The final stronghold of the Islamic State has fallen and its soldiers stood in line to surrender to the United States backed forces.
Hours after the United States led a bombardment against the militants on the banks of the Euphrates River the soldiers surrendered, The Daily Mail reported.
At least 36 trucks and two buses were seen leaving the area through a humanitarian corridor from the militants’ last patch of territory in the remote village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.
They were escorted by gun-mounted trucks belonging to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
As the convoy passed, automatic machine gun fire could be heard in the distance and coalition aircraft flew overhead.
Some 300 IS militants, along with hundreds of civilians believed to be mostly their families, have been under siege for more than a week in the tent camp in Baghouz.
Machine gun fire could be heard in the distance as coalition aircraft flew over the group – some of whom were clutching knock-off designer bags.
An estimated 300 ISIS fighters have spent the last week under siege in Baghouz.
They were surrounded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who were unable to carry out their final assault due to the presence of civilians.
SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said the airstrikes were meant to pressure the remaining terrorists into letting the last civilians out.
“If we succeed in evacuating all the civilians, at any moment we will take the decision to storm Baghouz or force the terrorists to surrender,” Bali told reporters.
“We evaluate the White House decision … positively,” co-chair of foreign relations in the region Abdulkarim Omar, told Reuters.
“This decision may encourage other European states, particularly our partners in the international coalition against terrorism, to keep forces in the region,” he said.
“I believe that keeping a number of American troops and a larger number of (other) coalition troops, with air protection, will play a role in securing stability and protecting the region too,” he said.
ISIS fighters and jihadi brides clutching knockoff bags line up to surrender#RightNews https://t.co/39fawAtrPZ
— The Right News (@Right_News_) February 23, 2019
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