Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that several hundred of the civilians taken from Manbij were no longer being held by Daesh.
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When withdrawing from an area of Manbij, Daesh, Islamic jihadists kidnapped around 2,000 civilians from the neighborhood of Al-Sirb, Sharfan Darwish of the SDF allied Manbij Military Council said on Friday.
The loss of Manbij is a major blow for the Islamic State, for it served as a supply route from the Turkish border to Raqqa.
Kurdish officials did not respond to requests for comment on whether the Islamic State militants were given a safe route to leave Manbij.
The militants were finally ousted after a deal was reached on Friday that secured their departure towards their stronghold of Jarablus near the border with Turkey, a Syrian from Manbij who is in touch with relatives there said.
Manbij “is under full control”, said Nasser Haj Mansour of the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces.
Amid news of Manbij’s liberation, women removed the ISIL-imposed full-face veils and burned them. Rebels and government forces also clashed Saturday in the city, where more than 200 civilians have been killed since a rebel offensive began on July 31, the Observatory said.
The Observatory said that following the capture of Manbij, hundreds of civilians used by IS as human shields have been freed. “The city is now fully under our control but we are undertaking sweeping operations”, a member of the Syria Democratic Forces, the alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces who receive air support from the USA, said.
Joyous residents of Manbij poured into the streets as the opposition forces continued to mop up pockets of resistance after weeks of intensive fighting and coalition bombing.
USA -backed fighters seized the key Islamic State stronghold late Friday after two months of heavy fighting that killed more than 1,000 people and displaced thousands. “The city is now under our full control”, said a senior level rebel official.
Already, there has been a surge in attacks-either claimed or inspired by Islamic State-in several countries that are part of the USA -led global coalition fighting the extremist group in the Middle East. But the job of clearing the city will be hard after the jihadists left behind hundreds of mines and booby traps, he added.
The latest toll brought to over 230 the number of civilians killed in the embattled city since the rebel offensive began.
ISIS controls large parts of Deir Ezzor city and most of oil-rich Deir Ezzor province in the east of the country, and has battled Syrian regime forces for control of a key military airbase there.
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In nearby Aleppo, a convoy of 40 lorries delivered almost 1,000 tons of food to the government-held west of the city, where an insurgent counteroffensive has cut the main supply route.
