U.S.-backed Syrian force to declare victory over Islamic State in a week

DEIR AL-ZOR, Syria (Reuters) - The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will announce final victory over Islamic State in one week, SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Kobani said in a video released by the SDF media centre on Thursday.

"We will announce the complete victory over Daesh (Islamic State) in a week," Kobani told a group of SDF fighters who were freed from Islamic State's last enclave near the Iraqi border.

It was not immediately clear when the video was filmed. The SDF announced on Thursday it had freed 24 of its fighters from the jihadist group.

(Reporting by Ellen Francis/Rodi Said; Writing by Tom Perry; editing by John Stonestreet)