For the past week the Syrian Democratic Forces have been trying to defeat the last remnants of Islamic State that fortified themselves in the small town located on the banks of the Euphrates River, near the Iraqi border.

Women and children, who fled heavy conflict between the SDF and Isis in Baghuz, sit in front of a tent inside a civilian screening point for suspected Isis families

Standing on top of a hill, six miles (10km) from Baghuz we could see the cloud of dust coming closer as minutes passed. As it approached we could see a dozen trucks driving in a convoy, carrying people away from heavy fighting in the city.

Escape routes

Trucks on the move

As the trucks came to a stop I could see women, children and older men crammed on the back. These were civilians that fled the fighting to seek shelter behind what up until a few days ago they considered enemy lines.

These scenes of confusion and desperation carry on into the next day when I visit a forward position outside the town. Achilleas Zavallis

Civilians arrive at an SDF forward screening point

Two young girls wearing red coats look around, confused, as the back doors of the truck open. Their mother is trying to make more space for all of them to sit before continuing their journey to the al-Hawl refugee camp where families believed to be related to Isis members are taken by the SDF.

Nearby, a man holding a child extends his hand towards a woman trying to climb up on the back of another truck, while a young woman looks at me through her niqab.

Suspected Isis families are seen inside a truck that will transport them to an camp for internally displaced people (IDP) after fleeing Baghuz

Children in the back of a truck hide their faces

We see on the horizon a group of civilians making their way towards us on foot. A man carrying his few belongings is followed by two children who fled the town with their father earlier that day. SDF soldiers and Free Burma Rangers, who provide voluntary medical care, rush towards them.

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They check the people and their belongings for improvised explosive devices and then help them up a steep hill. The last to come up the hill is an older man wrapped in a traditional coat often seen in this region, his shoes falling apart. A soldier helps him climb up the hill and lets him sit on the ground to rest.

An SDF soldier helps a man who fled heavy fighting in the city of Baghuz reach a civilian collection point for suspected Isis families

Battleground

Members of the SDF seen on the rooftop of a building, located on the outskirts of Baghuz

We leave and head towards the front. Eight of us are crammed in the back of an armoured car. As we approach the city I look through the reinforced glass window at pulverised buildings, cars and trucks. We arrive at an outpost of the SDF near the frontline and we are rushed up a flight of stairs. “Stay low,” the commander tells us as we exit on to the rooftop. A young SDF soldier looks through a hole on the wall towards an Isis position while his commander speaks on the radio and coordinates with another group located in a nearby outpost. After a while we head downstairs and I am offered a cup of tea. We sit with the soldiers and have a cigarette. They seem relaxed, but also anxious for the operation to finish.

A SDF advanced observation post overlooking the city of Baghuz

Two, three more days will finish them off, God willing SDF fighter

A member of the SDF observes Isis positions in Baghuz

Left behind

An abandoned shelter

The next day we head for the frontline. On our way we stop at a screening point outside the town. The place is empty. A big tent full of discarded blankets, used by people who fled the previous day and spent the night there, sits empty in the middle of a temporary camp nearby.

Women and children sit on blankets with their few belongings at a civilian screening point

I hear voices and turn around to see a group of people making their way towards me. A woman carrying her young child in her arms walks past me and sits on the ground. Soon she is surrounded by other women and crying children. Soldiers come and give them bottles of water while journalists move around asking questions and taking pictures.