The final defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is still months of “hard fighting” away, but the outcome is inevitable, a senior commander with the U.S.-led counter-ISIS coalition said Tuesday.
“We are still in the fight for at least two or three months,” said French Brig. Gen. Frederic Parisot, in a video briefing for Pentagon reporters from Baghdad.
“We expect to have a tough fight in the last place where ISIS is, but the good thing is they are trapped,” said Parisot, who said the coalition has a good idea where the last groups of fighters are because it has been gathering intelligence for months.
As of Tuesday, Operation Roundup is in its 84th day of what is intended to be the final offensive to wipe out ISIS remnants in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, know as the MERV.
The coalition estimates at least several hundred ISIS fighters are between the towns of Hajin and Abu Kamal near the Iraqi border.
Iraq Security Forces are blocking their movement to the east, and for now at least Russian and Syrian forces are blocking escape to the west.
“In the coming weeks we are going to get rid of that place, and basically that will be the end of any land owned by Daesh or ruled by Daesh,” said Parisot, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. “Basically they are trapped there, and if they are trapped there we are going to kill them.”
The U.S. expects once the last territory is liberated from ISIS control, the remnants will go underground and operate as an insurgent group.
“They are going to after that basically, and when you hide you cannot fight,” Parisot said.
The coalition also announced the deaths of six ISIS leaders who were said to be responsible for planning terror operations overseas in strikes conducted in April and June.
Munawwar al-Mutayari, a Syrian-based ISIS member planning external attacks to be carried out in Saudi Arabia, was said to have been killed April 24.
A Belgian foreign fighter, Soufiane Makouh, who came to Syria to plan attacks against the U.S. and its interests, was killed June 2.
Then a June 12 strike targeted a man known as Simak, an ISIS intelligence official linked to a terror cell plotting attacks in Sweden. Two additional people associated with the Sweden attack plot, Abu Awf and Abu-Quddamah, were killed in the same strike.
Then two days later, Swedish attack cell member Sharif al-Ragab was also killed.
“The removal of these leaders has prevented external attack planning, facilitation and operations targeting Saudi Arabia, the United States and Sweden,” said a statement from Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve.
