Free Republic

BAGHUZ, SYRIA/WASHINGTON — In eastern Syria, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) say Islamic State is trying to slow the attack on the terror group's last scrap of territory in the town of Baghuz by using snipers, suicide bombers and civilians as human shields.A VOA cameraman traveling with Kurdish fighters spoke to several about what appears to be the final days of the battle. SDF officials said Monday the vast majority of civilians have already left Baghuz, but a small number are still trapped in the town by IS. "We don't have an estimate of how many civilians are still inside Baghuz,"...

There is a flash of light in the dark town as an airstrike hits an Islamic State weapons depot. A few seconds later, a ball of flame engulfs the entire neighbourhood. The sonic boom sends shockwaves through Baghuz, shaking the ground miles away, and for a second everything and everyone is stunned into silence. Then the artillery fire starts up again...(snip) Trapped from the east and the west by advancing Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and by the Syrian regime and Russia on the other side of the river, the caliphate is a hellscape of smoke and fire. There is...