Trapped in shrinking Syria holdout, IS turns to human shields Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) monitor the front-line with the Islamic State group's final holdout in eastern Syria, in the village of Baghouz, in the countryside of the eastern Syrian Deir Ezzor province. The Syrian Democratic Forces halted their ground assault on IS's final shreds of territory last week, saying the jihadists are increasingly using civilians as human shields to block the advance. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES