Final battle against ISIS continues to rage in Baghouz, Syria.

Smoke rises from the village of Baghouz, where ISIS is making their final stand. Reuters. 

The final battle against ISIS continues with brutal fighting in the village of Baghouz. Reuters. Local SDF fighters are battling against ISIS in the village and had expected a "decisive battle" on Sunday. However, ISIS was able to slow down the attack with waves of carbombs, ambushes via tunnels and landmines. The battle is largely against foreign fighters, some of the most dedicated and die hard supporters of ISIS. It is unclear how many ISIS fighters remain but there are at least hundreds of them. Though most civilians have been evacuated from Baghouz, there is still evidence that ISIS is using them as human shields. 

My Comment:

It seems like ISIS is putting up a bigger fight than expected. I had hope that ISIS would have been defeated by now but they are still hanging on. The pace of the attack against them has slowed down considerably. It seemed that ISIS was going to lose last month but it hasn't worked out that way. 

Why? Well I think evacuating the large number of civilians in the village had a lot to due with it. Though there are obvious arguments to be made that evacuating civilians first was the right thing to do morally, I don't think it was the right choice militarily. Making sure that there were few civilian casualties made this battle last much longer and will likely lead to more deaths in the long run. 

Of course the ISIS fighters have something to do with it as well. They have made Baghouz into a fortress and have many defenses. They have large minefields and tunnels to hide in, which makes rooting them out a lot harder. 

ISIS is also using car bombs effectively. Even if they haven't actually caused that many casualties they are forcing a slower response. If the SDF fighters were to advance too quickly, they would risk heavy casualties from these car bombs. Waiting for the US to blow up these car bombs via air support or by slowing their advance is probably the right move. 

Even if the advance has been a lot slower than desired, it's very clear that ISIS is on it's last legs. They have no way to break out of Baghouz and probably can't even slip into the desert to escape underground. They have no choice to fight it out other than surrender. 

And the foreign fighters aren't likely to surrender. They know that if they do they would face a long prison sentence or even execution in their home countries. Better to die in combat than that. Plus their religious beliefs are legit. They really believe that they will go to heaven if they get killed in combat.

No matter what though, ISIS has been broken as a true force. They are no longer a mini-state and will probably never regain the heights they once held. They are a broken force and though they will remain a threat as a terror group, they are not anywhere near the threat they once were.