as ISIS has collapsed inward, in their own way they have reinforced the centre as they have been forced into what is now less than 2% of their original territory," Mattis told reporters in Paris.

"So it is going to still be a tough fight, I do not want anyone to be under any illusions," he added.

"We will be successful but it is still going to take some time."

Last month the military chief of France, which has troops in the alliance fighting ISIS, estimated the extremists would lose their last Syrian territory by January.

François Lecointre predicted "the end of the physical caliphate of ISIS before the end of the year, probably late autumn".

ISIS has lost all of its urban centres in Iraq and late last month the Syrian Democratic Forces launched a fresh operation to oust the group from its last holdouts in southeast Syria.

Do you like this article?

0 Comment(s)
Comment Policy * Denotes Required Field 1500 / 1500