US-backed fighters make slow advance into Islamic State pocket in Syria

BAGHOUZ, Syria — U.S.-backed Syrian forces pounded the last village held by the Islamic State group with artillery and heavy weapons from multiple sides Monday and made slow advances on its edges, battling militants holed up in underground tunnels.

The fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces moved toward a tent encampment in the village of Baghouz and at one point encircled a group of Islamic State militants, killing a number of them in an hour-long battle, a Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman said.

After weeks of besieging Baghouz, the operation opened Sunday night aims at finally taking the last tiny patch of land held by the militants, a pocket on the banks of the Euphrates River in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq.