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The remaining ISIS fighters in the middle Euphrates River Valley carried out a counter-attack in the early hours of January 24 and recaptured large parts of the town of al-Baghuz al-Fawqani from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The terrorist group’s advance didn’t last for long, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which confirmed that the counter attack was repelled within few hours.
“No less than 34 fighters of the Islamic State group were killed … The SDF managed to capture 21 others … Meanwhile, at least 16 fighters of the SDF were killed and 30 others were injured,” the UK-based monitoring group reported citing special sources.
A day earlier, the SDF liberated the towns of al-Baghuz al-Fawqani and Shajlah. Following this, the remaining terrorists were besieged in their last stronghold, the town of Murashida.
The collapse of the terrorist group’s last positions encouraged many of ISIS fighters to flee towards the SDF-held areas. According to the SOHR, more than 2,100 of them were captured in the recent weeks.
