Syrian army outs IS from last central Syria pocket

In Syria, army has cleared Islamic State (IS) from its last pocket of territory in central Syria after months of fighting. Syrian military sources said, the armed forces completed military operations in the eastern Homs countryside, eliminating the last groups of the IS in the area and liberating an area of 1,800 square kilometres. IS has lost swathes of Syrian territory to separate campaigns being waged by Syria’s army, supported by Russian forces and



Iran-backed militias, and by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia. 

Last month the Syrian army’s advance to Deir al-Zor city lifted a three-year-long siege imposed by IS on a government-held enclave there. Government forces and their allies are trying to oust Islamic State from its remaining Syrian positions in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor.