It aims to choke off ISIL’s access to Syrian territory along the Turkish border that militants have long used as a logistics base for moving foreign fighters back and forth to Europe.
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The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – whose backbone is the Kurdish separatist YPG – captured the Umm al-Saraj mountain overlooking the southern approaches to Manbij and were locked in combat with Isis around grain silos on the outskirts of the town.
That is seen as important to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Turkey, which has opposed any further expansion of Syrian Kurdish sway at the frontier.
The U.S. -backed Syria Democratic Forces alliance (SDF) launched an attack in that direction last week.
An Islamic State-affiliated news agency says US -led aircraft have bombed several key bridges in northern Syria, severing a key IS supply route between the Turkish border and Manbij, where a USA -backed and Kurdish-led force is advancing. According to the USA military, mostly Syrian Arab fighters involved in the battle for Manbij Pocket.
US -backed fighters pushed ahead in their offensive in northern Syria Friday, getting closer to a stronghold of the Islamic State group, opposition activists said.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Wednesday said weapons given to the YPG militia in Syria were making their way to PKK militants in Turkey. “They are not the ones who will enter Manbij and clear the city but they will take part in the efforts there”. As Western Journalism reported Tuesday, Islamic State’s future in Syria and Iraq depends on an open border with Turkey.
“Air drops.remains an option if land deliveries do not go through”, Ramzy E. Ramzy, U.N. deputy special envoy for Syria, told reporters after the U.N. humanitarian task force met a day after the passing of a June 1 target for starting air drops.
“This region is 40 km from Turkey’s border and therefore it is impossible for Turkey to provide support”. U.S. President Barack Obama has authorized about 300 U.S. special operations forces to operate on the ground inside Syria to help coordinate with local forces.
The number of USA -backed forces participating in the operation is in the “thousands”, but the official refused to disclose their precise size, citing operational security.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that two American soldiers were injured in separate attacks by Isis in Iraq and Syria, the first time USA servicemen have been hurt in the Arab nation since military advisers were deployed there by the end of a year ago.
Pentagon spokesman Chris Sherwood said the weapons aren’t meant for the PKK, and the USA doesn’t know that any of the arms have gone to the group.
Islamic State face major assaults in both Iraq and Syria in an attempt to roll back their caliphate. A separate offensive against that city was launched last week.
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Falluja is ISIS’s closest bastion to Baghdad, and is the base from which the group has plotted suicide bombings against civilians and government targets inside the capital. “We call on them to take measures to ensure their safety”, he said.
