According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the battle for Manbij which began in May has killed more than 400 civilians.
Advertisement
The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters backed by USA air power, announced on Sunday “the creation of the Al-Bab Military Council”, with the aim of liberating the town and the region around it.
The operation to liberate Manbij – which had been under Islamic State control for almost two years – began in May. Civilians poured into the streets and celebrated not being under strict Islamic control by men cutting their beards, women taking off their veils and members of both sexes smoking in public.
Rebels liberated Manbij by also going door-to-door to look for ISIL fighters.
In this photo released on Monday, Aug. 8, 2016 by Hawar news, the news agency for the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas in Syria (ANHA), shows the Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces raise their flag in the center of the town of Manbij after driving Islamic State militants out of the area, in Aleppo province, Syria. [Photo by ANHA/AP Images]Al Arabiya takes a different view of the liberation to point out that after ISIS has been pushed out of the Sunni cities such as Anbar in Iraq, the communities and the cities are left shattered, with little restoration of basic services.
Manbij Military Council is made up of fighters who were forced out of the now liberated Syrian city by the Islamic State, who formed in April of this year and collaborated with several other militant groups to come back and free the city.
After months of fighting, the Syrian Democratic Forces captured Manbij, an Islamic State stronghold since 2014 and a critical supply line to the nearby Turkish border that the extremist group had used to smuggle goods and fighters.
Since surrounding Manbij in early June, the SDF has been battling ISIS for control over the city’s districts.
Saturday saw spontaneous celebrations from civilians returning to the wrecked city.
Advertisement
But Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the top USA commander for the fight against IS, said this week that some 45,000 IS militants have been removed from the battlefield, reducing the group’s total numbers to as few as 15,000. Liberating Raqqa is reportedly next.
