KOBANE: Dozens of Islamic State group fighters have surrendered in their former Syrian stronghold of Raqa, the US-led coalition said Saturday, as the fall of the one-time jihadist bastion nears, reports AFP.

A monitor said no Syrian members of the jihadist group remained in Raqa, and that negotiations on the fate of foreign fighters were ongoing.

But the US-led coalition backing the offensive insisted that foreign fighters would not be allowed to leave the city. Raqa was once the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group's self-proclaimed "caliphate" straddling Iraq and Syria.

The city's loss would be the latest in a string of heavy blows for IS, which has already been driven from its strongholds in Iraq including second city Mosul.

In June, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, broke into Raqa, and since then they have captured around 90 percent of the city.