‘A remarkable achievement’: Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg hails the end of the Islamic State caliphate in Syria
- The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said they had captured the last piece of territory held by the militants on Saturday
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday hailed the end of Islamic State’s nearly five-year-old “caliphate” as a “remarkable achievement”.
Fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said they had captured the last piece of territory held by the militants on Saturday.
They declared the so-called caliphate which once stretched across swathes of Iraq and Syria to be finished.
“The liberation of the last territory held by ISIS/Daesh is a remarkable achievement of the Global @coalition. #Nato remains committed to our common fight against terrorism,” Stoltenberg tweeted.
While Nato has not had a combat role in the fight against IS, it has provided reconnaissance aircraft to the global coalition to defeat the insurgent group.
The state proclaimed in mid-2014 by fugitive IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi started collapsing in 2017 when parallel offensives in Iraq and Syria wrested back its main hubs Mosul and Raqa.