syria. the so-called islamic states territory one stretched across parts of iraq and syria years of military effort by iraqi and syrian fighters backed by the u.s. force the caliphate to retreat was its last stronghold the syrian democratic forces have called this the end of the caliphate at least in its physical form but stressed to so-called islamic state remains an insurgency threats in both iraq and syria a message echoed by u.s. allies to our mission. there as if you go to work to make sure that the roads islamic terrorism doesn't continue to grow thank you all very much i mean it's just take me seriously in bangor whose syrian fighters have searched the u.s. to keep troops in syria they warn if it pulls out now it will only be a matter of time until the threat of the i.s. grows again. well joining me now in the studio for more on this is iraqi journalist who just recently returned from syria thanks for joining me i mean so the islamic state has now lost all of its territory but do you think this really signals the end of a caliphate if still physically yes because they are not anymore

coalition airstrikes mounted an operation against the group's last major stronghold the city of iraq and syria i saw lost that battle in october the same year. now all that remains of the group is pockets of fighters confined to small areas in iraq and syria analysts say the decline for eisel began with its attempt to take a town on the syrian turkish border in september two thousand and fourteen that's kabbani over there the siege of kabbani on the turkey syria border is considered to be a turning point in the battle against eisel turkey were very worried that they managed to get this close to the turkish border so they allowed both the kurdish peshmerga and free syrian army forces to use their territory to go in to combine in conjunction with the wipe e.g. they were able to force i saw fighters on the outskirts of the town for many it's considered the beginning of the end feisal as caliphate in just a few short years eisel lost its territory and by the end of two thousand and seventeen stopped referring to the caliphate in two thousand and nineteen the group still represents a major threat h

coalition airstrikes mounted an operation against the group's last major stronghold the city of iraq and syria i saw lost that battle in october the same year. now all that remains of the group is pockets of fighters confined to small areas in iraq and syria analysts say the decline for ice all began with its attempt to take a town on the syrian turkish border in september two thousand and fourteen that's kabbani over there the siege of qubani on the turkey syria border is considered to be a turning point in the battle against eisel turkey were very worried that they managed to get this close to the turkish border so they allowed both the kurdish peshmerga and free syrian army forces to use their territory to go into kabul in conjunction with the wipe e.g. they were able to force i saw fighters on the outskirts of the town for many it's considered the beginning of the end feisal as caliphate in just a few short years eisel lost its territory and by the end of two thousand and seventeen stopped referring to the caliphate in two thousand and nineteen the group still represents a major threat to

and it's notjust in iraq and syria.ibya, egypt's and beyond. and, yes, there will be more attacks in the west, too. now, we can't always say that the attacks were planned or commissioned by the group, but that's not the point. the point is that the ideology alone is enough to inspire those attacks. and the ideology is very much alive. to understand why, just look at the places where it started. syria's civil war is not yet over. iraq is still divided, too. then there's everyone else with an interest in the region. america, russia, iran, turkey, all with their own different agendas. and you have splits along sectarian lines, along ethnic lines, along regional lines. and as long as those rivalries exist, the middle east is going to remain a deeply unstable place. fertile ground for those who don't mind mixing extreme violence with a narrow, medieval version of islam. and remember, groups like is, like its predecessors, were able to cause mayhem without actually occupying any territory at all. and there's no reason to supp

you look at iraq and syria and you see they. you look at iraq and syria and you see a they. ing in decimated cities, they actually do not see the coalition against isis, the 17 nation coalition, as necessarily being on their side. 80% of the city of raqqa was destroyed. the city of mysore. it would be easier to rebuild them in some other location. —— mosul. so it is hard to think those planes up above were on their side. added to that, donald trump, he was announcing that us forces were going to leave and leave them vulnerable and also, within a conflict between turkish forces on the one hand, the syrian regime and, of course the kurds, who performed the lame shed of those forces fighting isis in syria. you touched on the demographics. there is a $25 million bounty on big daddy. he has not been seen for a long time. -- the ice leader. there is no proof he has been caught in the strikes. he has gone to ground. it is a part of what isis will build to demonstrate that it has lasted longer than the entirety of the first world war. even in the banks on the euphrates that lasted fo

