BEIRUT: A war monitor said buses evacuated fighters of the militant Islamic State group from an enclave south of Damascus on Sun­day in a withdrawal deal, though state media denied the report and said the Syrian army was fighting to finish off the insurgents.

The recovery of the enclave south of Damascus will mark another milestone in President Bashar al-As­sad’s war effort, crushing the last besieged rebel encl­ave in western Syria.

Swathes of territory at the borders with Iraq, Turkey and Jordan, however, rem­ain outside state control.

Syrian government forces and their allies have been battling to recover the encl­ave south of Damascus since defeating rebels in eastern Ghouta, also near the capital, in April.

The area is centred aro­u­nd the Hajar al Aswad district and the adjoining Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk. In a live broadcast, a reporter with Syrian state TV said the Syrian army operations in the area were nearing their end and insurgent lines were collapsing as columns of smoke rose from the area behind him.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2018