DAMASCUS, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) succeeded in achieving an important progress in the battles against the Islamic State (IS) group in eastern Syria, a war monitor reported on Wednesday.
The SDF, which is backed by the U.S.-led coalition, captured half of the town of Hajin, the most important area in the last IS-held pocket in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour province in eastern Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Britain-based watchdog group said the SDF has been advancing over the past 48 hours in the battles with IS, adding that the terror-designated group failed to foil the SDF attack despite the bad weather condition and the staging of suicide bombings to slow down the SDF.
It said 28 IS militants were killed over the past 48 hours as well as nine SDF fighters.
The SDF, with the backing of U.S.-led airstrikes, has started a campaign to defeat IS in the sliver of territory the IS is holding on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River since Sept. 10.
The Kurdish-led militia had managed to capture large swathes of areas during the first wave of attack, but the IS group succeeded to reclaim all lost territory.
The recent advance of the SDF comes as part of the second wave of attack to dislodge IS from the vestige of land in the eastern Euphrates.
The U.S. has provided the SDF with aerial cover but in the process, tens of civilian casualties have fallen.
In its report Wednesday, the Observatory said 820 IS militants and 473 SDF fighters had been killed since Sept. 10.