children's father now what we know about the kids is that they are being housed in a camp near the iraq syria border that is controlled by the code this is not the only case where are a number of relatives of children are french jihadists will appeal to the united nations to allow these children permission to come and live in strong being housed in what it's called the out refugee camp it is a camp when an attrition and disease is life there's not enough food there's not enough medicine to speak thousand children and the wives of islamic states fight has been house inside this tent and no question it arrives every day. three quarters of the children in the idaho camp and defies the conditions the terrible news knew they'd been treated worse than animals these children didn't ask to be avoided or be taken there near the victim of the choices made by the anthonys . now they are mourning two thousand five hundred children in some of the recent times around a hundred of them are french and this is actually a state of life of issues here in france with sixty seven percent of the population saying

all over the place to be quite honest we know that there is a number of pockets both in iraq and in syria not only in the. border area but also a bit deeper into iraq and there's people that are active with all the tactics that we knew al qaeda before off and isis in the beginning so they kidnap people and they ambush. cars day ambush checkpoints just about weekly and sometimes even more in iraq you get these kind of reports there's a lot of activity still around there are some people that's say that there is about fifteen thousand. fighters still around in iraq and syria. and where they are we don't really know exactly although we know that there are pockets of in terms of recruitment for for future members of vizsla this loss of the caliphate you get this beacon if you like to many that helped rule thousands of fighters and now it's gone how does how does i sleep splay not a way to potential recruits when you think that we disillusion you what people are looking forward to is that. there is a caliphate which is the place where all the muslims want to be this new beautiful new state now

syria's civil war is not yet over. iraq is still divided, too.s everyone else with an interest in the region. america, russia, iran, turkey, all with their own different agendas. there are splits along sectarian lines, along ethnic lines, along regional lines. as long as those rivalries exist, the middle east is going to remain a deeply unstable place. fertile ground for those who don't mind mixing extreme violence with a narrow, medieval version of islam. and remember, groups like is, like its predecessors, were able to cause mayhem without actually occupying any territory at all. and there's no reason to suppose they can't do that again. the pentagon said isis remains an active insurgent group in both iraq and syria, and it warns that without continued to pressure, it is likely to regain territory. paul adams reporting. our correspondent is monitoring developments in beirut. this had been much predicted, but it has now been much predicted, but it has now been announced that the islamic state group ‘s territory has been eliminated. what about th

syria? >> no. there are still thousands of folks unaccounted for. what i think we'll see in both iraq and syria in the months to come will be extensive mopup operations to try to eliminate those elements that have gone underground, that will organize in sleeper cells and so on to continue the attack. they have not given up one iota of their narrative or their obligations or their objectives. we're going to see that -- we have to eliminate that threat on the ground, and we'll see continued operations not just there, but if you do a connection of the dots of where the provinces of dash, dash being the arabic acronym, they're clustered. bocaboko haram is a dash provin. abu sayyaf in the philippines is a dash province. if you see the cluster of attacks, this is a virulent and dangerous group, as well as being on the internet. >> brennan: on the ground in the so-called caliphate in iraq and syria, the top u.s. commander in the middle east testified recently. he said fighters remain unrepentant, unbroken, radicalized. this is a generational problem, they're melting away. 400 u.s. service pe

all over the place to be quite honest we know that there is a number of pockets both in iraq and in syria not only in the. border area but also a bit deeper into iraq and there's people that are active with all the tactics that we knew al qaeda before off and isis in the beginning so they kidnap people and they ambush. cars day ambush checkpoints just about weekly and sometimes even more in iraq you get these kind of reports there's a lot of activity still around there are some people that's say that there is about fifteen thousand. fighters still around in iraq and syria. and where they are we don't really know exactly although we know that there are pockets of in terms of recruitment for for future members of vizsla this loss of the caliphate you get this beacon if you like to many that helped rule thousands of fighters and now it's gone how does how does i sleep splay not a way to potential recruits when you think that we disillusionment you what people are looking forward to is that. there is a caliphate which is the place where all the muslims want to be this new beautiful new state

