As President Donald Trump directs a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have stepped up attacks the past two days as ISIS is "living the final moments," Reuters reported Sunday.
"They are living the final moments and realize that this battle is the battle to eliminate them," Mustafa Bali, SDF media office head, told Reuters.
The threat is still "very real," though, according to Col. Sean Ryan, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, Reuters reported.
"The SDF is making great progress and continues to liberate more territory once held by ISIS (Islamic State), but the fight continues," Col. Ryan told Reuters. "The lasting defeat of ISIS is still the mission and they still present a very real threat to the long-term stability in this region, so it is not over yet."
Col. Ryan acknowledged the U.S. withdrawal in Syria had commenced Friday, but withheld details of specific military plans on troop movements.
A defeat of the jihadists in the enclave would wipe out Islamic State' territorial foothold on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.
SDF, a coalition of militias led by the Kurdish YPG, have driven Islamic State from a swathe of northern and eastern Syria with the help of the U.S.-led coalition over the past four years.
Islamic State still holds territory on the western bank of the Euphrates, between areas controlled by the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian-backed allies.
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