Operation Roundup targets Islamic State remnants in Syria

In Operation Roundup, Syrian Democratic Forces continue to fight remnants of Islamic State in Syria’s Middle Euphrates River valley, Army Col. Rob Manning, the Pentagon’s director of press operations, told reporters today.

The SDF has also gained ground through offensive operations and occupies the majority of the ground along the border since beginning Operation Roundup on May the 1st, Manning said.

The SDF has cleared the Baghuz area of Syria and continues to reinforce battle positions there, he said, adding that the troops are also preparing for future clearance operations in the Dashiba vicinity.

“Coalition forces support the SDF’s efforts by conducting air, artillery and mortar strikes against ISIS targets,” the colonel said.

In the past 48 hours, coalition military forces conducted strikes against Islamic State fighters and equipment near Abu Kamal, engaging Islamic State tactical units, command and control, supply routes and fighting positions there, Manning noted.

Since the beginning of Operation Roundup, the SDF has continued to gain ground through offensive operations and occupies the majority of the Iraq-Syria border, he said.

The SDF, Manning said, has cleared more than 19 square miles of territory, bringing the total liberated area in the Euphrates River valley to more than 1,900 square miles.

As the SDF liberates territory, he added, coalition forces are working with local military and civil councils to assist in establishing security conditions on the ground, so that IS cannot return to terrorise the local population and reestablish safe havens to plot and carry out terror attacks.