US says a few hundred IS fighters left in Syria fight, no withdrawal timeline

Saturday, 16 March 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

GENEVA (Reuters): Islamic State is down to its last few hundred fighters and less than a square kilometre of land in a battle for its last Syrian stronghold, although it may have 15,000-20,000 adherents in Syria and Iraq, U.S. envoy James Jeffrey said on Friday.

“We are just about finished with the campaign along the Euphrates to defeat the last territorial holdings of the Caliphate. They’re down to a few hundred fighters and less than a square kilometre of land,” said Jeffrey, the U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement and Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

He said the struggle to defeat Islamic State’s ideology would go on and there was no timetable for a U.S. withdrawal.