Syria force launches assault on last IS redoubt

Kurdish-led forces on Friday launched a final assault against diehard jihadist fighters clinging to the last sliver of their "caliphate" in eastern Syria. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they resumed their advance after plucking a last batch of civilians from the tiny riverside hamlet of Baghouz where jihadists are holed up. The "operation to clear the last remaining pocket of ISIS has just started" at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT), SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali announced on social media, using another acronym for the jihadists.