The White House announced today that ISIS territory in Syria has been “100 percent” eliminated.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders made the announcement to reporters on board Air Force One and directed them to the Department of Defense for further information.
Sarah Sanders tells reporters on Air Force One that the territorial ISIS caliphate has been 100 percent eliminated in Syria, per pool. The WH provided this map pic.twitter.com/i2oXvgtehS
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) March 22, 2019
Yesterday, Fox News reported that ISIS had “officially crumbled,” and its last stronghold, Baghouz, Syria had 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,” wrote Fox News foreign affairs correspondent Benjamin Hall.
Hall wrote 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,” continued Hall. “In fact, since the start of the year about 60,000 have dripped into the desert, and most are now held in camps.”
On Wednesday, 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.
