BAGHOUZ, Syria – Jihadist fighters defending the last dreg of the Islamic State group’s “caliphate” Saturday were holed up in half a square kilometer of a village in eastern Syria. ADVERTISEMENTThe jihadists declared a “caliphate” in large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, but have since lost all but a tiny patch of territory in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border. An SDF spokesman said there were “still civilians inside in large numbers”. It has taken years of devastating fighting by various forces across both Iraq and Syria to shatter the group’s “caliphate”. In Syria, it retains a presence in the vast Badia desert, and has claimed deadly attacks in SDF-held territory.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 17, 2019 00:00 UTC