American-backed fighters in Syria have seized buildings inside ISIS's last stronghold after a night of intense shelling and airstrikes.
Troops for the Syrian Democratic Forces captured a cluster of buildings inside Baghouz early on Monday and were facing off against an ISIS counter-attack.
'Several positions captured and an ammunition storage has been blown up,' SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said on Twitter.
Syrian Democratic Forces seized a cluster of buildings from ISIS troops in Baghouz, the terror group's last territory in Syria, early on Monday
SDF commanders said their troops had advanced but were facing off against an ISIS counter-attack on Monday and that clashes were ongoing
As well as seizing the buildings, SDF forces also destroyed an ISIS ammunition dump (pictured, an SDF solider uses a rocket launcher)
A shroud of black smoke covered the Islamic State group's last Syria redoubt on Monday as US-backed forces battled holdout jihadists.
On a hilltop overlooking the bombed-out bastion, an AFP correspondent heard the sound of gunfire and heavy shelling ring out.
Men, believed to be jihadists, could be seen shuffling inside the redoubt, beneath a plume of smoke that obscured most of the encampment.
Crouching behind rocks, SDF fighters opened fire at IS fighters that appeared near the banks of the Euphrates River.
'The SDF ground offensive has been very effective,' coalition spokesman Sean Ryan told AFP on Monday.
'The SDF continues to pursue a deliberate, methodical approach to removing the last remaining territory under Daesh,' he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
An SDF official who asked not to be named told AFP on Monday that his force has seized a cluster of buildings from jihadists in the latest bout of fighting.
SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali on Sunday night said his force captured 'several positions' inside the pocket.
'SDF is now holding positions inside the camp,' he said on Twitter.
It remains unclear exactly how many people remain inside the last IS pocket but SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel on Sunday said that those quitting the area put the number at up to 5,000 people.
The Kurd-led force has also shied away from giving a timeline for the operation but Gabriel said that he hopes it would not take more than a week before jihadists are flushed out.
At an SDF outpost inside Baghouz on Sunday night, an AFP correspondent saw Kurdish fighters launching artillery shells towards IS positions from a nearby rooftop.
Shelling and coalition air strikes engulfed the area in a crimson blaze.
Two members of the SDF fire mortar rounds towards ISIS positions inside Baghouz, Syria, as they attempt to wrest control of the hideout from the jihadis
It is thought there are around 5,000 people left inside the territory, which is located along the Euphrates river and the last under ISIS control
The terrorist enclave resembles an encampment and is filled with stationary vehicles and
