However, a major breakthrough was recorded on Friday by the American military drones when Islamic State militants were seen loading up hundreds of trucks, buses, and cars with both civilians and fighters in a bid to flee the city of Manbij, Syria. Civilians in IS-held cities have spoken of public floggings and fines for people caught smoking. That number includes 438 civilians, 299 coalition troops and 1,019 ISIS fighters.
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Nasser Haj Mansour, of the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces told The Associated Press that the town of Manbij “is under full control”, adding that search operations are still ongoing to try to find any IS militants who might have stayed behind. On Friday, they withdrew from a northern neighbourhood heading for the IS-held town of Jarabulus along the border with Turkey, taking the captives with them as the Pentagon said the retreat showed the group was “on the ropes”.
Raqqa, estimated to have a population of between 250,000 and 500,000, has become the de facto capital of the “caliphate” whose creation was proclaimed by IS two years ago after it took control of large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq.
Another woman screamed at the camera before fainting: “I feel joy and [it is like a] dream I am dreaming”. “I can not believe it, I can not believe it. Things I saw, no one saw”, She then fainted, the news agency said.
Manbij is roughly 25 miles from the Turkish border, which made it a significant and symbolic city for the Islamic State to control. Many activists or participants in local government “had to run or were killed”.
Residents have described harsh rule under the militant group, who they said instituted a ban on shaving, strict dress rules for women, public prayer checks and a pattern of public executions. Please see our terms of service for more information.
Citing a source from the Syrian army, AFP news agency reported that, while some of the abducted residents were able to escape themselves, some, surprisingly, “were freed” by the fleeing terrorists.
The stronghold, in northern Syria, fell to allied Arab and Kurdish fighters who freed more then 2,000 hostages in recent days.
Jubilant scenes greeted the end of weeks of battles as men, women and children poured into streets now controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian Arab Coalition (SAC).
Daniel Moritz-Rabson contributed reporting.
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The SDF was formed with USA backing in 2015, when Arab fighters joined forces with powerful Kurdish militias.
