White House Says ISIS’s Last Bastion Fell. So Why Is There Still Fighting?

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A Syrian Democratic Forces fighter with weapons seized from the Islamic State. The extremist group’s remnants remain hunkered down in the village of Baghuz.CreditCreditChris Mcgrath/Getty Images

By Thomas Gibbons-Neff

March 22, 2019

WASHINGTON — Clashes are continuing with Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria, United States military officials said on Friday after the White House claimed that American-backed forces had retaken the extremist group’s final sliver of territory.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, told reporters aboard Air Force One that the Islamic State’s caliphate in Syria had been “100 percent eliminated.” She said Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan had briefed President Trump during the flight.

Mr. Trump has declared the Islamic State’s defeat several times in recent weeks. Each time, Pentagon officials have gingerly tried to clarify that the group’s remnants remain hunkered down — first in the town of Hajin and now outside the small village of Baghuz on the Syria-Iraq border.

Ms. Sanders told reporters to refer questions to the Pentagon, but the Defense Department declined a request for comment.

One military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Islamic State fighters were hiding underground in Baghuz and were still firing at the troops who were trying to clear the village.

In recent weeks the extremist group — which once controlled territory about the size of Britain — has also released several videos outlining efforts to hold its final bastion, a patchwork of burning tents, dwindling military supplies and civilians caught in the crossfire.

After the White House announcement on Friday, a spokesman for the American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces tweeted that “heavy fighting continues” around Baghuz. The spokesman, Mustafa Bali, also said that international forces had conducted “several airstrikes” against the extremists on Thursday night.

Another senior United States official said on Friday that the Syrian Democratic Forces planned to issue a statement when they believe the final remnants of the caliphate have been liberated.

The president’s drive to announce an end to the four-year campaign against the Islamic State was underscored by his unexpected announcement in December that he would withdraw all troops from Syria. That decision came against the advice of most of his national security officials and prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. As a candidate for president, Mr. Trump had promised to end the United States’ long wars that followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Military officials and lawmakers who opposed the troop withdrawal in Syria insisted that an enduring presence of American forces must remain to ensure the defeat of the Islamic State and counter Iranian and Russian influence. Late last month, the White House announced that roughly 400 American troops would remain in Syria for the foreseeable future.

Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington, and Rukmini Callimachi from New York.