DEIR AL-ZOR PROVINCE, Syria (Reuters) – U.S.-backed fighters said they took a big step towards eradicating Islamic State’s last territorial possession in eastern Syria on Monday, seizing the jihadist camp at Baghouz and cornering remaining fighters against the Euphrates river.

“This is not a victory announcement, but a significant progress in the fight against Daesh,” said Mustafa Bali, an SDF media official on Twitter.

“The camp is under full SDF control. Not the end of operation yet,” another official with the militia said.

Some Islamic State militants were still confined to a tiny area on the bank of the Euphrates River and had yet to surrender, the official said in a note circulated to journalists.

“Clashes are going on in Baghouz right now. They hold some families as human shields,” the official added.

The camp was the biggest remaining area held by Islamic State in Baghouz, itself the last populated area the jihadist group held from the third of Syria and Iraq it suddenly seized in 2014.

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Over the past two months, more than 60,000 people have poured out of the group’s dwindling enclave, nearly half of whom were surrendering supporters of Islamic State, including some 5,000 fighters.

However, while the capture of Baghouz will mark a milestone in the battle against Islamic State, regional and Western officials say the group will remain a threat.

(GRAPHIC – How Islamic State lost Syria: tmsnrt.rs/2O7l4mN)

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