USA -backed fighters seized the key Islamic State stronghold late Friday after two months of heavy fighting that killed more than 1000 people and displaced thousands. Monitors said as many as 2,000 pro-government fighters had arrived in the devastated city since late Sunday, prompting the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors Syria’s civil war, to warn that “the great battle of Aleppo” is, in a word, “imminent”.
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US officials have said that completion of the Manbij operation would create the conditions to move on the militant group’s de facto capital of Raqqa.
On the streets of Manbij, men chanted slogans against the Islamic State group or clipped their beards and women walked with their faces uncovered for the first time in over two-and-a-half years, hours after the militant group was pushed out of the northern Syrian city.
In his statement, Carter said success in Manbij is another step closer to liberating Raqqa. “Their success, enabled by critical coalition support, is another significant milestone in the campaign to deal ISIL a lasting defeat”.
“The US promised that the (Syrian Kurdish) forces within the coalition and democratic forces there would move east of the Euphrates again following the Manbij operation”, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (seen below).
Stating that a hard time is ahead for the people of Manjib as they try to rebuild their homes and the society which was destroyed by Daesh, Carter called on all members of the coalition to help them.
Turkey considers the PYD and its military wing, the People’s Protection Unit (YPG) as offshoots of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the USA, and the EU. “For its part, the military coalition will continue to work with capable and motivated local forces to defeat ISIL and ensure it remains defeated”.
Separately, the Syria Democratic Forces, formed in 2015 with US support, has focused on driving IS fighters from strongholds along the Turkish border.
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In an interview with daily Karar, Yildirim said that the time has come for Turkey to mend relations with Syria after Ankara took steps for rapprochement with Israel and Russian Federation.
