In recent months, a U.S.-backed coalition of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been attacking and closing in on the last remaining ISIS holdout, in eastern Syria. What remains of the so-called caliphate that once controlled more than 30,000 square miles in Syria and Iraq can now fit into less than half of one square mile in a small village called Baghouz. Weeks of air strikes and bombardment have driven out many fighters, as well as thousands of civilians, who are turning themselves over to SDF soldiers. The advance was paused today while negotiations took place for the release of more civilians, but the last few ISIS jihadists remain boxed in, with few options left.
Photos: Closing In on the Last ISIS Stronghold
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Read moreA member of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) monitors trucks carrying men, identified as Islamic State fighters who surrendered, as they are transported out of the last ISIS holdout, in the town of Baghouz in Syria's northern Deir Ezzor province, on February 20, 2019. #
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Read moreA fighter with the U.S.-backed SDF keeps watch in the Baghouz area on February 12, 2019, during an operation to expel hundreds of ISIS jihadists from the region. #
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Read moreA military vehicle of the SDF, photographed during an operation near Baghouz on February 13, 2019 #
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Read moreSDF fighters prepare equipment at a base on February 16, 2019, in As Susah, Syria. Civilians have begun returning to some small towns close to Baghouz that were recently liberated by the U.S.-led coalition and the SDF. #
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Read moreA military plane with the U.S.-backed coalition against the Islamic State releases a bomb over the embattled village of Baghouz on February 19, 2019. #
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Read moreSmoke from an air strike rises over buildings behind SDF soldiers on a rooftop near the front line on February 10, 2019, in Baghouz. #
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Read moreMen believed to be Islamic State fighters and their families walk in a field as they leave the embattled ISIS holdout of Baghouz on February 13, 2019. #
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Read moreA member of the Kurdish-led SDF looks through binoculars as he monitors a convoy of vehicles carrying men, identified as Islamic State fighters who surrendered, as they were transported out of Baghouz on February 20, 2019. #
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Read moreAn SDF fighter keeps watch near veiled women standing on a field after they fled from the Baghouz area on February 12, 2019. #
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Read moreCivilians fleeing from fighting in the frontline Syrian village of Baghouz sit together as they wait to be screened and registered by SDF forces near the Omar oil field in the countryside of Deir Ezzor province on January 30, 2019. #
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Read moreAn alleged ISIS fighter who fled from Baghouz sits blindfolded in the back of a pickup truck after he was taken into custody by SDF forces on January 30, 2019. #
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Read moreAlleged ISIS fighters who fled from Baghouz sit blindfolded in the back of a pickup truck after they were taken into custody by SDF forces on January 30, 2019. #
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Read moreAn alleged ISIS fighter sits blindfolded after he was taken into custody by SDF forces near Baghouz on January 30, 2019. #
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Read moreSmoke from an air strike rises over buildings near the front line on February 10, 2019, in Baghouz, Syria. #
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Read moreA convoy of trucks transporting civilians fleeing the battered ISIS-held village of Baghouz on February 11, 2019 #
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Read moreCivilians who fled from the embattled Baghouz area sit in a truck on February 14, 2019, during an operation by the U.S.-backed SDF to expel hundreds of ISIS jihadists from the region. #
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Read moreCivilians gather at an SDF outpost near Baghouz on January 26, 2019, after a dusty trip in the back of several trucks. #
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Read moreWomen and children fleeing from Baghouz, photographed in the back of a truck on February 11, 2019 #
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Read moreA wounded girl fleeing from Baghouz stands in a field on February 13, 2019. #
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Read moreCivilians fleeing from Baghouz walk in a field on February 13, 2019. #
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Read moreAn SDF fighter walks down an empty street amid destruction on February 16, 2019, in As Susah, Syria. Civilians have begun returning to some small towns close to Baghouz that were recently liberated by the U.S.-led coalition and the SDF. #
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Read moreDestruction in Hajin, Syria, where some residents have begun returning after ISIS jihadists were driven out, photographed on February 16, 2019 #
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Read moreA fighter in the U.S.-backed Kurdish-Arab coalition of the SDF takes a rest during an operation to expel ISIS from Baghouz on February 16, 2019. #
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Read moreA U.S. soldier, photographed atop an armored vehicle on a road in Syria's northern Deir Ezzor province on February 21, 2019 #
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Read moreA member of the SDF stands guard on top of a building in the frontline Syrian village of Baghouz on February 17, 2019. #
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Read moreVehicles belonging to the U.S.-backed coalition drive down a battle-damaged street in Baghouz on February 17, 2019. #
Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty
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