Al-Baghuz Fawqani (, Kurdish: ''Baxoz'') is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, located in

Abu Kamal District Abu Kamal District () is a district of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate in northeastern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Abu Kamal. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 265,142. The Euphrates divides the district, with H ...

Deir ez-Zor Deir ez-Zor () is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located on the banks of the Euphrates to the northeast of the capital Damascus, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 ...

. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Al-Baghuz Fawqani had a population of 10,649 in the 2004 census.

Syrian Civil War

During the course of the Syrian Civil War, the Baghuz area (including the nearby town Baghuz at-Tahtani) came under the control of the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

(ISIL) jihadist organization. The area was initially administered by ISIL's Euphrates Province, but later transferred to al-Barakah district. During a multi-year campaign in eastern Syria, the town was captured from ISIL by the

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

(SDF) on 23 January 2019, leaving ISIL completely besieged in the town of Al-Marashidah, to the north. However, on the next day, ISIL launched a series of suicide attacks to break the siege, allowing them to recapture parts of the town (mostly the western parts of the town), with the town's outskirts being targeted by air raids of the international coalition. On 7 February 2019, the SDF captured Al-Marashidah and other nearby areas from ISIL, completely besieging ISIL in the town of Al-Baghuz Fawqani, the final settlement under its control in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

Battle of Baghuz Fawqani

On 9 February 2019, the Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the CJTF-OIR Coalition, launched a final assault to take Baghuz Fawqani and wipe out the last bastion of physical territory held by the Islamic State, opening the attack with a massive bombardment on the Huwayjat Khanafirah neighborhood, with violent clashes continuing throughout the night and into the morning hours. The Coalition said it struck a mosque in Baghuz Fawqani on 11 February, as it was being used as a command and control center by the Islamic State. On 28 February, SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin announced discovery of a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of exec ...

found 10 days ago in the town. It contained dozens of bodies, including of men and women while heads were also found in the grave. The SDF was trying to confirm whether they were

Yazidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...

and Islamic State members. A video of Furat FM showed a mass-grave. The outlet's executive said that most of the bodies were apparently shot in the head. SDF spokeswoman Lilwa Abdulla confirmed they found large number of Yazidi bodies though there was no specific number. However, locals said the corpses were victims of airstrikes. The assault to take the town resumed on 1 March, with the remaining ISIL militants and their families besieged and encamped at a

tent city A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable te ...

along the river. On 18 March, the United States launched an

airstrike An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and drones. The official d ...

which killed 80 people, most of them civilians according to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. On 19 March, SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali announced that the SDF had control of all of Al-Baghuz Fawqani, with the exception for a few pockets along the shores of the Euphrates river, where intermittent clashes were still ongoing with resisting jihadists. On Saturday, 23 March 2019, SDF forces, backed by the US, retook all of Al-Baghuz Fawqani, ending ISIL's territorial rule over Syria and depriving the group of its final "capital," as well as removing almost all of the territory under their control.

References

{{Deir ez-Zor Governorate, abu Populated places in Deir ez-Zor Governorate Populated places on the Euphrates River