The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have pushed deep into the last major urban stronghold held by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) on the eastern banks of the Euphrates, a spokesman for the fighters said on Thursday. The Kurdish-led militia alliance that holds roughly one quarter of Syria east of the Euphrates, had advanced into the center of Hajin, an SDF spokesman said. “The battles continue,” Reuters quoted Mustafa Bali as saying. Backed by US-led airstrikes, the SDF has been attempting for several months to take IS’s last pocket of territory near the Iraqi border. The SDF has progressed into Hajin, “and the advancement is going well,” said Colonel Sean Ryan, spokesman for the US-led coalition against IS. However, it is too early to say the entire city had been captured, according to the military.