It is all that remains to Islamic State in the heartland of the territory it seized in 2014, taking advantage of chaos in Iraq and Syria to grab about a third of both countries and eradicating the border between them. The enclave is in Baghouz, a handful of hamlets in farmland next to the river along the Iraqi border. Nearly half of them were surrendering Islamic State supporters, mostly family members of jihadist fighters, though 5,000 armed militants also gave themselves up, said SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel. The SDF said another 520 militants had been captured in special operations in the last Islamic State bastion. The SDF has mostly transferred the tens of thousands who have fled Islamic State's shrinking territory in recent months to a camp at al-Hol in the northeast.

Source: bd News24 March 17, 2019 17:48 UTC