ISIS has lost its final stronghold in Syria according to the US-backed forces in a desperate stand which saw women deployed, but its leader remains elusive.
Syrian Democratic Forces declared a 'total elimination' of the jihadist group on Saturday morning after flushing out suicidal jihadists from the holdout in Baghouz, eastern Syria.
The terrorist group's bloody last stand saw male and female fanatics hiding in caves as US-backed forces rained down an overnight barrage on Thursday.
The world's most wanted man Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who declared himself the tyrant of the regime in 2014, was apparently not among their number.
Nicknamed 'The Ghost', Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, last appeared in public to deliver this sermon at Mosul's famed Al-Nuri mosque in 2014 declaring himself 'caliph'
Footage released by ISIS appears to show burqa-clad women firing AK-47s at SDF forces during the final days of the so-called caliphate
Pictured: smoke rising from the final stronghold of ISIS in Baghouz, eastern Syria, earlier this week
The 47-year-old Iraqi recluse, who suffers from diabetes, has been rumoured to have been wounded or killed several times in the past.
But his whereabouts have never been confirmed and a $25million price remains for his scalp.
'He only has three companions: his older brother Jumaa, his driver and bodyguard Abdullatif al-Jubury, whom he has known since childhood, and his courier Saud al-Kurdi,' said Hisham al-Hashemi, an Iraqi specialist in IS.
Hashemi said the quartet is likely laying low somewhere in Syria's vast Badia desert, which stretches from the eastern border with Iraq to the sweeping province of Homs.
That is where his son Hudhayfa al-Badri was reportedly killed in July by three Russian guided missiles, he added.
Nicknamed 'The Ghost', he has not appeared in public since he delivered a sermon at Mosul's famed Al-Nuri mosque in 2014 declaring himself 'caliph'.
His last voice recording to his supporters was released in August, eight months after Iraq announced it had defeated IS and as US-backed forces closed in next door in Syria.
But as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces pressed the 'final battle' against IS's last sliver of territory, a spokesman for the US-backed group said the elusive leader was likely not there.
'We do not think he is in Syria,' Mustafa Bali said.
Keeping a low profile - in contrast to slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden - has helped Baghdadi survive for years.
Born Ibrahim Awad al-Badri in 1971, the passionate football fan came from modest beginnings in Samarra, north of Baghdad.
His high school results were not good enough for law school and his poor eyesight prevented him from joining the army, so he moved to the Baghdad district of Tobchi to study Islam.
Al-Baghdadi is not thought to be in Syria by the US-backed SDF forces - a recording purportedly of his voice surfaced in August addressing his followers (pictured in 2014)
Al-Baghdadi is accused of keeping sex slaves, including a pre-teen Yazidi girl and US aid worker Kayla Mueller, who was subsequently killed
'He had a vision, early on, of where he wanted to go and what kind of organisation he wanted to create,' said Sofia Amara, author of a 2017 documentary that unveiled exclusive documents on Baghdadi.
After US-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003, he founded his own insurgent organisation but never carried out major attacks.
When he was arrested and held in a US detention facility in southern Iraq in February 2004, he was still very much a second- or third-tier jihadist.
But it was Camp Bucca - later dubbed 'the University of Jihad' - where Baghdadi came of age as a jihadist.
'People there realised that this nobody, this shy guy was an astute strategist,' Amara said.
He was released at the end of 2004 for lack of evidence. Iraqi security services arrested him twice subsequently, in 2007 and 2012, but let him go because they did not know who he was.
In 2005, this father of five from two different wives pledged allegiance to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the brutal leader of Iraq's Al-Qaeda franchise.
Zarqawi was killed by an American drone strike in 2006, and after his successor was also eliminated, Baghdadi took the helm in 2010.
He revived the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), expanded into Syria in 2013 and declared independence from Al-Qaeda.
In the following years, Baghdadi's Islamic State group captured swathes of territory, set up a brutal system of government, and inspired thousands to join the 'caliphate' from abroad.
Baghdadi was raised in a family divided between a religious clan and officers loyal to Saddam's secular Baath party.
Years later, his jihadist group incorporated ex-Baathists, capitalising on the bitterness many officers felt after the American move to dissolve the Iraqi army in 2003.
