A source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, which pushed IS out of the city of Manbij this week with the aid of US-led air strikes, told AFP that some of the civilians were able to escape while “others were freed”. According to them, this was done in an attempt to avoid harming civilians being held as human shields.
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This online image posted July 18 shows Islamic State fighters firing their weapons during clashes with the Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces in Manbij, in Aleppo province, Syria.
The operation to liberate Manbij – which had been under Islamic State control for almost two years – began in May.
US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters fought 73 days to drive IS out of Manbij, close to the Turkish border. They killed us while we were still alive. Another rebel leader told Reuters they were still looking for possible ISIS sleeper cells in the town, which is near the border with Turkey.
The last remaining IS fighters abandoned the city of Manbij near the Turkish border on Friday after a rout the Pentagon said showed the extremists were “on the ropes”.
The EU denounced the use of civilians as human shields, saying in a statement that “DAESH continues to pose a threat to the people of Syria, Iraq, the region as well as to Europe and beyond”.
The Observatory said that following the capture of Manbij, hundreds of civilians used by IS as human shields have been freed. More than 2,000 civilians, who were being held captive by ISIS, were released. It later released about 270 of them.
On Friday the Site intelligence group said Isis had killed five men in Iraq for smuggling people out of territory it controls.
The SDF’s offensive, which includes support from a USA -led coalition, began at the end of May, and aims to remove the Islamic State from areas it controls along the Turkish border. The offensive was slowed by a fightback by jihadis, before a big push last week saw the alliance seize 90% of the town.
Tens of thousands of people lived in Manbij before the assault started.
Manbij was a strategically important link in supply lines to Islamic State’s headquarters in Syria in Raqqa.
Since May 21, the SDF has liberated more than 1,000 square kilometers of territory from ISIS and taken out more than 600 fortified fighting positions, Trowbridge said.
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Although divided since 2012, the western districts held by Syrian President Bashar Assad have not experienced the severe deprivations of areas in the east that rebel forces control. The fighting continued despite a pledge by Russian Federation to observe a three-hour daily ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid deliveries.
