Damascus fighting kills 18 pro-regime fighters: monitor

BEIRUT: At least 18 pro-Syrian regime combatants have been killed in 24 hours of fighting in southern Damascus against the Islamic State group, a monitor said Tuesday.

That brought to at least 52 the number of pro-government fighters killed in nearly a week of military operations against Yarmuk and adjacent IS-held neighbourhoods, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

No confirmation of the casualties was available from Syrian officials, who do not usually disclose losses within army ranks. The Britain-based Observatory said at least 35 fighters were also killed during the same period. There are an estimateda 1,000 IS fighters left inside the enclave in the capital´s southern neighbourhoods, which include Yarmuk and the adjacent districts of Hajar al-Aswad and Qadam.

In Qadam on Tuesday, soldiers could be seen pushing a fresh advance, backed by Syrian government air strikes and artillery fire, during an organised press tour. Columns of black smoke were snaking up from a monochrome sea of devastated buildings, an AFP correspondent said.