in syria more because in iraq. there is like more stability right now and the country what we need the iraqi government to give more power more share for the sunni. population of the country so that actually they find. an alternative to isis. i don't join another wave of jihadists the future of this policy continues to have to be pursued well speaking of the jihadists not all the fighters were captured or killed where have they gone now and what's likely to happen in terms of potential threats at home for foreign fighters returning back to different countries i believe we are facing here. in fact because we have seen that after the end of the afghanistan war in the early ninety's when most of the of a gun obs actually turned back to the home countries. and found a very dire situation in the sense of having these are the james. dictators. corruption in these controversies or. lack of development saw these fighters actually joined in and local democracy indeed because if we look at their geo for example nine hundred

coalition airstrikes mounted an operation against the group's last major stronghold the city of iraq and syria i saw lost that battle in october the same year. now all that remains of the group is pockets of fighters confined to small areas in iraq and syria analysts say the decline for eisel began with its attempt to take a town on the syrian turkish border in september two thousand and fourteen that's kabbani over there the siege of kabbani on the turkey syria border is considered to be a turning point in the battle against eisel turkey were very worried that they managed to get this close to the turkish border so they allowed both the kurdish peshmerga and free syrian army forces to use their territory to go in to combine in conjunction with the wipe e.g. they were able to force i saw fighters on the outskirts of the town for many it's considered the beginning of the end feisal caliphate in just a few short years eisel lost its territory and by the end of two thousand and seventeen stopped referring to the caliphate in two thousand and nineteen the group still represents a major threat howe

if you look over the past fifteen years we have two different generations of jihadists in in iraq and syria the fear generation actually made that action to the patient of iraq and that was led actually by. his group he was killed in a car that was very much weakened after that after the series which was led by the time leader of the u.s. coalition in in iraq but. at that time they not he says used the local fighters from the tribal iraqi groups in the anbar province in order to the week of carita so second generation actually in marriage to after the syrian revolution and it was very much like a reaction to the policies of the iranians of the and maliki government in iraq of bashar assad and in syria so it was very much within the context of the security and conflict in in the region so no. of course we're out of it we're out of where we are like having the final days of of. the isis in syria and in iraq but as an ideology i think we're still have a lot to do in order to defeat the ice and i think the bottom for the for the hearts and minds is still very much there and i think unless we el

coalition airstrikes mounted an operation against the group's last major stronghold the city of iraq and syria i saw. with the same year. now all that remains of the group is pockets of fighters confined to small areas in iraq and syria analysts say the decline for eisel began with its attempt to take a town on the syrian turkish border in september two thousand and fourteen that's kabbani over there the siege of qubani on the turkey syria border is considered to be a turning point in the battle against eisel turkey were very worried that they managed to get this close to the turkish border so they allowed both the kurdish peshmerga and free syrian army forces to use their territory to go into kabul in conjunction with the wipe e.g. they were able to force i saw fighters on the outskirts of the town for many it's considered the beginning of the end feisal as caliphate in just a few short years eisel lost its territory and by the end of two thousand and seventeen stopped referring to the caliphate in two thousand and nineteen the group still represents a major threat or ever by using supporters

syria. the so-called islamic states territory one stretched across vast parts of iraq and syria years of military efforts by iraqi and syrian fighters backed by the u.s. force to caliphates retreat by guus was its last stronghold the syrian democratic forces have called this the end of the caliphate at least in its physical form but stressed the so-called to some extent remains an insurgent threat in both syria and iraq a message echoed by u.s. allies. our mission the mission there hasn't changed we go to work with you to make sure that the rights of the only theory doesn't continue to grow thank you all very much i mean it's just take me seriously. i mean the celebrations in by guus syrian fighters have urged the u.s. to keep troops in syria at least for now they warn if the u.s. pulls out it will only be a matter of time until the i-s. threats grows again. well joining me now in the studio for more on this is iraqi journalist mirasol we who just recently returned from syria thanks for joining me i mean so the islamic state has now lost all of its territory but do you think that's really signals

