US says 17-bus IS convoy stranded in Syrian desert

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group says a 17-bus convoy of IS militants and their families is stranded in the Syrian desert.

The coalition issued a statement on Friday saying it has sought an unspecified solution that would save the women and children in the convoy from further suffering.

It says the coalition has not attacked the convoy.

But it says it has struck IS fighters and vehicles, including a tank and other armed vehicles, that tried to help the convoy move to the Iraqi border.

The coalition says its officials have contacted Russian counterparts to deliver a message to Syria’s government, which had tried to facilitate the convoy’s movement earlier this week from western Syria to an area near the Iraqi border.

According to Reuters, more than 300 lightly armed IS fighters and about 300 family members were evacuated from Syria’s western border with Lebanon under a ceasefire agreement involving the ultra-hardline group, the Syrian army and the Lebanese Shia group Hizballah.

In the process, Islamic State revealed the fate of nine Lebanese soldiers it took captive in its border enclave in 2014, as well as surrendering a Hizballah prisoner.

On Thursday they sought to move into IS-held territory from a new location after US-led strikes on Wednesday stopped them joining forces with their jihadist comrades, a commander in the pro-Syrian government military alliance said.