BEIRUT - Islamic State group fighters began evacuating their final stronghold in southern Damascus on Sunday, a monitor said, bringing Syria's government closer than ever to flushing out the last threat to the capital. Last month, troops and allied Palestinian militia launched a fierce offensive to oust IS from a cluster of districts in southern Damascus, including the Palestinian camp of Yarmuk. IS has had a presence in southern Damascus since 2015, expanding in recent years from Yarmuk to Tadamun and the nearby districts of Hajar al-Aswad and Qadam. Yarmuk in particular has been devastated by Syria's conflict, suffering a crippling government siege since 2012 and ruined by years of fighting. A similar deal reached last year by Syria's regime and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah saw IS fighters bussed out of the Lebanon-Syria border area towards Syria's east.

Source: Bangkok Post May 20, 2018 13:30 UTC