DAMASCUS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the help of the U.S.-led coalition, captured on Wednesday the last Islamic State (IS)-held town in eastern Syria, a war monitor reported.
The SDF managed over the early hours of Wednesday to capture the Baghuz Foqani town, which was the last IS-held town in the eastern Euphrates region, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The UK-based watchdog group said the SDF forces are combing the farms and areas around the town in search for remnants of the IS militants.
This comes as thousands of civilians and hundreds of IS militants fled the last IS-held pocket in the eastern Euphrates over the past 24 hours.
After combing the farms, the SDF will have controlled the entire eastern Euphrates region, said the Observatory.
The progress comes after 18 weeks of a continuous military campaign by the U.S.-backed SDF against IS in that part of the country.
The battles claimed the lives of 388 civilians, 1,168 IS militants and 630 SDF fighters, according to the war monitor.
With its defeat in the eastern Euphrates, the IS has lost the last village it controlled in Syria and now the fighters are scattered in desert areas in eastern Syria.
