ISIS evacuates last stronghold as Iraq-Syria armies move in

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Islamic State militants have withdrawn from their last stronghold in Syria following an offensive by government forces, a war monitoring group said.

The last city controlled by ISIS, al-Boukamal in Deir ez-Zor province was liberated by the Syrian army on Thursday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The area of al-Boukamal city was encircled by both the Syrian and Iraqi armies as forces from the two counties met between al-Baajat in Syria and al-Aakashat in Iraq.

With the liberation of al-Boukamal, ISIS militants are expected to be hiding in small towns and villages along the border with Iraq in the Syrian desert.

After ISIS suffered a series of defeats in Deir ez-Zor, including the loss of their de facto capital of Raqqa, al-Boukamal was the last Syrian city the militant group controlled.

The Iraqi army, Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi, and Sunni tribal forces liberated al-Qaim on the Iraqi side of the border on Friday.

US defense chief James Mattis has described the area as "ISIS's last stand."

Approximately 120,000 people have been displaced from al-Boukamal alone in recent weeks said Linda Tom from the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office in Damascus.