Fight to Retake Last ISIS Territory in Syria Begins

Source: The New York Times

The last vestige of Islamic State territory in Syria came under attack, as members of an American-backed coalition said Tuesday that they had begun a final push to oust the militants from Hajin, the remaining sliver of territory under the group’s control in the region where it was born.

The assault is the final chapter of a war that began more than four years ago after the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, seized enormous tracts of land in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-led militia that has been fighting the Islamic State in Syria with the United States and its allies, said in a statement that its forces had launched an offensive on the area from four sides on Monday evening.

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“We expect a long and hard fight,” said Col. Sean J. Ryan, a spokesman for the American-led military coalition in Baghdad. “These are the die-hard fighters with nowhere else to go.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/world/middleeast/isis-syria.html

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Idlib isn't the only pocket of resistance facing a final assault. It appears that ISIS last slivers of occupied Syria will soon be under SDF control.