The remaining ISIS fighters in the middle Euphrates River Valley are currently besieged within two small camps north of the town of al-Baghuz al-Fawqani, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on February 14.
“We are now waiting for the official announcement of ISIS defeat by the US-led coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),” the SOHR said in a report.
According to the UK-based monitoring group, which is known for its close ties with the coalition, a large number of the remaining ISIS fighters and commanders had agreed to surrender to the SDF. In the last few hours, more than 240 terrorists were seen handing themselves over the Kurdish-dominated group.
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The SOHR added that the coalition is now asking ISIS to hand over 40 tons of gold, which were stolen by the terrorist group from different areas in Syria and Iraq over the last four years. Some of this gold was also smuggled from Turkey.
“The coalition is trying to force the group [ISIS] to surrender in order to seize its gold and money,” the SOHR said.
A day earlier, the ISIS-linked news agency, Amaq, released two short videos of the clashes in the Euphrates Valley. Both videos were shot north of al-Baghuz al-Fawqani. This confirms that the terrorist group is on retreat.
