BAGHOUZ, Syria -- U.S.-backed forces fighting to recapture the last Islamic State extremist group outpost in Syria admitted on Sunday that they were facing "difficulties" defeating the extremists, saying they were being slowed by mines, tunnels and concerns over harming women and children among the militants.
The battle to capture the extremist group's last patch of territory in eastern Syria -- a collection of tents covering foxholes and underground tunnels in the village of Baghouz -- has dragged on for weeks amid an unexpected exodus of civilians from the area.
The sheer number of people who have emerged from Baghouz -- nearly 30,000 since early January, according to Kurdish officials -- has taken the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces by surprise. Most have been women and children whose existence in a labyrinth of underground caves and tunnels was unknown to the fighters.
In the past two weeks, many fighters appeared to be among those evacuating. But an unknown number of militants and civilians remain inside, refusing to surrender.
"We are facing several difficulties regarding the operations," Syrian Democratic Forces commander Kino Gabriel told reporters outside Baghouz on Sunday.
He cited the large number of mines and explosive devices planted by the Islamic State and the existence of tunnels and hideouts beneath the ground that are being used by the militants to attack Syrian Democratic Forces forces or defend themselves.
The camp is all that remains of a self-declared Islamic "caliphate" that once sprawled across large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq. But a declaration of victory and the group's territorial defeat has been delayed as the military campaign sputtered on in fits and starts.
A final push by Kurdish-led troops started on Jan. 9 but has been paused on several occasions, mainly to allow for civilians to evacuate and fighters to surrender.
Underscoring the struggles faced by the Syrian Democratic Forces as they try to flush the out extremists, three Islamic State fighters emerged from Baghouz on Friday acting as though they wanted to surrender, only to blow themselves up, killing six people.
The campaign has also been hindered by bad weather. Intermittent storms have at times turned the battlefield to mud, and Islamic State militants have mounted counteroffensives on windy days, burning tires and oil to try to force the troops back with smoke.
Gabriel said the besieged Islamic State encampment in Baghouz was approximately 62 acres -- much the same area it was five weeks ago, when the Kurdish-led group said it was finally going to conclude the battle.
The battle against the Islamic State has taken place while Syria struggles with a civil war that entered its ninth year this month. The United Nations believes that a committee to draft a new constitution for Syria is key to holding free elections and ending that war.
But Syria's foreign minister said on Sunday that the country's constitution is a sovereign matter to be decided by the Syrians themselves without any foreign intervention.
The comments by Walid al-Moallem were made during a meeting with the U.N. special envoy to Syria, Geir Pederson.
Pederson, who took up his post in January, arrived in Syria for meetings with Syrian officials. The envoy has said that the long-delayed formation of the committee is "a potential door-opener for the political process."
The 150-member committee is intended to represent the government, the opposition and civil society.
Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/18/2019