Top US official calls ISIS a 'pathetic and a lost cause' after mass surrender of militants at Raqqa
Brett McGurk via Twitter
After US-backed Kurdish and Syrian forces defeated ISIS in the terror group's final Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, tweeted a picture of its fighters surrendering en masse.
"#ISIS lost nearly 6000 terrorists in #Raqqa, then surrendered in large numbers. Once purported as fierce, now pathetic and a lost cause," tweeted McGurk.
McGurk's photo comes after other reports of mass surrenders of ISIS fighters as the terror group loses wide swaths of territory and changes tactics to allow surrender. Previously, ISIS had leaned heavily on its members' willingness to die for the cause.
Today, the soldiers seem content to surrender to Kurdish forces, who take them prisoner instead of other forces, which may execute or even torture them.
With the liberation of Raqqa, ISIS now controls only a small area of mostly desert towns along the Syrian and Iraqi border. Local militias, governments, and a US-led coalition of 67 nations have led a ground and air offensive to erode the group's territory since its inception in 2014.
McGurk posted several other pictures of the US-led forces reclaiming schools and other vital infrastructure.
- Gold rate today: Latest gold rates in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and other Indian cities
- AI Express cancels 75 flights on Friday, expects normal ops by Sunday: Official
- Luxury homes soar to 21 per cent market share; Affordable housing declines to 20 per cent in 5 years
- India poised to become world's third largest consumer market by 2026 outpacing Germany, Japan
- IPL's impact player rule implemented as test case, can be revisited: Jay Shah
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market