ISIS terrorists retreat into caves as they refuse to surrender after fleeing from Baghouz

ISIS fanatics are hiding in caves in their final holdout in Syria as U.S.-backed forces push to capture the terror group’s last remaining territory.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battled ISIS militants holed up in Baghouz overnight, supported by coalition airstrikes.

The Kurdish-led SDF have been predicting imminent victory for days but while thousands of the terrorists have fled a few are still hiding in the Syrian village.

The jihadists were holed up in what appeared to be caves in a rocky shelf overlooking Baghouz, their final sliver of land along the Euphrates river.

They were also hiding in trenches as war planes carried out two raids against ISIS movements on Thursday night.

Hawar said Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have ‘liberated all of Baghouz from the Daesh mercenaries’ and that the campaign had ‘ended with the defeat’ of the terror group. However, SDF officials denied the reports and said combat operations were still underway today

Hawar said Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have ‘liberated all of Baghouz from the Daesh mercenaries’ and that the campaign had ‘ended with the defeat’ of the terror group. However, SDF officials denied the reports and said combat operations were still underway today.

‘Our forces are trying to force them to surrender, but so far the clashes are continuing,’ the SDF’s Mustafa Bali said.

The SDF has been battling for weeks to defeat Islamic State at the Baghouz enclave in southeastern Syria at the Iraqi border.

Backed by U.S. air power, they swept on Tuesday into a camp where hundreds of fighters had been making their last stand, prompting early ‘victory’ celebrations.

They said they would declare the group defeated once a search for hidden mines and jihadist holdouts was complete.

The terror group’s final defeat at Baghouz will end its territorial rule that once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria.

But the U.S. military has warned that Islamic State may still count tens of thousands of fighters, dispersed throughout Iraq and Syria, with enough leaders and resources to present a menacing insurgency.

A propaganda video carrying the mark of an Islamic State news outlet was distributed among online followers of the group on Thursday.

It showed footage from inside Baghouz and a fighter calling for Muslims in Western countries to stage attacks.

The United States believes Iraq is the location of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who stood at the pulpit of the great medieval mosque in Mosul in 2014 to declare himself caliph, sovereign over all Muslims.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a visit to Jerusalem, told reporters victory was ‘close’.

Source: Daily Mail