DAMASCUS, Syria -- The Syrian government began a new operation Tuesday targeting tunnels used by the Islamic State militant group in the capital, state TV reported, while shelling by the extremists on a government-held neighborhood left at least four people dead.
The goal of the operation is to destroy trenches and tunnels in the Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, which is also mostly controlled by the extremists, state TV reported.
Islamic State fighters in Hajar al-Aswad fired a shell on the nearby government-held neighborhood of Nahr Aisha, killing four people and wounding 15, state TV said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the shelling killed five and wounded 17. The discrepancy couldn't immediately be reconciled.
A group of journalists taken to the adjacent neighborhood of Qadam on Tuesday witnessed shelling and airstrikes on Islamic State positions in the camp and in Hajar al-Aswad. The crackle of gunfire echoed from the heavily damaged area.
[THE ISLAMIC STATE: Timeline of group’s rise, fall; details on campaign to fight it]
The area in southern Damascus is the last part of the capital not controlled by President Bashar Assad's forces. Other insurgents in the area, including an al-Qaida-linked group, have said they would relocate to rebel-held regions in northern Syria.
"The operation will continue until its goal is achieved," a Syrian military officer told reporters in Qadam, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations.
He said the army is also working to separate the Islamic State-held areas in Hajar al-Aswad and Yarmouk from the nearby rebel-held suburbs of Beit Sahem, Babila and Yalda.
Tuesday's fighting focused on the Joura area in Hajar al-Aswad, from which thick smoke rose into the sky.
The Observatory, an opposition-linked war monitoring group, reported that since the fighting began Thursday, 15 troops and pro-government gunmen and 19 Islamic State fighters have been killed. It said dozens were wounded on both sides.
The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said in a statement that the agency is deeply concerned about the fate of thousands of civilians, including Palestinian refugees, after days of fighting in Yarmouk.
The agency's commissioner-general, Pierre Krahenbuhl, said the agency estimates there were about 6,000 Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk before the latest round of fighting began.
"The humanitarian situation has long been very harsh and is rapidly deteriorating further, with supplies of food and medicine running low," Krahenbuhl said.
A Section on 04/25/2018