MESOP TODAY : PKK/PYD Kurdish-led alliance ‘took control’ of Islamic State-held Syria’s Manbij

6 August – AFP / MESOP  – BEIRUT,— The Kurdish-led coalition forces backed by US-coalition air force on Saturday took “almost complete control” of the Islamic State group stronghold of Manbij, two months after launching an operation to capture the strategic city in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said..

The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia and Arab fighters, launched its campaign two months ago with the backing of U.S. special forces to drive Islamic State from a last stretch of the Syrian-Turkish frontier.“The Syrian Democratic Forces took control of Manbij on Saturday and are combing the city in search of the last remaining jihadists,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The official spokesman of the SDF-allied Manbij military council, Sharfan Darwish, told Reuters that battles were continuing but that around 90 percent of the city had now been cleared of Islamic State. www.mesop.de