Thousands of civilians remain inside last Islamic State Syria pocket – SDF

Thousands of civilians remain inside the last Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) enclave in eastern Syria and they will be evacuated on Friday, according to Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces militia. The SDF has said a full evacuation of civilians is required for it to bring about the final defeat of the jihadists still holed up in the enclave, Reuters reports. Some civilians were evacuated earlier on Friday out of an estimated 7,000, with thousands more remaining, Bali added.