Six killed as suicide bombers in women’s clothing attack people fleeing Islamic State’s last Syria zone

Three suicide attackers in women’s clothing killed six people leaving the last Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria on Friday in simultaneous blasts, the US-backed forces besieging the area said. The attack appears to be the first to target the many thousands of people who have poured out of the enclave at Baghouz over the five weeks since the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an offensive there. People fleeing the area have included surrendering Islamic State fighters, their family members, other supporters of the group, civilians caught up in the conflict and captives of the jihadists. The SDF and the US-led coalition that supports it have described the remaining Islamic State fighters holed up in Baghouz as being the group’s most hardened foreign militants. During the battle for the enclave, they have hidden in tunnels, deployed suicide attackers to strike advancing SDF troops and detonated car bombs. An SDF spokesman, Mustafa Bali, said the attacks had targeted surrendering family members of Islamic State militants at three crossing points from the enclave into SDF-controlled territory. Three SDF fighters were slightly injured and it was not yet known if the attackers were women or men in women’s clothing, Bali added. A witness said three women had carried out the attack at the corridor through which people were surrendering to the SDF. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group based in Britain, said two women had carried out suicide blasts. The push by US-backed Syrian forces to defeat IS in its last bastion in Syria has been slowed by the presence of civilians and scores of prisoners held by the extremists, officials said Friday. An SDF official, who goes by his nom de guerre, Ciyager, said IS militants are still holding some 300 prisoners, both civilians and SDF fighters, adding that their fate is unknown The military campaign to uproot the militants from the eastern banks of the Euphrates River began in September, pushing them down toward the village of Baghouz, near the Iraqi border. The military operation has been halted several times since February 12 as the SDF said a large number of civilians and hostages were holed up in the territory, a tent camp atop a network of caves and tunnels. This week, the SDF resumed its final push before reducing pressure due to strong resistance from the extremists and the surrender of hundreds of IS fighters and family members. Ciyager said there are no negotiations underway to secure the prisoners’ release. An SDF statement said hundreds of IS fighters and their families surrendered on Thursday. SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali tweeted that a new group of IS fighters surrendered on Friday, without giving a number or further details. Another SDF official said an Islamic State suicide bomber approaching to surrender blew himself up at the checkpoint where they search evacuees. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the incident, refused to say if there were casualties. The incident underscores how risky the operation is, and how it can be difficult for forces to tell civilians from combatants. ‘3,000 surrender’ as Islamic State nears defeat in last Syria bastion Baghouz Some fighters have surrendered in recent weeks, but hard core militants, including many foreigners, are still holed up in the shrinking space along the eastern banks of the Euphrates River. SDF commanders have stopped speculating when the battle may finally be over. Already some 25,000 people have left Baghouz, thousands more than were originally believed inside. Commanders say they don’t know how many more may still be left, hiding in tunnels beneath the war-scarred village. On Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights marked the eighth anniversary of the conflict by reporting that more than 570,000 people have been killed since March 15, 2011. The conflict began with pro-democracy protests and escalated into a civil war after a fierce government crackdown and the rise of an insurgency. Six million people have fled the country while a similar number are internally displaced. The Observatory said it has documented 371,222 deaths by name, including 112,623 civilians. The civilians include 21,065 children and teenagers as well as 13,173 women. The dead also include 67,000 rebels and army defectors as well as 115,000 government troops and pro-government fighters. Also killed during the conflict were some 66,000 militants, including al-Qaeda-linked fighters and members of IS. The Observatory estimates that 105,000 people died while in government jails, mostly under torture.