The territory of ISIS terrorist group has shrunk to less than one percent of its original size, the US-led coalition said Thursday, as a final onslaught in eastern Syria loomed.
Kurdish-led forces spearheading the offensive have paused operations but US President Donald Trump predicted Wednesday that a final declaration of victory would come next week.
At its height, territory proclaimed by ISIS in June 2014 straddled swathes of land in Syria and Iraq and was roughly the size of Britain.
British Major General Christopher Ghika, the coalition's deputy commander, described the size of the last ISIS pocket as "now less than one percent of the original caliphate."
The coalition has been training and providing aerial support to the Syrian Democratic Forces, which launched an offensive on the last patch of militant territory in September 2018.
Two months later, they took Hajin, which was the last town of note under ISIS control and left the extremists fighting over a scattering of hamlets in the Euphrates River Valley.
Thousands of suspected ISIS militants have attempted to blend in with civilians fleeing the organization's battered last bastion, including a large number of foreigners.
"They are attempting to escape through intermixing with the innocent women and children attempting to flee the fighting," Ghika said in a statement.
The SDF have set up screening centers to process the droves of haggard people streaming out of ISIS-held territory, often famished and covered in dust.
US, French, British and other forces are also actively looking for wanted ISIS operatives among those fleeing the combat zone with civilians.
After weeks of advancing steadily, the SDF halted their ground assault on ISIS's tiny remaining enclave last week, saying the militants were increasingly using civilians as human shields.
Trump said in December that he had ordered a complete troop withdrawal from Syria, a shock announcement that left the Kurds scrambling for new allies.
Speaking at the State Department on Wednesday, Trump said that US-led troops and their Kurdish allies should formally announce the end of the "caliphate" some time next week.
"Remnants -- that's all they have, remnants -- but remnants can be very dangerous," Trump said.
"Rest assured, we'll do what it takes to defeat every ounce and every last person within the ISIS madness" he said.
