IS 'decimated' and down to last mile of territory, says US vice president Mike Pence

The Islamic State caliphate has been "decimated" and the last mile of IS-controlled territory in Syria is being captured by American-backed forces, says US vice president Mike Pence.

He said the US would keep a strong presence in the Middle East and vowed the remnants of IS would be "hunted down wherever and whenever they rear their ugly head".

A commander with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they were fighting IS militants in one small part of the eastern village of Baghuz in Deir el-Zour province, near the Iraqi border.

It comes as the US military has begun the process of withdrawing its troops from Syria following a decision by Donald Trump in 2018.

But the president's move has sparked widespread fears that it could lead to a resurgence of IS in the future.

At the height of the terrorists' power in 2014, the "death cult" controlled nearly a third of Iraq and Syria.

Mr Pence told a security conference in Germany that troops have liberated five million people from IS areas in recent years.

Thousands of civilians have been streaming out of Baghuz this week to escape the violence.

And SDF commander Ciya Furat said it would only be a short period of time before the defeat of the extremists was declared.

Mr Furat said IS fighters were besieged in an area of about 700 square metres adding the push was slow because the extremists were using civilians as human shields.

He told reporters: "Thousands of civilians are still trapped there as human shields. In the coming few days, in a very short time, we will spread the good tidings to the world of the military end of Daesh (IS)."

SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said several militants had been caught while tried to flee among the civilians, and others had handed themselves over.

The SDF believes a few hundred jihadists may still be holed up in the enclave.

Mr Furat said that after the expected IS defeat, the SDF "will continue in its fight against Daesh sleeper cells".

Activists and residents have warned that IS still has sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq and is laying the groundwork for an insurgency.

Meanwhile, President Trump is expected to make an announcement about Syria and the fight against IS this weekend.