BEIRUT: US-backed Syrian forces were clearing two villages in eastern Syria on Thursday of remaining Daesh militants who are hiding among the local population, and detaining others attempting to flee with the civilians, the US-led coalition said.
The coalition said the clearance operations were taking place in the villages of SHajjalah and Baghouz, near the border with Iraq.
Scores of militants from Daesh — including many foreign fighters — surrendered to US-backed fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces on Wednesday night, bringing the Kurdish-led force closer to taking full control of the last remaining area controlled by the extremists, a Kurdish official and activists said.
Çiyager Amed, an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces, confirmed that a number of Daesh fighters who had been holed up in the village of Baghouz gave themselves up, without giving numbers.
He said most of those remaining were Iraqis and foreigners and that few civilians remained in the tiny sliver of land still in Daesh hands, although women and children are continuing to trickle out of the enclave.
The capture of Baghouz and nearby areas would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group’s hold on territory in Syria and Iraq. President Donald Trump has said the group is all but defeated, and announced in December that he would withdraw all American forces from Syria.
A coalition official, however, warned Wednesday that Daesh continues to pose a threat to the security of the region even if their hold on territory ends.
“While Daesh is on the verge of collapse, and the end of the physical caliphate is at hand it does not signal the end of this campaign,” said UK Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika. “We will pursue them until that threat is eliminated.”
The coalition statement said SDF forces are detaining Daesh militants who are attempting to escape among the civilians fleeing the fighting in Baghouz. Those “arriving to be screened are the wives of Daesh fighters, some of whom sustained gunshot wounds while fleeing from Daesh,” Ghika said.
Mustafa Bali, an SDF spokesman, said hundreds of women and children came out Wednesday. He said the fighters who remained appeared to be among the Daesh elite who have lots of experience and are fighting “fiercely.’
“They also don’t have other options. Either to surrender or die,” Bali said.
The final push to clear Daesh from remaining territory it holds in Syria comes as the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran are meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday for talks about the latest developments in northern Syria.
Russia, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, is getting increasingly impatient about militants in Syria’s Idlib province.
Russia and Turkey, which supports the Syrian opposition, had brokered a cease-fire for Idlib, the last remaining rebel stronghold that averted a major government offensive but that deal has been strained as Al-Qaeda-linked militants seized towns and villages in Idlib.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia is going to raise its concerns at the talks about the presence of “terrorists” there.
US-backed Syrian forces clearing Daesh remnants from villages
US-backed Syrian forces clearing Daesh remnants from villages
- The capture of Baghouz and nearby areas would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group’s hold on territory in Syria and Iraq
- Most of those remaining were Iraqis and foreigners and that few civilians remained in the tiny sliver of land still in Daesh hands
Stranger in Moscow: Leaked data details life of Assad in exile
- Deposed dictator spends time ‘brushing up on ophthalmology,’ The Guardian reports
LONDON: More than a year after fleeing Syria, ousted former president Bashar Assad is living a secluded life of luxury in Moscow, with reports suggesting he has returned to studying ophthalmology while remaining cut off from political life.
Assad, who trained in London as an eye doctor before assuming power in 2000, was deposed in December 2024 as rebel forces advanced on Damascus, ending decades of his family’s rule. He fled the country overnight, with Russian assistance, after 14 years of civil war that left more than 600,000 people dead and nearly 14 million displaced.
According to sources cited by The Guardian newspaper in a report published on Monday, Assad is now living in or near Rublyovka, an exclusive gated community west of Moscow favored by Russia’s political and financial elite.
Despite his wealth and the security surrounding his exile, the former leader is said to be living a largely isolated life and is regarded as politically irrelevant in Moscow’s ruling circles.
A family friend told the newspaper that Assad has been studying Russian and revisiting his medical training, describing ophthalmology as a long-held passion. Russian authorities have reportedly barred him from engaging in any form of political or media activity.
Russia’s ambassador to Iraq confirmed in November that Assad was prohibited from making public appearances, despite being safe and under protection.
Sources told The Guardian that Assad left Syria without warning senior regime allies or members of his extended family, many of whom were forced to scramble to escape as the government collapsed. His brother Maher Assad, a senior military figure, was said to have remained in Damascus until the final moments, helping others flee.
In the months since the family’s escape from Syria, attention has reportedly focused on the health of Assad’s wife, Asma, who had been undergoing treatment in Moscow for leukaemia. According to sources familiar with the situation, her condition stabilized following experimental therapy.
While Assad himself remains largely invisible to the Russian public, his children have gradually adapted to life in the country. His daughter, Zein, graduated in June from Moscow’s prestigious MGIMO University, one of the few public sightings of Assad family members since their regime’s fall from power. His sons, Hafez and Karim, have withdrawn from social media and keep a low profile.
Despite prior hopes of relocating to the UAE, sources said the family now accepts that a permanent move out of Russia is unlikely in the near future, even as they continue to travel between Moscow and the Gulf.
