Sat Aug 13, 2016 17:49:30
US-backed fighters have taken control of a northern Syrian town that until recently was a stronghold of the Islamic State (ISIS / Daesh / ISIL / IS) terrorist group, a Syrian Kurdish official said on Saturday.
Nasser Haj Mansour of the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Saturday Manbij "is under full control," adding that search operations are still ongoing to try find any extremists who might be hiding in the town.
Three days before his statement, some residents were seen crossing into the areas seized by the Military Council Forces of Manbij, after fleeing areas of Manbij allegedly still controlled by the ISIS terrorist group.
The Manbij Military Council is a coalition of local fighters from the city and fighters affiliated with the SDF.
The ISIS terrorist group burned the covered market in the city center before fleeing the area and smoke could still be seen coming out of some of the buildings on Wednesday.
One resident told the broadcaster that the ISIS terrorist group had used civilians as human shields.
The SDF launched its offensive in late May to capture Manbij under the cover of airstrikes of the US-led coalition.
Manbij was a main point linking the self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq with the rest of the world.
The city was an ISIS terrorist group hub and lies on a key supply route to the Islamic State (ISIS / Daesh / ISIL / IS) terrorist group’s de facto capital of Raqqa.
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