ISIL’s last town falls

Stuff reports:

Syria’s army has declared victory over the Islamic State terror group, saying its capture of the jihadists’ last town in the country marked the collapse of their three-year, hardline reign in the in the region.

The army and its allies were still fighting Islamic State in desert areas near Albu Kamal, the last town the militant group had held in Syria, near the border with Iraq, the army said.

But the capture of the town ends Islamic State’s era of territorial rule over the so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across Iraq and Syria and in which millions suffered under its hardline, repressive strictures.

Not an end to terrorism, but it is freedom for the millions who were under their rule. That is worth celebrating.