Islamic State evacuates last stronghold in Syria to government forces

BEIRUT — Islamic State fighters withdraw from their last stronghold in Syria, a strategic town near the border with Iraq called Boukamal, following a government offensive that has effectively left the extremist group’s fighters dispersed in villages and small towns in the desert.

The Syrian military declares the town liberated on Thursday after intense battles that kill a large number of IS fighters, including leaders. The military says they are still chasing other IS operatives in different directions in the desert.

“The liberation of Boukamal is of great importance because it is a declaration of the fall of this group’s project in the region generally and the collapse of its supporters’ illusions to divide it, control large parts of the Syria-Iraq borders and secure supply routes between the two countries,” says Army spokesman Gen. Ali Mayhoub in a televised statement.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says government forces and allied troops, including Iraqi forces who linked up from across the border, are combing through Boukamal after IS withdrew.

With the collapse of IS in Boukamal, Islamic State has no major territorial control in Syria and Iraq and is believed to have dispersed in the desert west and east of the Euphrates River.

— AP