Syrian troops press push against IS in southern Damascus

BEIRUT – Syrian state media say government forces and their allies are pressing an offensive against members of the Islamic State group in southern Damascus.

State-run al-Ikhbariya TV says the aim of Monday's government push is to isolate IS in the southern Damascus neighborhood of Hajar Aswad from nearby areas held by the extremists.

Hundreds of IS militants hold parts of the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk and nearby Hajar al-Aswad in southern Damascus. The extremists agreed to give up their last pocket there on Friday but have yet to begin surrendering to government forces and relocating to IS-held areas elsewhere in the country.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, says 11 people have been killed in the offensive since the fighting began last Thursday.