Syrian opposition activists say scores of civilians and fighters have evacuated the Islamic State group's last major stronghold in Syria.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says some 2,000 people, including 300 IS gunmen, have left the area in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour since Sunday.
The DeirEzzor 24, an activist collective, reported on Monday that dozens of civilians had left the area, which U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have been trying to take since September.
It says that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group, captured a local IS commander and his bodyguard.
The extremist group is now besieged in a small area where they have been relying on suicide attacks to stop the advance by SDF fighters.
