IS claims of no weakening even if poor gets displaced

An Islamic State spokesman said on Monday the displacement of "the weak and poor" from Syria's Baghouz would not weaken the group.

"Do you think the displacement of the weak and poor out of Baghouz will weaken the Islamic State? No," Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer said in a recording distributed by Al Furqan, a media organization linked to Islamic State.

Islamic State's defeat at Baghouz will end its control of inhabited land in the third of Syria and Iraq that it captured in 2014. However, the group will remain a threat, regional and Western officials say.