The Syrian regime says it has retaken the last stronghold of Daesh

The Syrian regime and its allies have recaptured Bukamal, Daesh's last major stronghold in Syria, and are now fighting the last remaining pockets in the country's eastern desert, the army's general command said on Thursday.

"The liberation of Bukamal city is very important because it signals the general fall of the terrorist Daesh organisation's project in the region," an army statement said.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that regime forces and allied troops, including Iraqi fighters, are combing Bukamal after Daesh militants withdrew from the city.

Regime media said Syrian forces had clashed with Daesh holdouts in the town after they entered it late Wednesday. On Thursday, they declared the town totally free of the militants.

At the height of its power in 2015, Daesh ruled an expanse of Iraq and Syria, eradicating the border, printing money, imposing draconian laws and plotting attacks across the world.

TRT World's Ahmed al Burai has more on the story.  

Lebanon's Hezbollah militia was "the foundation in the battle of Bukamal," said the commander, adding that hundreds of the elite forces of the Iran-backed group took part in the battle.

During the battle, Hezbollah forces entered Iraq and the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces crossed into Syria to help capture the town, the commander said.

Continuing Threat 

Despite its losses, Daesh still has a territorial presence in Libya and elsewhere, and many governments expect it to remain a threat even after it loses the so-called caliphate it declared from Mosul, Iraq, in 2014.

It has already carried out guerrilla operations in both Iraq and in Syria, and has continued to inspire lone militants to attack civilian targets in the West.

In Syria, the end of major operations against Daesh may only prefigure a new phase of the war, as the rival forces which have seized territory from the militants square off.

The Syrian regime forces, alongside Hezbollah and other militias, backed by Iran and Russia, have seized swathes of central and eastern Syria in the advance against Daesh this year.

Russian official media has in recent weeks reported a surge of strategic bombing and cruise missile strikes on Daesh targets in eastern Syria as the army advanced.

A US-backed coalition has supported a rival campaign by the SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias that have pushed Daesh from much of the country's north and east.