A few hours after resuming their military operation against ISIS, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) advanced inside the last terrorist group stronghold in the middle Euphrates River Valley.
“Our fighters are constantly advancing, they have managed to liberate six positions of ISIS so far,” a spokesman for the SDF, Mustafa Bali, told the Hawar News Agency (ANHA) on March 2.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that at least ten ISIS fighters were killed in the first hours of the SDF’s attack. On the other side, the Kurdish-dominated group lost four of its fighters who were hit with an improvised explosive device (IED).
Click to see full-size image
US-led coalition warplanes are reportedly supporting the SDF’s attack by striking the remaining positions of ISIS north of the town of al-Baghuz al-Fawqani. Local sources confirmed that the coalition is once again using internationally prohibited white phosphorus bombs.
The remaining ISIS fighters are currently trapped within a 600m2 pocket. Despite that their number is reportedly lower than 300, local observers believe that the battle there could last for several days.
