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Islamic State militants along with women and children surrendered in the hundreds to U.S.-backed forces in eastern Syria on Thursday (March 14_ as the jihadists lost ground in their last shred of territory.
Many of the men were limping as they crossed out of the Baghouz enclave along a dirt path over a rocky hill, with weeping children and fully veiled women, dragging suitcases and backpacks behind them.
Some men trudged along on crutches with bandages wrapped around their legs. Women hoisted children onto their shoulders to get them up the hill, leaving strollers and blankets behind in the dust.
Adnan Afrin, a commander in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said hundreds of people were emerging, adding to the many thousands who have streamed out of Baghouz in recent weeks.
"They are coming out this way in case there are snipers or someone wants to attack."
SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said some 1,300 jihadists and their families came out on Thursday. SDF fighters said they included foreigners.
The militants surrendered during a pause in the U.S.-backed assault to seize the final patch of populated Islamic State territory - a self-declared "caliphate" that once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria.
In the morning, explosions rang out at the front line as artillery fire pounded Baghouz and warplanes buzzed overhead.
The SDF, which the Kurdish YPG militia spearheads, said the jihadists had deployed more than 20 suicide bombers in counter-attacks in the last two days.
It said at least 112 militants had been killed since it resumed the offensive at the weekend.
No Islamic State commanders are believed to be in Baghouz village, a U.S. defence official has said. U.S. government experts strongly believe its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is alive and possibly hiding in Iraq.
The jihadists are still assessed to be a potent security threat with a foothold in remote areas and widely expected to escalate a wave of guerrilla attacks.
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