syria ISIS war
© REUTERS / Rodi Said
On Friday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters that the Daesh* terror group had been completely eliminated in Syria.

Reacting to the White House's official statement, the Syrian envoy to the UN called the Pentagon's announcement of victory over Daesh a 'bluff'.

The envoy's response comes shortly after a Sputnik source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the US announcement about the complete elimination of Daesh is not very convincing.

In addition, later in the day, Reuters reported, citing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as saying that "heavy fighting" is still ongoing at Baghuz in Eastern Syria "to finish off whatever remains" of Daesh.

​This comes after earlier in the day White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declared that the entire territory of Syria has been "100 per cent eliminated" from Daesh* terrorists. She also noted that President Donald Trump was briefed on the issue by US Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan while the American leader was on his way to Florida on Air Force One.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that the final terrorist group's enclave would be "gone by tonight." Later, reports claimed that the US-backed SDF "liberated all of Baghouz from the Daesh mercenaries". However, the next day, Reuters reported citing a Syrian Democratic Forces' authority that the Kurdish-led group rejected claims that it captured the last Daesh stronghold in Syria.

The Syrian village of Baghouz was considered the last Daesh stronghold in the Arab Republic where the Kurdish-led SDF had been repeatedly conducting operations and the US-led coalition conducting bombings.