US-backed Syrian force declares victory over Islamic State
BAGHOUZ, Syria -- U.S.-backed forces declared military victory over the Islamic State group in Syria on Saturday after liberating the last pocket of territory held by the militants in the country's east, marking the end of a brutal self-styled caliphate the group carved out in large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
After weeks of heavy fighting, the tent camp where the militants made their final stand in the village of Baghouz was bombed to shreds. All that remains is a field pitted by abandoned trenches and bomb craters, littered with scorched tents and the twisted metal carcasses of vehicles. Half buried in the dirt was a tattered shred of IS's notorious black flag.
"Baghouz is free and the military victory against Daesh has been achieved," tweeted Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, referring to the group by its Arabic acronym.