futures a border crossing between syria and iraq the united states was quick to jump there stablished a presence they've kept it for years it basically cut off syria and iraq so an iran iraq damascus syria route is impossible while those troops are there there's another road past their resort but that's much further away basically the united states holding out for along with their rebels there is a strategic move it is a pain for the syrian government it's. basically a thorn in their side and trump himself has said repeatedly that they go into withdrawal from syria we're going to pull all the troops out then he did in about face saying there's going to be a presence left the united states military presence along with allies and he said they're going to withdraw again he's been jumping back and forth i'm not sure that they've made up their minds yet nevertheless there is a lot of united states allergies and many other pundits experts predict this that the united states will stay to safeguard those allies syrian kurds against turkey. while we have completed the territorial defeat of isi

the american military intervention in iraq and syria and libya and other places.o back to thatjust now, that point has been heard. we have heard about the regional dimension of this, but what about the global ideological dimension if some of these fighters... we have seen president trump say take your fighters back to europe and a lot of european governments including the uk not wanting to take them back. is there a risk of the permeation, as trump puts it? i think the real risk as we have these two, coming back to the mirror metaphor, isis and white supremacist movement in a kind of terrorist guerilla war which is being used by national governments and becoming part of a geopolitical struggle. i remember the huntington book the clash of civilisations which was supposed to set out a path for american power in the world after the cold war, what was the grand battle america was going to be part of? i feel like we are seeing a guerilla version of that taking shape and that is what is really worrying to me, i am just as worried about white supremacists as i am the ret

caliphate that fell physically yes because they are not anymore controlling the church or the in syria with or in iraq but you should just imagine this the idea of khaled faith still put in the minds of many young people in islam of course not just in syria and iraq and true destroyer that you should bring some of the idea another perspective another hope for that people are telling them this is not the right tway to do imagine how you are going to live this is really a. an idea still a living and within the community it's them a community now the united states president has said that his country would remain vigilant against islamic state but what should this mean concretely do we still need to have soldiers on the ground or are there some other way to stop them from returning i think stood a non-single to the breaking of. is the point that the bouts of shifting from the from the ground to the security services bouts of holds i think. definitely there is another war has been begin the ol just to go looking for the sleeping skilled in iraq in also within european countries i think i will try to make s

syria or iraq maybe they don't deserve the citizenship. all. other question then that would be lead to the indication that they would have to kind of either be stateless people permanently or they would have to face the arbitrary legal structures of syria or iraq and be confined to that and stuck with that so that's something that they have to face and iraq has definitely been taking strong initiatives against former theirs with questionable rule of law with questionable appearance to the western legal standards so they are having to be born into iraq and the iraqi legal system is very likely that these people will be either kept there indefinitely and then when they go up even be kept in prison for twenty years thirty years less that you mentioned they had the russian policy on their repatriating the isis family members and there's been an active effort for more than a year and a half that has not actually been publicized in the russian media because i think the russian public opinion is also. strongly n.t. i says in this regard people are leg

the question is not whether isis has been dealt a catastrophic military setback in syria and iraq. as. the five-year old caliphate has been shattered to a million pieces, but the drivers are there. you have tens of thousands of isis and al qaeda fighters still active. not only in syria and iraq but in the sinai peninsula in egypt, in somalia, in the philippines, in west africa, in many places. so isis, not just isis, but isis and al qaeda, the al qaeda that attacked the united states on 9/11 were most likely survive and fight another day and another -- and unless middle eastern states and arab and muslim states and the international communities of the united states tackle the real drivers that gave rise to isis, my fear and i hope i am wrong, george, my fear is that isis will mostly rebound in the next one or two or three years. >> you are talking about, fawaz, those areas, those ungovernable spaces like in afghanistan, yemen, syria, iraq, libya and so on, parts of saudi arabia where c radicalized ideology, different ways of looking at islam certainly are places where you point out

