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US-backed opponents in Syria say they’re assembly fierce resistance within the ultimate enclave held by way of Islamic State (IS) militants close to the Iraqi border.

A combat has been occurring for hours, with US-led coalition air moves and artillery hearth pounding IS positions.

As much as 600 jihadists are considered protecting their ultimate stronghold, a small pocket in Syria’s japanese province of Deir al-Zour.

Two years in the past IS managed massive spaces of Syria and Iraq.

On Saturday, after a pause of greater than every week to permit some 20,000 civilians to go away the realm, SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali mentioned the crowd used to be launching the “ultimate combat to overwhelm IS”. Some civilians are believed to be nonetheless within the house.

An SDF box commander informed AFP information company on Sunday morning: “There are heavy clashes at the present time. We have now introduced an attack and the opponents are advancing.”

Displays the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights mentioned the SDF had been advancing throughout farmland, and there have been heavy clashes and landmines going off.

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Subsidized by way of air moves, the SDF have pushed out IS from cities and villages in north-eastern Syria in fresh months.

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At its height in 2014, IS established a “caliphate” stretching throughout Syria and Iraq that used to be equivalent in measurement to the United Kingdom and dominated over greater than 7.7 million other folks.

In December, US President Donald Trump mentioned IS militants had been “most commonly long past” and introduced the USA would withdraw all of its 2,000 troops from Syria.

On Wednesday he mentioned: “It must be introduced, almost definitely a while subsequent week, that we can have 100% of the caliphate.”

IS will nonetheless be a risk

Research by way of BBC Arab Affairs editor Sebastian Usher

The combat for the tiny sliver of land nonetheless held by way of IS subsequent to the Iraqi border has been raging for lots of hours.

Air moves and artillery hearth have pummelled the IS place, which measures simplest a couple of mile throughout. The SDF believes it’ll in a while reach a decisive victory.

IS does nonetheless cling some other scrap of territory in Syria – and it continues to hold out dozens of assaults – many focused on the SDF.

Whilst it kind of feels more likely to lose each and every ultimate fragment of its once-vaunted and self-declared caliphate, IS can proceed to function and pose a potent risk in each Syria and Iraq from faraway spaces the place its opponents to find shelter, in addition to thru militants long past to flooring in cities and towns.

What number of militants are left?

IS has suffered really extensive losses, however the UN says it nonetheless reportedly controls between 14,000 and 18,000 militants in Iraq and Syria, together with as much as three,000 foreigners.

In the meantime, there are vital numbers of IS-affiliated militants in Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, South-East Asia and West Africa, and to a lesser extent in Somalia, Yemen, Sinai and the Sahel.

Folks impressed by way of the crowd’s ideology additionally proceed to hold out assaults in different places.