US-Backed Kurds Attack Syria Towns, Declare ‘Final Moments’ for ISIS

An estimated 300 Kurdish fighters from the US-backed faction the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group dominated by the YPG, have launched an offensive on Saturday against the last two ISIS-held towns in eastern Syria.

By Sunday, the Kurds were claiming substantial progress, and claimed ISIS are “living in their final moments” in their last territory along the Syria-Iraq border. A US spokesman said progress was made, but that the fight “is not over yet.”

This is not, of course, the first time the Kurdish forces attacked either of the remaining ISIS-held towns. Indeed, ISIS has lost those towns several times recently, only to recover them in counter-offensives in the days that followed.

Kurdish leaders predicting this to be the final moments of the fight is different, however. Yet it is unclear if the Kurds believe this offensive is different from all of those in recent months, or if they are just changing their talking points in the face of recent US promises to protect the YPG from Turkey.