Turkey said Wednesday (February 22nd) that fewer than 100 "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) fighters were still holed up in the Syrian town of al-Bab, AFP reported.

Defence Minister Fikri Isik said half the town was in the hands of Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters, local media reported.

"We estimate there are less than 100" ISIL fighters left in al-Bab, Isik told NTV television. "But they are very dangerous people. Some are snipers, some are potential suicide bombers."

"More than half of the town is now in our hands," he said, indicating that the operation to surround al-Bab was "over" with troops moving from district to district to "clean up" the town.

Syrian opposition commanders on the ground told AFP troops were facing fierce resistance, with ISIL using snipers and laying roadside bombs.

Meanwhile, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman estimated that Turkish troops and allied opposition fighters controlled only 25% of al-Bab, with some 700 ISIL elements still active there.