involves a young woman she manning cento who some five years ago promised for syria with her husband babysitter old in iraq her and they supported islamic state until she and her husband were both recently killed in allied airstrikes not her three children are still in a refugee camp along the syria iraqi border called out for now the situation in the camp is dire indeed some sixty five thousand people are currently hols their malnutrition is right it is not enough food is not enough medicine and she's mother who lives in the north of france has appealed to the french president a promise to allow her three grandchildren she joins her here in this heat records are some of the issues doing in the whole camp on defying the conditions a terrible there is no room been treated worse than animals these children didn't ask to be born or be taken there they're the victim of the choices made by their parents now there are currently some two and a half thousand children who are being housed in syrian refugee camps and around one hundred of them are a french are region and french nationality this is an issue that is h

is your assessment, of the direction of events in syria, what is your position towards the reintegration of the week? what is the impact of this on iraq. >> translator: syria is the brother in arab country. what syria has been objected to as a tax is not very much longer term. it is very important, that syria be back to the arab league, then to go somewhere else. syria is part of the arab world, and for the syrians, they have good positions with iraq, before 2003 and after 2003. before 2003, me personally, they adopted the resistance. when i was subject to terrorist attacks and targeting, i found that the syrians welcomed iraqis and welcomed me. and we have to return back that phase. and strengthen their unification's, to have the people of syria to support those who decide their own political future, and who is going to be their leader, that is their own decision, and it is for our benefit, that iraq and syria, to clear syria from all terrorist and extreme organizations. we have to have them back, as a participant with the international community i myself invited the speaker in syria, to come to iraq and visit iraq in april, to have

statement saying the free british people news support and continue to cover crimes of terrorism in syria iraq yemen by taking this decision the u.k. government is insulted the emotions and will of the lebanese people who consider as will are political in popular power that has been widely represented in the parliament and the current government so kind of a kind of victory fez will of being gamed by this kind of censorship and banning and designation as terrorist i think so i think the rest of the world at least half of it or better understands that when you're up against a state that has the latest and modern military equipment and behind it the greatest military power on the face of the earth the united states you have a couple of choices you can not launder and beat a slave or you can take means to oppose that modern military power and that is what as a law has done that is what hamas has done it's understandable i'm going back to my military professional roots i learned when i was being briefed on al qaida at the joint special operations command of fort bragg in our country back in two th

while we have completed the territorial defeat of isis in syria and iraq. we still have much work to do we've been clear that the campaign is not over. we will continue to support the coalition's operations in syria to ensure this enduring defeat but as for the final victory again trump possesses the troubles jump that that is said that you know declared final victory of isis they've been destroyed here it's all my. it's all you know of my achievement but they aren't the score they're hiding out there they're still in those tunnels underground hiding among among civilian populations make no mistake is preserving their force they've made calculated decisions to preserve what's left of their dwindling personnel and capabilities by taking their chances in camps for internally displaced persons and going to ground in remote areas they waiting for the right time to reemerge many of them as zealots there still as fanatically loyal to isis as they were when it all began. central london has seen one of its biggest protests in recent history organizers of an anti bri

in 2014 the militantjihadi group isis declared a caliphate or islamic state in syria and iraq. of its rule it imposed its brutal ideology on an area perhaps as large as the uk and attracted thousands of supporters from abroad. five years later, is territory has shrunk to a village close to the border between syria and iraq and many of its fighters and their families have surrendered to american backed forces. president trump has declared what he called 100% victory. but is this the end for the group orjust the end isis was down to 30,000 fighters, five days later they were coming in to iraq and taking the second city. it isa to iraq and taking the second city. it is a defeat for the physical territory of the still control large areas, still 3 million people with perhaps 50,000 quite extreme fighters allied to isis. still a lot of things going on isis are on the ground, living into villages at night to get money and weapons and food. particularly in front line areas so food. particularly in front line areas so the idea it is finished as the dispatch also need to look at the disp

