A convoy of SDF fighters. Reuters.
The final battle between ISIS and US backed Syrian Defense Force fighters continues as heavy fighting breaks out in the last villages held by ISIS. Reuters. The SDF has taken more territory back from ISIS, taking 41 positions from the group. However, the SDF had to repel a major ISIS counterattack. 400 to 600 ISIS fighters, including many foreigners, are still trapped in the ISIS enclave.
My Comment:
Looks like the endgame has begun. This is the last major area that ISIS controls and it's really just portions of two villages. After that they will control pretty much nothing in Syria and Iraq. The Caliphate that once had control of almost half of both Syria and Iraq will be no more.
It does appear that President Trump is right and that there is a good chance of the last ISIS holdouts will be defeated this week. They are outnumbered and outgunned and won't be able to escape the SDF. They are fighting hard because they have no other choice.
The smartest thing these ISIS fighters could do is surrender. They would be imprisoned, yes, but they would live. I doubt there is going to be another deal where ISIS is allowed to quit the battlefield simply because there is no where else for them to go.
I do wonder if the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is with them. He hasn't been heard from in a long time and has been reported dead multiple times. It's possible he fled underground already but if he is still in the enclave there is a decent chance of him being captured or killed. Assuming he is alive that is. If he is captured the trial will be one of the most momentous since the Nuremberg trials after World War II. He has a lot to answer for.
It seems clear that once this last pocket of ISIS is cleared out, the United States will pull out of Syria. I have said before that this is the right thing to do. With ISIS gone we have basically no reason to stay and fight. Whatever is left of ISIS can be handled by Syria and Russia. It can be their problem, not ours. And it's not like we aren't positioned to fight ISIS if they somehow manged to regroup. We have bases in Turkey and Iraq that can be used to strike ISIS if they do return.
That being said, I don't think ISIS will return. A large portion of their appeal was the fact that they had managed to survive and thrive despite being attacked by both America and Russia. Now that they have been crushed there are few people that are going to sign up for a group that has already failed once.
Plus, ISIS has other enclaves where they are doing better. They are very active in Egypt and Afghanistan and are making a bit of a comeback in Libya. Those other enclaves are under major pressure as well. It seems very likely that within a short time ISIS will be nothing but a bad memory.
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