Islamic State’s caliphate is ‘totally eliminated’ after years of terror

The terror regime of Islamic State has finally fallen, according to reports.

A U.S.-backed Syrian force says it has liberated the last area held by the group in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz.

The military have now declared victory over the extremists and the self-declared caliphate.

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.

Mr Bali said the so-called caliphate, which once sprawled across much of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, is gone.

However, he said there were a

He pledged to continue the fight against remnants of the extremist group until they are completely eradicated.

In recent weeks, tens of thousands of civilians and surrendering fighters have been fleeing the last remaining stronghold of IS.

Evacuees spoke of the situation being like a ‘horror film’ saying there is a ‘massacre’ happening.

Kurdish-led forces extracted people from the last pockets of militant-held territory around the town of Baghouz by the Syria/Iraq border.

But diehard fighters remain holed up in a small area to make their bloody last stand against government forces.

IS held roughly one third of Syria and Iraq at the height of its power in 2014 – an area four times the size of the UK.

Then its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself ‘caliph’, or leader of all the world’s Muslims.

Subsequently, IS was steadily beaten back by a range of enemies including the U.S.-led international coalition.

It suffered major defeats in 2017 when it lost the Iraqi city of Mosul and its Syrian headquarters at Raqqa.

This story is breaking and will be updated.