foot is a border crossing between syria and iraq the united states was quick to jump there stablished a presence they've kept it for years it basically cut off syria and iraq so an iran iraq damascus syria route is impossible while those troops are there basically the united states holding out for along with the rebels there is a strategic it is a pain for the syrian government it's. basically a thorn in their side and nevertheless there's a lot of united states allies on the ground so. kurds for example who they've armed to the teeth and my bet is and many other pundits experts predict this that the united states will stay to safeguard those allies syrian kurds against. while we have completed the territorial defeat of isis in syria and iraq we still have much work to do we've been clear that the campaign is not over we will continue to support the coalition's operations in syria to ensure this enduring defeat asked for the final victory again trungpa. trampas jump to that is said that you know declared final victory of isis they've been destroyed here it's all my. it's all you know

while we have completed the territorial defeat of isis in syria and iraq. we still have much work to do we've been clear that the campaign is not over we will continue to support the coalition's operations in syria to ensure this enduring defeat asked for the final victory again trungpa. trumpets jump to that is said that you know declared final victory of isis they've been destroyed here it's all my. it's all you know my achievement but no they aren't the score they're hiding out they're still in those tunnels underground they're hiding among among civilian populations and many of them as zealots they're still as fanatically loyal to isis as they were when it all began. part and demand a people's vote you can see latest pictures here now and it comes agreed to postpone the country's withdrawal deadline they pushed the date back to may twenty second prime minister trees of a will now trying to get the british parliament to approve her deal but it having already being rejected twice she's now warning that vote might not take place as expected next week throwi

while we have completed the territorial defeat of isis in syria and iraq. we still have much work to do we've been clear that the campaign is not over we will continue to support the coalition's operations in syria to ensure this enduring defeat as for the final victory again trungpa. trampas jump to that is said that you know declare final victory of isis they've been destroyed here it's all my. it's all you know of my achievement but they aren't the sure they're hiding out they're still in the startles underground they're hiding among among civilian populations and many of them as zealots they're still as fanatically loyal to isis as they were when it all began. now organizers of an anti march acclaiming a million people have descended on central london today to take part and demand a people's phone you can see the latest pictures here at the moment it does come amid increasing uncertainty over the u.k.'s divorce from the e.u. but on thursday leaders agreed to postpone the country's withdraw deadline pushing the date back to may the twenty second the prime

there is still a civil war happening in syria, iraq has its challenges.in islamic state and doesn't need to involve a us presence. definitely, is akin to that is a governance both in this area and iraq and the inclusiveness of sorties and to be able to include more sorties —/ sunnis and government. if the al—assad regime ta kes government. if the al—assad regime takes place, it is likely to be limited for the sunnis and it will allow isis to come back rather quickly. what about the role of justice in terms of foreign fighters and people being punished for perhaps their involvement of the persecution of minorities? that is a good question. the islamic state atrocities a greater among populations in syria and iraq them internationally and how they are held accountable will be very important to understanding how this all shapes out. that could be more immediate concerns in front of us and that is stabilising these areas are making sure isis does not come back and moving forward. we will be watching to see what happens. thank you very much. organisers of a ma

islamists i asked the clarinets caliphate and twenty fourteen and went on to control vast areas of syria and iraq. let's bring in vladimir fun villian borg our correspondent in syria he's currently a maraca blood amir what can you tell us about the situation on the ground right now. well this is today they finally announced her liberation not her over gosh and as you have readers even before the liberation. of the spite of this they want to continue with support from the u.s. not correlation because they're afraid they're still proud of isis the purcell's but until now like now. they're seated on the ground but there's still a risk of so i see superstock tax the battle for the goes has been going on for weeks why did it take the syrian defense forces so long to drive out i guess while there was some expected the large presence of course of billions of women and children most of them who are most likely i was to supporters but they didn't expect to be that many people learned to bring to us the minister more like sixty thousand people now in all guns and most of those people they have come from be