Kurdistan // Last ISIS bastion in Syria defeated by SDF~ 2 min

By Bruno Garrido

Last Saturday, the SDF announced the fall of the last ISIS bastion in Syria. This campaign, which began on February 9 after the al-Sousse area was liberated, was aimed at liberating the Baghouz region, the last territorial stronghold of the Islamic state in Syria.

The conflict began with the occupation of the city of Mosul in 2014, after which the jihadist group began to occupy vast areas of Iraqi and Syrian territory, leaving behind a trail of destruction and bloody crimes. Seven years later, the Kurdish-Arab forces of the SDF declared the territorial end of the caliphate. Several historical moments stand out after seven years of resistance against the jihadist group.

The siege of Kobane in 2014 marks a turning point in the struggle against the jihadist group, as well as the liberation of Raqqa – the self-proclaimed capital of the Salafist group. The Kurdish-Arab guerrillas have saved approximately 5 million people over seven years from the hands of ISIS and Al-Qaeda, as well as liberating more than 52 000 km² of territory throughout northern and eastern Syria.

This brutal war led to the death of at least 11 000 guerrillas and about 21 000 people were seriously injured. Thousands of civilians were forced to flee the war, tortured, captured, enslaved or killed. n the battle of Sinjar alone, where the jihadist group initiated a genocide against the Yazidi population, it is estimated that more than 5 000 women were sold in markets as sex slaves. An equal number of people have also been killed by the Salafist group.

Since Kobane’s resistance, led by the YPJ and YPG Kurdish forces, the caliphate had been losing ground day by day. This last victory is synonymous with a great increase in morale for the next battles of the Kurdish movement. A possible invasion by Turkey, and future negotiations with the Syrian government are the next challenges in the autonomy process of the Democratic People’s Federation of the North and East of Syria (DFNS).