Islamic State jihadist group has been '100 percent' defeated in Syria: Donald Trump

The United States President Donald Trump on Friday said the Islamic State jihadist group is "100 percent" defeated in Syria. The announcement was made after Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan briefed the President that the militant group Islamic State no longer holds any territory in Syria.

"The territorial caliphate has been eliminated in Syria," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders was quoted as saying.

Soon after the development Trump took to Twitter and wrote "ISIS uses the internet better than almost anyone, but for all of those susceptible to ISIS propaganda, they are now being beaten badly at every level....".

"....There is nothing to admire about them, they will always try to show a glimmer of vicious hope, but they are losers and barely breathing. Think about that before you destroy your lives and the lives of your family!" he added.

....There is nothing to admire about them, they will always try to show a glimmer of vicious hope, but they are losers and barely breathing. Think about that before you destroy your lives and the lives of your family!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2019

The development comes a day after Trump had on March 21 said that the Islamic State's last bastion in Syria will be "gone" by the end of the day. He was showing off maps that illustrate the dramatic shrinking of territory held by the jihadist group in the period from his election in 2016 and now.

In one map shown by Trump to reporters in Washington and then again at a rally to factory workers in Lima, Ohio, IS territory marked in red extends over large areas. A second map, he said, shows the jihadist organisation about to be wiped out.

"There is no red. In fact, there's actually a tiny spot which will be gone by tonight," he said.

Fighting continued in Baghouz, Syria, on Wednesday, but the IS jihadists are down to a tiny scrap of land, where they are surrounded and under heavy fire from a US-led coalition of Kurds, Syrians and others.

(With inputs from agencies)