OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — The ground assault into the last area held by the Islamic State group intensified Saturday as U.S.-backed Syrian fighters made "remarkable progress" amid heavy clashes, including the capture of a hill overlooking a tent encampment for the extremists, officials with the Kurdish-led forces said.

The capture of the last pocket still held by IS fighters in Baghouz village would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group's hold on territory in Syria and Iraq — their so-called "caliphate" that at the height of the group's power in...