At least 18 pro-Syrian regime combatants have been killed in 24 hours of fighting in southern Damascus against the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), AFP reported Tuesday (April 24th).
That brought to at least 52 the number of pro-government fighters killed in nearly a week of military operations against Yarmouk and adjacent ISIS-held neighbourhoods, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Observatory said at least 35 extremist fighters were also killed over the same period.
There are an estimated 1,000 ISIS fighters left inside the enclave in the capital's southern neighbourhoods.
From their perch in Yarmouk -- which has a view of the presidential palace in Damascus -- extremists have fired rockets on the capital's centre.
According to state news agency SANA, five civilians were killed Tuesday when a mortar shell crashed into a market area.
The Observatory said the fighting on the ground was fierce, as ISIS attempted a desperate defence of one of its very last bastions in the country.
