Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
white house

The White House has on Friday claimed it has completely defeated the ISIS in Syria and declared victory.

White House announcement came amid reports from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that the group is still battling Islamic States militants holed up in two parts areas of Baghouz region.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that US acting defence secretary Patrick Shanahan had briefed the United States president regarding the alleged defeat claim again, and that “soon” the additional information would be followed, according to CNN news reports.

However, hours after White House announcement, the Pentagon did not offer any comment.

On Friday, a US defence official told CNN news agency the SDF were still fighting the left ISIS in eastern Syria. The official said, “The SDF is still encountering fighting in the caves under Baghouz. The fighting is still going on.”

iThe CNN senior International correspondent Ben Wedeman on the ground in eastern Syria has said: “There has been gunfire coming out of the ISIS positions, which are, admittedly, a very small piece of territory on the edge of a hill outside the eastern end of this town of Baghouz.”

He added, “If you were to look at the amount of territory, it is very small indeed, but the fighting goes on.”

SDF spokesperson Mustafa Bali told CNN White House statement “doesn’t contradict ours: we also believe that ISIS was defeated. There are some groups that refuse to surrender. Our Forces with the assistance of the Coalition forces are working to force them to surrender and defeat them”.

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