The US-led coalition has intensified its air and missile strikes on the remaining ISIS positions in the middle Euphrates River Valley, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on December 29.
“The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is trying to achieve more advance within the [ISIS-held] pocket in order to besiege the group in a narrower area,” the UK-based monitoring group added in its report.
A day earlier, Kurdish sources claimed that the SDF liberated the towns of Hajin, Buhasan, al-Shafah, Kashmah, al-Qahadi, al-Nafilah, Abu Marih and Baghuz Tahtani in the Euphrates Valley. However, clashes are still ongoing in some of these towns.
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According to the SOHR, the US-led coalition and the SDF have killed more than 1,050 fighters and commanders of ISIS since the beginning of their final military operations in the Euphrates Valley earlier this year. Hundreds of other fighters have reportedly fled the region leaving only a few to fight until the death.
