US-backed forces captured the last major town held by ISIS in eastern Syria on Wednesday, and are now sweeping surrounding villages for remnants of the militant group, activists said.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Arab and Kurdish fighters, have seized several eastern villages from ISIS, including Hajin, Al Shaafa and Sousa, in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, they captured Al Baghouz, the last major town under militant control, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Observatory said search operations are ongoing to find any ISIS fighters who may have gone into hiding in the town. It also said that the SDF are working to clear militants from farmlands around Al Baghouz.
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The war monitor said that ISIS defences in Al Baghouz "collapsed" after hundreds of militants fled the area over the past two days. The Observatory said nearly 500 ISIS fighters and thousands of their relatives have fled the group's last bastion since Monday.
This raises the total number of people who have escaped ISIS territory since December to over 27,000, according to the war monitor.
The SDF posted pictures on social media networks on Wednesday purporting to show those who have fled ISIS territory, including the relatives of militants. It said they included nationals from France, Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey.
The activist-run DeirEzzor24 news website also said that the SDF had advanced in Al Baghouz after fierce clashes with militants. It posted a video on social media networks purporting to show fighters entering Al Baghouz.
"The SDF and the International Coalition are close to ending Daesh completely east of the Euphrates," it said.
DeirEzzor24 head Omar Abu Layla told The National that a small number of militants remain in areas surrounding Al Baghouz.
They are holed up in farmlands on the outskirts of the village.
He said he expected the SDF would remove them "within hours", but that this would not spell the total defeat of the militants.
"There are many ISIS cells that are still active and that are carrying out attacks, arrests and assassinations," he said. "An announcement of an ISIS defeat would only be superficial."
The US-led coalition declined to say when it expected its SDF allies to overrun the final sliver of territory still under militant control.
It stressed the operation's bigger goal was to minimise the continuing threat ISIS could pose from underground.
"It is difficult to say how much longer, despite the progress," coalition spokesman Colonel Sean Ryan said.
"We try to stay away from timelines as it is more about degrading the enemy's capabilities."
Kurdish-led forces, backed by airstrikes of the US-led coalition, have been battling since September to expel militants from their enclave in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
The battles have killed more than 1,000 ISIS militants and more than 600 SDF fighters.
It has also displaced thousands of civilians, many of whom are now languishing in informal settlements in Kurdish-held parts of eastern Syria.
Battles against ISIS in eastern Syria gained pace after US President Donald Trump last month announced he would withdraw US forces from the country.
The coalition also stepped up airstrikes against militants, after ISIS targeted American personnel in the northern Syrian city of Manbij last week.
The suicide bombing killed four American personnel and 15 other people. The US losses were the biggest since Washington entered the conflict in 2014.
On Monday, ISIS targeted a US army convoy in the town of Al Shadadeh in northeast Syria. The US-led coalition said that no American troops were killed in the car bombing.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Hoffenheim (11.30pm)
Saturday
Hertha Berlin v RB Leipzig (6.30pm)
Schalke v Fortuna Dusseldof (6.30pm)
Mainz v Union Berlin (6.30pm)
Paderborn v Augsburg (6.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (9.30pm)
Sunday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Werder Bremen (4.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (9on)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200
Winner: Miqyaas, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Untold Secret, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Shanty Star, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Alkaamel, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
8.50pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Speedy Move, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Quartier Francois, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
The specs: 2018 Jaguar E-Pace First Edition
Price, base / as tested: Dh186,480 / Dh252,735
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 246hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 365Nm @ 1,200rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
AGL AWARDS
Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)
Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: South Africa, field first
Pakistan (1st innings) 177: Sarfraz 56, Masood 44; Olivier 4-48
South Africa (1st innings) 123-2: Markram 78; Masood 1-4
