While an official announcement has yet to be made, Fox News is reporting that ISIS has “officially crumbled,” and its last stronghold, Baghouz, Syria has been liberated.
“It’s the first time since we’ve been here in Syria for five days that the bombs have stopped dropping and the gunfire has disappeared. We have witnessed the end of the caliphate – the brutal empire that once ruled over 8 million people – is gone,” writes Fox News foreign affairs correspondent Benjamin Hall.
Troops in Baghouz are now taking down ISIS flags.
Hall writes that he witnessed the last major offensive up close– “with U.S.-backed SDF forces attacking ISIS from three sides, pushing the fighters back, house to house, then tent to tent, against the Euphrates River.”
“In the end, the majority surrendered,” continues Hall. “In fact, since the start of the year about 60,000 have dripped into the desert, and most are now held in camps.
Yesterday, President Trump said ISIS would be “gone by tonight,” as he showed reporters maps of the region in 2016 with red spots indicating ISIS strongholds.
“When I took it over, it was a mess,” he said.
“Now, he added as he pointed to the bottom map that he said depicted ISIS presence in Syria today, ‘there is no red. In fact, there’s actually a tiny spot which will be gone by tonight,” writes Politico.
For the full report, click HERE.
