| Key bits from a much longer article. |
Baghouz in eastern Syria is the very last speck of territory held by IS, which once occupied a territory the size of Britannia over areas straddling both Iraq and Syria that it called a "caliphate." The coalition effort to destroy IS has taken place amid Syria’s nearly 8-year-old civil war.
The senior US defense official said the US and the SDF had greatly underestimated not only the number of IS fighters and affiliated civilians holed up in the final slice of IS territory, but also the amount of time it would take to finish off the fight. The official said it would not be a surprise, based on current conditions, if it took another couple of weeks.
The official said the SDF is believed to have about 5,000 IS fighters in captivity, of which about 4,000 are Iraqis and Syrians. The other 1,000 or so are "foreign" fighters from dozens of other countries, the official said.
Under the cover of heavy coalition bombing on March 1-2, SDF forces advanced on the besieged tent encampment, leaving a corridor for residents to leave. During the
s, an ammunition depot and vehicles packed with weapons were targeted, setting off large kabooms and a fire that lasted for at least two days. In the video, fire was still smoldering from some tents, which caught fire in the kaboom.Following that operation, thousands of residents and many fighters evacuated Baghouz over the next four days. But on Friday, only a small group came out, raising speculations that a renewed military offensive was being planned.