US-backed Syrian forces on Saturday entered an eastern village held by the Islamic State (IS) group where intense clashes were ongoing, a day after the IS reportedly killed 20 fighters, the forces and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said that its fighters stormed Bagouz and were close to the center of the village.
The forces added that they plan to open another front in the Sousseh area along the Euphrates River to increase pressure on the IS.
With the help of the US-led coalition, the SDF this week launched a wide offensive to capture the last pocket held by the IS in Syria. It has been among the most effective actors in the fight against the IS in Syria, forcing it out of much of the country’s east.
Despite losing most of the territory it held between Iraq and Syria since its peak in 2014, the IS remains a disruptive force in both countries.
IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, urged his followers to “persevere” in an audio recording attributed to him last month.
The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said that IS fighters targeted advancing SDF fighters in the Bagouz area with mortar rounds, roadside bombs and sniper fire, inflicting many casualties among them.
The SDF commander of the operation in Bagouz, who identified himself as Shergo, said in a video statement that the fighting was intense from both sides and that his fighters controlled almost half of the village.
“We will take all this place from ISIS,” Shergo said in English, using an older acronym for the IS.
The observatory said that IS fighters are relying on a network of tunnels in the area and land mines to slow down the SDF’s offensive.
About 100 women and 30 men, including IS fighters, along with their children, surrendered to SDF fighters, it said, adding that the IS fighters were taken to tightly secured positions in the area.
The storming of Bagouz came a day after the observatory said that IS fighters took advantage of a sandstorm and killed 20 SDF fighters in the country’s east, wounding others.
Kurdish official Ebrahim Ebrahim also said that 20 fighters were killed in an ambush by IS fighters.
SDF said in a statement that only two of its fighters were killed and six others wounded in Friday’s clashes.
The observatory on Saturday said that since the SDF launched its offensive on the IS-held pocket, including the town of Hajin, 53 Muslim militants have been killed, as well as 38 US-backed fighters.
The SDF on Friday brought in about 1,000 fighters to fortify its positions and bolster the forces carrying out the offensive, the observatory said.
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