The report that the Islamic State (IS) stronghold in Manbij in Syria’s Aleppo province had fallen to fighters backed by the US forces who freed more than 2,000 civilians held by the terror group is a welcome news coming out from the Syrian war fronts in recent days. According to Syrian Democratic Forces which comprise Arab and Kurdish fighters, they had taken full control of the city after the last IS militant fled on Friday. However, the Pentagon gives slightly different picture saying that IS has lost its control over the city but fighting continues in Manbij and surrounding areas. Prior to their withdrawal from Manbij the IS had captured around 2,000 civilians from Al Sirb neighbourhood and used them as human shields to prevent fighters from targeting them. The terrorist group had used the same tactics in January by abducting over 400 civilians when they overran parts of Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria. Thousands of civilians were held captive in Fallujah, which Iraqi forces recaptured in June after weeks of offensive.
The withdrawal of IS from Manbij is strategically significant as it is the main supply route from the Turkish border to their de-facto capital Raqqa. While the liberation of Manbij is regarded as a welcome step in the ongoing war, Syrian government and Russian forces have sealed Aleppo’s main route into opposition areas, effectively trapping nearly 300,000 residents. At least 90 people have been killed in overnight air strikes by the government and Russian forces across Syria, according to monitors and opposition activists. Most people were killed around Aleppo province, where civilians are trapped in rebel-held territories. The air raids hit the only hospital for women and children in the town of Kafr Hamra and a market in the nearby town of Urem Al Kubra. This is one of the highest death tolls we have seen in the recent days.
Islamic State group has suffered major defeats over the past months in Syria and Iraq, where the military recaptured the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in the western Anbar province. However, the group still controls large parts of Syria as well as Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, which has been under its rules since 2014 June.
In the complicated, multidimensional nature of the Syrian civil war more coordinated efforts must be taken to defeat the IS and remove tyrannical ruler Bashar Al Assad whose unending brutality against his own people has crossed all limits. Unfortunately we see in Syria a proxy war that is sectarian in nature and has nothing to do with Syrians.
The report that the Islamic State (IS) stronghold in Manbij in Syria’s Aleppo province had fallen to fighters backed by the US forces who freed more than 2,000 civilians held by the terror group is a welcome news coming out from the Syrian war fronts in recent days. According to Syrian Democratic Forces which comprise Arab and Kurdish fighters, they had taken full control of the city after the last IS militant fled on Friday. However, the Pentagon gives slightly different picture saying that IS has lost its control over the city but fighting continues in Manbij and surrounding areas. Prior to their withdrawal from Manbij the IS had captured around 2,000 civilians from Al Sirb neighbourhood and used them as human shields to prevent fighters from targeting them. The terrorist group had used the same tactics in January by abducting over 400 civilians when they overran parts of Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria. Thousands of civilians were held captive in Fallujah, which Iraqi forces recaptured in June after weeks of offensive.
The withdrawal of IS from Manbij is strategically significant as it is the main supply route from the Turkish border to their de-facto capital Raqqa. While the liberation of Manbij is regarded as a welcome step in the ongoing war, Syrian government and Russian forces have sealed Aleppo’s main route into opposition areas, effectively trapping nearly 300,000 residents. At least 90 people have been killed in overnight air strikes by the government and Russian forces across Syria, according to monitors and opposition activists. Most people were killed around Aleppo province, where civilians are trapped in rebel-held territories. The air raids hit the only hospital for women and children in the town of Kafr Hamra and a market in the nearby town of Urem Al Kubra. This is one of the highest death tolls we have seen in the recent days.
Islamic State group has suffered major defeats over the past months in Syria and Iraq, where the military recaptured the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in the western Anbar province. However, the group still controls large parts of Syria as well as Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, which has been under its rules since 2014 June.
In the complicated, multidimensional nature of the Syrian civil war more coordinated efforts must be taken to defeat the IS and remove tyrannical ruler Bashar Al Assad whose unending brutality against his own people has crossed all limits. Unfortunately we see in Syria a proxy war that is sectarian in nature and has nothing to do with Syrians.
