Backed force expects 'decisive battle' against Islamic State

As advancing forces close in on the last sliver of Isis territory - an area of about half a square mile in the Syrian Euphrates valley - surrendering fighters have spoken of their anger with the absent Isis leader. He placed the figure at "100 percent", claiming to have defeated the jihadis in "a much shorter period of time than it was supposed to be".

While the fall of Baghouz, an eastern Syrian village on the bank of the Euphrates River, would mark a milestone in a global campaign against ISIS, they remain a threat, using guerrilla tactics and holding some desolate land further west.

But there was no sign of the assault ending by Sunday afternoon as the IS fighters - believed to be predominantly foreign jihadists - put up fierce resistance and the SDF said its advance was impeded by landmines and vehicle bombs.

SDF resumed its offensive to recapture Baghouz last Friday, after a two-week pause to allow for the evacuation of civilians.

Both U.S. and SDF officials had been bracing for a hard fight, warning those IS fighters who remained in Baghuz were among the most dedicated and hardened that the terror group had to offer.

The global fight against the Islamic State group is one conflict in a country that has been at civil war for almost eight years. ISIS would spread there in 2013, a decade after Obama's own predecessor, President George W. Bush, invaded neighboring Iraq, stirring a Sunni Muslim insurgency.

Final Battle Against Islamic State Caliphate ‘to be Over Soon’

A mass grave containing the bodies of dozens of people thought to have been Yazidis enslaved by the Islamic State (IS) group has been found in territory recently seized by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

Col. Sean Ryan, spokesman for the USA -led coalition, said in an email that he could not verify who Islamic State was holding but hoped they would be released unharmed.

The Syrian government, already backed by Iran and the various regional groups aligned with it, received a major boost in 2015, when Russian Federation agreed to intervene on Assad's behalf.

Near the northwestern province of Idlib, a Syrian jihadist group linked to al-Qaida killed 21 Syrian soldiers and allied militiamen, in one of the most serious violations of a months-old truce in the area, according to activists and a Syria war monitor.

Both sides have contributed extensively to the battle against ISIS, each robbing the group of tens of thousands of square miles. He said several thousand mainly women and children arrive daily and there is "no end in sight".

However, the battle for Baghuz is now going slowly in order to protect hostages held by the Daesh terrorists, according to co-chair of the U.S. mission of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Bassam Ishak.