Syria force takes IS bastion, 'caliphate' wiped out

Fighters of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) celebrate near the Omar oil field in the eastern Syrian Deir Ezzor province on March 23, 2019, after announcing the total elimination of the Islamic State (IS) group's last bastion in eastern Syria. AFP PHOTO

BAGHOUZ, Syria: Kurdish-led forces pronounced the death of the Islamic State group's nearly five-year-old 'caliphate' Saturday after flushing out diehard jihadists from their very last bastion in eastern Syria.