US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces outside Baghouz. Photos / AP
Hundreds of people have trudged out of the Isis' last stronghold, surrendering to US-backed forces before their final assault to capture the only village still in the militants' hands.
Some of Isis' most die-hard fighters are pinned down in Baghouz, a remote hamlet nestled on a bend of the Euphrates
River close to the Iraqi border.
There is only one path out of what they once called the caliphate, snaking through the green grass and flowers of eastern Syria. No longer spanning an area the size of Britain, their territory is now visible in its entirety from hills that surround it, covering no more than a square mile.
After three days of fighting earlier in the week, the combat quieted - with a lull in artillery fire and US airstrikes - as the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces gave the village's remaining inhabitants a chance to flee or give themselves up.
More than 1200 people had accepted the offer since yesterday, American aid workers said, walking in the darkness toward the SDF militia fighters on the other side of a hill - and on to an uncertain future. Among those departing the village were defeated foot soldiers of Isis (Islamic State).
