US-backed Syrian force vows to take all Manbij from Daesh

NEAR THE EUPHRATES RIVER, Syria — US-backed Syrian militias vowed on Thursday to drive the Daesh terror group from the city of Manbij and surrounding areas in northern Syria and urged civilians there to stay away from militant positions that would be targeted in the campaign.

The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, including the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, thrust into Daesh-held territory near the Turkish border this week. The attack is backed by US-led air strikes and US special forces on the ground.

"We confirm that this campaign will continue until the liberation of the last inch of the land of Manbij and its rural areas," said a joint statement in the name of the SDF and allied Manbij Military Council.

The statement was read out on the banks of the Euphrates River by Manbij Military Council Commander Adnan Abu Amjad.

"We urge our people in the city of Manbij to stay away from all centres and positions where the Daesh terrorists are present because they will be military targets for our forces. We call on them to take measures to ensure their safety," he said.

"We also call on our people in Manbij to offer support and help to our forces," said Abu Amjad. He said the Manbij Military Council represented all the area's ethnic groups, which he listed as Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Circassians.

The statement said control would be handed to a civilian council after the town was freed.

“Oh brave people of Manbij, our forces are coming to liberate you from the shackles of the Daesh terrorist torturers,” it said.

Major offensive

Thousands of US-backed fighters have opened a major new front in Syria’s war, launching an offensive to drive Daesh out of a swathe of northern Syria that it uses as a logistics base.

The operation, which began on Tuesday after weeks of quiet preparations, aims to choke off the group’s access to Syrian land along the Turkish border that the militants have long used to move foreign fighters back and forth to Europe.

A Kurdish source, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters in Beirut, predicted the Syrian militias would reach Daesh-held Manbij within days, after advancing to within 10km of the town.

It was too early to say how the battle for Manbij would go, the source said, but added that Daesh defences on the west bank of the Euphrates River had collapsed at the start of the campaign.

The council due to manage the city’s civilian affairs was set up on May in the town of Sarrin, said Sheikh Farouk Al Mashi, head of the council. Sarrin was captured by the YPG from Daesh last year.

Speaking to Reuters from Syria, he said Daesh had launched a campaign of arrests and had tried to cut communications in Manbij in the run-up to the assault.

“The detentions are currently in Manbij city, but they told us five minutes ago they are also detaining people in the rural areas too,” he said.

Naser Haj Mansour, an adviser to the SDF general command, told Reuters that Daesh was still putting up a fight: “In general, the progress is at a good pace and performance, keeping in mind that Daesh still has the capability to fight.” 

The SDF has launched two other offensives in the last week in nearby Raqqa province, which is where Daesh’s de facto capital of Raqqa city is located. Raqqa city is not a target in the operations currently under way.

One of the offensives in Raqqa province is targeting the town of Tabqa, which Mansour described as extremely important because it is a major Daesh arsenal.