The United States-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) said on Wednesday that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters it is supporting in Syria are making headway in tightening the noose around the militants in the city of Manbij.
“We’re around the city and we’re coming in, and we’ve cut the lines of communication into it and the noose is getting tighter around the city,” US Army Colonel Chris Garver told reporters from Baghdad.
“We’ve anticipated that they [ISIS] would hold Manbij till the last, that it would be one of those places that they defended till the end and we have not seen anything that’s going to change that assessment right now,” he added.
The SDF launched their offensive against ISIS in Manbij three weeks ago. They currently have it encircled and besieged; capturing that city from ISIS would cut the militants off from the northwestern Syrian border with Turkey.
ISIS attempted to break this siege on Monday, killing 28 SDF fighters in the process. The militants have used vehicles rigged with explosives as part of their attempts to overrun SDF positions.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor estimates that more than 3,000 civilians in Manbij have fled the city since this current offensive began.
“We’re around the city and we’re coming in, and we’ve cut the lines of communication into it and the noose is getting tighter around the city,” US Army Colonel Chris Garver told reporters from Baghdad.
“We’ve anticipated that they [ISIS] would hold Manbij till the last, that it would be one of those places that they defended till the end and we have not seen anything that’s going to change that assessment right now,” he added.
The SDF launched their offensive against ISIS in Manbij three weeks ago. They currently have it encircled and besieged; capturing that city from ISIS would cut the militants off from the northwestern Syrian border with Turkey.
ISIS attempted to break this siege on Monday, killing 28 SDF fighters in the process. The militants have used vehicles rigged with explosives as part of their attempts to overrun SDF positions.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor estimates that more than 3,000 civilians in Manbij have fled the city since this current offensive began.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment