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DOHA. – US-backed Kurdish-led forces in northeastern Syria captured 400 ISIL/ISIS fighters who were trying to escape the armed group’s last enclave in eastern Syria.
A senior commander for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also said on Wednesday that hundreds more Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant soldiers surrendered from the last shred of territory they control in the village of Baghouz in Deir Az Zor province.
“There are a large number of fighters who are inside and do not want to surrender,” said the SDF commander.
Those surrendering were among more than 2,000 people who left Baghouz on Wednesday in the latest evacuation, transported by trucks to a patch of desert where they are questioned, searched and given food and water.
Scenes of surrender, humiliation, and anger highlighted the desperation of the armed group as its last major bastion in Syria teeters on the edge of collapse.
The evacuations came as the US-backed force slowed its latest push on Baghouz, east of the Euphrates River, to allow people to leave the enclave.
Angry civilians evacuating from Baghouz chanted “Islamic State will remain” – underscoring the defiance of ISIL fighters and their supporters even as their defeat looms.
A group of women seen at a reception area in the desert – set up for screening purposes by the SDF – were rowdy, aggressive and defiant, praising ISIL and screaming angrily at journalists.
“Islamic State will stay, God is great, God is great, Islamic State will stay,” they screamed. – Al Jazeera
Online Reporter