However, the group continues to be a threat, with sleeper cells in scattered desert pockets along the porous border between the two countries
BAGHOUZ, Syria — Columns of black smoke billowed from the last small piece of territory held by Islamic State militants on Sunday as U.S.-backed fighters pounded the area with artillery fire and occasional airstrikes.
Machine-guns could be heard echoing across the territory. Associated Press journalists in Baghouz saw black smoke from an apparent strike on a barrel of fuel. Gunfire followed another strike on the edge of the camp. Burned vehicles could be seen, abandoned in farmland beyond the village. Through binoculars, IS fighters could be seen walking around.
“The night for us and the morning for them,” said Abu Ghadab, another commander of the SDF. The militants usually attack during the day as they don’t have night vision goggles while the SDF advances at night, he explained.The global fight against the Islamic State group is one conflict in a country that has been at civil war for nearly eight years.
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