Iraq News

SDF tracks ISIS remnants in eastern Syria

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Tuesday (April 2nd) it was chasing "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) elements in eastern Syria, as coalition warplanes pound the militants more than a week after the group was declared defeated.

The SDF dislodged ISIS fighters from their last redoubt in the village of al-Baghouz near the Iraqi border on March 23rd, following a months-long offensive, AFP reported.

The Arab-Kurd alliance is now "tracking down remnants of the terrorist group", SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said on Tuesday.

"There are groups hiding in caves overlooking al-Baghouz," he said.

The coalition said it was supporting sweeping operations with airstrikes on ISIS hideouts.

"The SDF continues to deny ISIS a physical space and influence in the area and work to deny them the resources they need to return," coalition spokesman Scott Rawlinson said Monday.

"In support of back-clearance operations, the coalition continues to conduct precision strike support in co-ordination with SDF," he said.

The official said anti-ISIS operations are now focusing on "eroding" ISIS's "capacity to regenerate and collaborate".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that more than a dozen coalition airstrikes have targeted ISIS hideouts in al-Baghouz since Sunday.

ISIS fighters also retain a presence in Syria's vast Badiya desert and various other hideouts, and have continued to claim deadly attacks in SDF-held territory.

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