Manbij is on a supply route between the Turkish capital and the de facto Islamic State capital of Raqqa and had been the scene of heavy fighting for the past two months. Then came crowds of men, women and children, returning on foot from the countryside, where they took refuge while fighters from the Syria Democratic Forces fought to liberate the once-tranquil city.
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ISIS had also used trapped people as human shields, said Syrian Kurdish officials and an opposition activist group.
A former resident of the city said he had reports from family members that the Kurdish YPG, who are the dominant group within the SDF, had rounded up dozens of young men before screening them because of concerns that some of them belonged to sleeper cells. Women burned cloaks, burkas and veils and left homes to which they had been confined by the radicals.
The 2,000 civilian hostages who had been held by the DAESH militants have been freed, while the SDF continues to sweep the city for the last remaining group of militants, Sharfan Darwish of the SDF allied Manbij Military Council told Reuters.
Pentagon spokesman Gordon Trowbridge on Friday praised the coalition known as Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for their efforts to retake the city.
US -backed fighters seized the key northern Syria city late Friday after two months of heavy fighting that killed more than 1,000 people and displaced thousands more.
Head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, stated “Among the civilians taken by IS [DAESH] there were people used as human shields but also many who chose voluntarily to leave the town due to fear of reprisals”.
The SDF, formed past year by recruiting Arabs to join forces with the powerful YPG Kurdish militia, launched an offensive with the support of US-led strikes at the end of May to remove Islamic State from areas it controls along the Turkish border. U.S. military officials said that during the fighting, the coalition launched 680 airstrikes destroying more than 680 Islamic State fighting positions. The rebel forces were aided by USA airstrikes. Analysts said its loss is a major setback for the extremists, who have sought to establish an Islamist “caliphate” in large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Al-Jazeera provides details on other cities that have been liberated and the complexities of the battles with the Syrian government’s toxic relationship with allies and conflict with the United States and bordering nations.
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Germany’s foreign minister said it may be necessary for Germany, the U.S., Russian Federation and the United Nations to form an “air bridge” to get supplies to Aleppo’s residents.
