SYRIAN government forces have launched a new operation targeting underground tunnels used by the Daesh in the capital Damascus, according to state TV.

The aim of the operation is to destroy trenches and tunnels in the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk that is also mostly controlled by the militant group, it was reported.

A group of journalists taken to the adjacent neighbourhood of Qadam witnessed intense shelling and air strikes on Daesh positions in the camp and Hajar al-Aswad.

The area in southern Damascus is the last part of the capital not controlled by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Other insurgents in the area, including an al Qaida-linked group, have said they would relocate to rebel-held regions in northern Syria.

Meanwhile, UN Syria envoy Staffan De Mistura warned that the northern rebel-held province of Idlib could become the conflict-ravaged country’s newest humanitarian crisis area.

His warning came as international donors gathered in Brussels to drum up emergency support.

De Mistura described Idlib – with a population of 2.5 million people as “the big new challenge”