Women and children evacuated from last ISIS-held area in Syria

The civilian escapees were waiting to be redirected to the northern al-Hol camp, which is under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF said more than 6,500 people, mostly civilians, had escaped since the PKK-affiliated group opened a safe corridor on Monday (March 5). It was not possible to independently verify the number stated by the SDF, who added that several hundred jihadists surrendered after leaving alongside the civilians.

It was previously thought the area had already been completely evacuated of the civilian population.

Baghouz, a collection of hamlets and farmland near the border with Iraq, is the last patch of populated territory that ISIS still holds in the area straddling the two countries where it declared a caliphate in 2014.