UPDATED: SDF declares victory in Manbij, ISIS flees with 2,000 civilian human shields

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have declared victory over Islamic State in Manbij but fleeing Islamic State militants abducted around 2,000 civilians to use as human shields to cover their escape.

“Let’s broadcast the good news of the victory and the liberation of the great Manbij from the hands of the terrorists,” SDF spokesperson Shervan Derwish announced in a post on Facebook. “We start a new history after closing the book of darkness.”

 


The SDF on Friday launched the final phase of the operation to liberate Manbij, targeting ISIS where they were holed up in the northern neighbourhood of al-Sarb. 


ISIS militants were hiding behind an unknown number of civilians who they were using as human shields and the SDF extended three offers to the group to release the hostages in exchange for free passage out of the city. The militants rejected the offers, leaving the SDF with no choice but to stage a military option to rescue the civilians and finally rout the terrorist group.

“This will be the last crucial operation in the liberation of Manbij,” the Manbij Military Council, the body overseeing the operation, announced on Friday.

On Friday, ISIS militants withdrew from the city, taking residents of al-Sarb neighbourhood with them. "While withdrawing from a district of Manbij, Daesh [ISIS] jihadists abducted around 2,000 civilians from al-Sarb neighbourhood," AFP reported Derwish as saying. “They used these civilians as human shields as they withdrew to Jarabulus, thus preventing us from targeting them."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the abduction of 2,000 civilians, saying that ISIS put them into hundreds of cars and left in the direction of Jarabulus. 

The operation to liberate Manbij from ISIS, named Commander Martyr Faisal Abu Leila Operation after the death of the Kurdish leader in the early days of the operation, was launched on May 31, with air support from the US-led coalition. 

Derwish dedicated the victory to the memory of those who died, including Abu Leila, and those who suffered at the hands of the Islamic State on the path to freedom in cities and towns across northern Syria including Manbij, Qamishli, and Kobane.  

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) also confirmed the victory, tweeting “Manbij city is cleaned of ISIS completely.”

Derwish noted that a few clashes were still ongoing but that the SDF are in control, combing the al-Sarb for any remaining militants. 

The SDF said they have rescued more than 170,000 civilians from Manbij and surrounding areas throughout the course of the operation. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the deaths of 437 civilians, 299 SDF fighters, and 1,019 militants in the Manbij liberation operation.