The Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab militias backed by the US, announced they had liberated the city and freed over 2,000 hostages ISIS was using as human shields.
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US-backed Syrian forces said Sunday they have established a military council to push Islamic State group fighters out of their northern bastion of Al-Bab after ousting the jihadists from Manbij.
Thousands of displaced residents streamed back into the northern Syrian town of Manbij on Saturday after US-backed fighters ousted the last Islamic State militants from their former stronghold, residents and U.S. allies said.
Weeping with joy, civilians hug fighters from the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) after being evacuated from the final IS-held neighbourhood.
Manbij is roughly 25 miles from the Turkish border, which made it a significant and symbolic city for the Islamic State to control. The last remaining IS fighters abandoned Manbij near the Turkish border the previous day and released hundreds of civilians they used as human shields while fleeing the crumbling stronghold.
“After the liberation of Manbij, IS members won’t be able to freely travel to and from Europe anymore”, said Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim.
The SDF had flushed most of the ISIS militants from Manbij by last week, but on Friday the last of the militants began to flee.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on sources inside Syria to cover the war, gave a similar report, saying Isis forced about 2,000 civilians into cars it confiscated and headed for Jarabulus.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said: ‘Among the civilians taken by IS there were people used as human shields but also many who chose voluntarily to leave the town due to fear of reprisals (by the SDF)’. Darwish said the SDF rescued 2,500 civilians, who were held captive by Daesh.
The United Nations has said that more than 78,000 people have been displaced since then.
The loss of the town is a major blow to the Islamic State because the group’s supply route from Raqqa, its de facto capital, and Turkey, is essentially cut off. Gordon Trowbridge, the Pentagon deputy spokesman, called Manbij’s loss “a major setback for” ISIS. Around three-hundred rebel fighters have been killed, along with more than a thousand jihadists.
USA officials said with Manbij under control, it paves the way for a move on Raqqa.
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The group said it had seen a letter from SDF forces threatening to push further into IS territory if militants did not agree to free the captured civilians in exchange for IS prisoners.
