Commander of Syrian Democratic Forces: ISIS on the Verge of Complete Defeat

One of the commanders of the 'Syrian Democratic Forces' announced on Saturday, February 16, that these forces are on the verge of capturing the last stronghold of the group known as 'Islamic Caliphate' or ISIS in Syria. Jiya Farat stated that the Syrian Democratic Forces have trapped the remaining ISIS militants in one of the neighborhoods of the village of Baghouz and are firing at them from all sides. He added, 'In a very short time, within the next few days, we will announce to the world the good news of the end of the ISIS army.' A day before these statements, Donald Trump had said that there would be 'incredible news' about Syria within the next twenty-four hours. The U.S. President has vowed to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria after the defeat of ISIS. However, this raises questions regarding the fate of the Syrian Kurdish forces, who are U.S. allies, as Turkey has emphasized its opposition to these forces. In recent days, with the advance of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are supported by heavy U.S. airstrikes, many civilians who remained in the small areas still under ISIS control have fled. Although ISIS militants continue to resist in the remote deserts of central Syria and have formed underground branches in some cities in Iraq, they no longer control any territory, and their sovereignty is nearly at an end. Thus, the project that began in 2014 following regional chaos and the opportunism of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has finally come to an end. In that year, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself caliph in a medieval mosque in the city of Mosul, Iraq, and founded the 'Islamic Caliphate' group, which controlled vast territories from northwest Syria to near Baghdad, with a population of two million. Source: Reuters.