“ISIS militants are wearing civilian clothes and leaving their weapons in peoples’ homes in order to escape,” Derwish said in an SDF video posted to YouTube. “They are carrying razors in their pockets in order to be able to quickly shave off their beards in order not to be identified.”
“They know that there is no hope and we are taking over,” he added. “They are leaving.”
The SDF continues to advance into the city, evacuating civilians as they go. On Friday, the SDF announced that a sniper battalion had arrived in Manbij to participate in the final push for the city.
Syrian Democratic Forces launched an operation to liberate Manbij from Islamic State under the umbrella of the locally formed Manbij Military Council in early June. The SDF are a multi-ethnic force dominated by the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG).
Routing the Islamic State from Manbij will cut the extremist group off from the border with Turkey, thereby limiting its ability to bring in supplies and fighters. It will also bring the Kurds closer to connecting their cantons of Kobane and Efrin.
