DAMASCUS, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) almost captured the last Islamic State (IS)-held area in the eastern Euphrates River region in eastern Syria, Kurdish activists said Wednesday.

The SDF captured on Wednesday the town of Baghouz al-Saghyra in the southeastern countryside of Deir al-Zour following battles with IS while remnants of the terror-label group are still in the vicinity of the town, according to the activists.

The Kurdish-led SDF with the backing of the U.S.-led coalition has launched a crushing offensive to eliminate the IS from the eastern Euphrates River region in eastern Syria since September last year.

The IS militants are now besieged in a small area in the farmlands of Baghouz.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the last IS-held area in the eastern Euphrates River region since last December.