DAMASCUS – Syrian government forces used warplanes, helicopters andartillery on Sunday to pound districts of the capital held by the IslamicState group.
The operation was a part of the bid to enforce an evacuation deal reachedwith the militants earlier in this week.
The militants agreed to give up their last pocket in southern Damascus onFriday but have yet to begin surrendering to government forces andrelocating to IS-held areas elsewhere in the country.
State-run al-Ikhbariya TV showed thick gray smoke billowing from theIS-held Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood today, and government warplanesstreaking overhead amid heavy bombardment of the area.
Hundreds of IS fighters and allied militants are holed up in Hajar al-Aswadand the nearby Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp.
President Bashar Assad has escalated his military campaign to retake allremaining enclaves in the capital and surrounding areas.