“So here is ISIS on election day. Here’s ISIS right now. If you look – so there’s ISIS. And that’s what we have right now, as of last night,” Trump told reporters on arrival in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday, showing maps of the region that indicated ISIS no longer controlled any territory.
White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders also said “the territorial caliphate has been eliminated in Syria.”
That claim does not reflect the reality on the ground. “Heavy fighting continues around mount Baghouz right now to finish off whatever remains of ISIS,” tweeted Mustafa Bali, head of the media office of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who are battling ISIS.
Reporters on the ground also contradicted Trump’s claim.
“Another airstrikes [sic] now, tracers, heavy machine gun fire on eastern end of Baghouz. I guess not everyone heard the White House statement re 100 elimination of ISIS territory,” tweeted CNN’s Ben Wedeman.
He added that “hundreds” of militants were still fighting, according to the SDF.
The battle to defeat the militants in their last major holdout has played out over weeks because of the unexpected presence of tens of thousands of people – including many women and children – in the small area.
Friday morning, the SDF said they had engaged with ISIS militants in “several points” and the US-led international coalition conducted a number of airstrikes.
The SDF on Tuesday took control of the tent camp where the jihadists had been encamped, but a group of fighters remain along the river’s edge.
Bali has cautioned against premature claims of victory.
Trump has said several times that ISIS has been beaten or is on the brink of defeat in Syria. He has ordered a drawdown of American troops on the ground in the country.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned against a global pullback from Syria with the end of ISIS territorial control.
A military victory “is a historic moment but suffering for Syrians continues across the country and will require sustained specialist support for years to come,” the aid agency stated on Friday.
People who lived under brutal ISIS rule for several years, especially children forced to witness violent acts, will need years of psychological support, IRC stated.
And some 12 million people across the country need humanitarian aid, it added, noting that eight out of ten Syrians “live in abject poverty.”
"Syria represents the greatest humanitarian and political failure of the 21st century,” said IRC president David Miliband.
“Unfinished battles in Idlib” risk the lives of millions and prospects for the return of nearly six million Syrian refugees “remain bleak,” he stated.
“As for the so-called Islamic State, it needs to be understood for what it believes and argues not just the area it governs. It fed on perceptions of unfairness in Sunni communities. Its ideology remains a potent threat to stability unless the wellsprings of its support are addressed,” he warned.
