US-backed Syria offensive kills 35 IS fighters

BEIRUT: An offensive by US-backed forces against the Islamic State group’s last redoubt in eastern Syria killed 35 jihadists on Saturday, a Britain-based war monitor said. Twenty-eight IS members were killed in air strikes by the US-led coalition around the town of Hajin, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. And a further seven jihadists were killed in ground fighting with the Syrian Democratic Forces, who launched a coalition-backed offensive against the IS-held pocket in the Euphrates valley last month.