President Donald Trump declared victory over the self-declared caliphate yesterday, holding this upside down map showing the territory held by ISIS on election day versus Friday
Pictured: US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces stand in front of their flag in Baghouz, east Syria, after eliminating the jihadist group in the area
Until now, women have been stopped from joining ISIS forces on the frontline as it is considered taboo
That gave his leadership the military legitimacy he personally lacked and formed a solid backbone of what was to become IS, combining extreme religious propaganda with ferocious guerrilla efficiency.
Uncharismatic and an average orator, Baghdadi was described by his repudiated ex-wife Saja al-Dulaimi, who now lives in Lebanon, as a 'normal family man' who was good with children.
He is thought to have had three wives in total, Iraqi Asma al-Kubaysi, Syrian Isra al-Qaysi and another, more recently, from the Gulf.
He has been accused of repeatedly raping girls and women he kept as 'sex slaves', including a pre-teen Yazidi girl and US aid worker Kayla Mueller, who was subsequently killed.
President Donald Trump declared victory over the vicious regime yesterday.
After showing off an upside down before-and-after map of the area comparing their territory on Election Day versus Friday, he handed the paper to a journalist, saying, 'You guys can have the map. Congratulations. You'll spread it around?'
In the final days of the caliphate, official footage released by ISIS appears to show women in burqas firing AK47s at the SDF.
Until now, women have been stopped from joining ISIS forces on the frontline as it is considered taboo.
Devorah Margolin, a war studies analyst at King's College London, told the Telegraph: 'Isil has always been adamant that women should participate in violence only under circumstances of 'defensive jihad', or in simpler terms only when Muslim lands are under attack and it is strategically necessary.
'The loss of physical territory for them really seems to have been the final straw.'
Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, tweeted that 'Baghouz is free and the military victory against Daesh has been achieved', referring to the group by its Arabic acronym.
The terrorist group's bloody last stand saw fanatics hiding in caves as US-backed forces launched airstrikes (pictured yesterday)
Pictured: ISIS weapons seized by Syrian Democratic Forces. Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, tweeted that 'Baghouz is free and the military victory against Daesh has been achieved'
Bali said the so-called caliphate is gone, and pledged to continue the fight against remnants of the extremist group until they are completely eradicated.
Prime Minister Theresa May said the fall of the last bastion held by ISIS marked 'a historic milestone' as she paid tribute to British forces and coalition partners.
'The liberation of the last (IS)-held territory is a historic milestone that would not have been possible without their commitment, professionalism and courage,' she said in a statement.
British forces will not scale-back their presence in Syria and Iraq following the capture of the last remaining territory.
Britain has committed nearly 1,400 military personnel to the region to support local forces, while the Royal Air Force has conducted more than 1,600 air strikes in Iraq and Syria, according to government figures.
More than 630 civilians were killed in the six-month operation against the Islamic State group that culminated in its defeat.
The civilian dead - among them relatives of IS fighters - included 209 children and 157 women, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group has said.
The Britain-based Observatory said the operation had cost the lives of 730 SDF fighters while 1,600 jihadists were also killed.
The announcement marks the end of a four-and-a-half year campaign by an array of forces against the extremist group, which at its height in 2014 ruled an area the size of the United Kingdom, including several major cities and towns.
The group no longer controls any territory in Syria or Iraq, but continues to carry out insurgent attacks in both countries.
It also maintains affiliates in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The Kurdish-led SDF had been predicting imminent victory for days but while thousands of the terrorists had fled a few were still hiding in the Syrian village.
The force has been battling for weeks to defeat Islamic State at the Baghouz enclave in southeastern Syria at the Iraqi border.
Link hienalouca.comhttps://hienalouca.com/2019/03/23/us-backed-syrian-forces-say-caliphate-has-lost-last-stronghold-but-where-is-its-leader/
Main photo article ISIS has lost its final stronghold in Syria according to the US-backed forces in a desperate stand which saw women deployed, but its leader remains elusive.
Syrian Democratic Forces declared a ‘total elimination’ of the jihadist group on Saturday morning after flushing out suicidal ...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/23/17/11366666-6841837-image-a-1_1553362935531.jpg
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