US-backed force in Syria ‘takes positions’ in last Islamic State camp

US-backed fighters said they had taken positions in the last enclave of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in eastern Syria and airstrikes pounded the tiny patch of land beside the Euphrates River early on Monday, Reuters reports. “Several positions captured and an ammunition storage has been blown up,”  Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia, said on Twitter late on Sunday. Backed by air power and special forces from a US-led coalition, the SDF has pushed IS from almost the entire northeastern corner of Syria, defeating it in Raqqa in 2017 and driving it to its last enclave at Baghouz last year.