Coalition warplanes launched new airstrikes against the last remaining enclave of the Islamic State terror group’s self-declared caliphate after efforts to evacuate additional civilians stalled, VOA reports.
The strikes, accompanied by artillery fire, targeted the outskirts of the final piece of IS-held territory in the eastern Syrian village of Baghuz on Thursday, a day after 2,000 civilians were evacuated from the area.
Multiple air and artillery strikes on #Baghouz atm. Operation continues here although there’s no ground offensive due to presence of Daesh families in the area. pic.twitter.com/4iG5y8DUTh
— zana amedi (@zana_med) February 21, 2019
“Coalition warplanes hit several targets on the western front,” Adnan Afrin, a commander with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, told VOA.
“This created mayhem among the [IS] terrorists and gave an opportunity to some civilians in their captivity to flee,” he added.
The strikes allowed hundreds of civilians to escape the IS enclave by foot, Afrin said, noting some fighters were taken into custody.
Coalition and SDF officials say they believe hundreds of IS fighters remain holed up in Baghuz, many taking refuge in a collection of tents spanning no more than several hundred square meters. Officials, however, fear many IS fighters are also hidden in a network of tunnels and caves below the village, using an untold number of civilians as human shields.
Efforts to negotiate the release of the civilians have been slow, as a core group of the remaining IS fighters refuses to surrender.
Previous attempts to evacuate civilians, most of them from IS families, were slowed or delayed when fighters opened fire on those trying to flee.
SDF officials say once all remaining civilians have been evacuated, they intend to clear Baghuz of IS for good.
They say the IS fighters are running low on supplies such as ammunition and medicine, but admit it may be several days before they can move in.
“SDF can’t launch the last offensive with them remaining in the camp,” SDF Commander Zana Amedi tweeted Wednesday. “Operations to rescue civilians are likely to continue in coming days, since thousands remain trapped.”
Complicating efforts, SDF officials and observers on the ground say IS fighters, either from Baghuz or from sleeper cells located nearby, have launched a series of counterattacks on the outskirts of Baghuz and in nearby areas.
Still, questions remain about what to do with thousands of other foreign fighters and their families. Many anti-IS coalition members, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany, have refused to take some back.
There are also concerns that once Baghuz is liberated, IS still has the capacity to wage an insurgency in both Syria and Iraq.
U.S. defense and intelligence officials warn up to 30,000 IS fighters are still spread across the two countries.