AhlulBayt News Agency - The international coalition on Sunday launched several airstrikes on headquarters of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) radical group in northern Syria, killing and wounding a number of terrorists.
The airstrikes targeted ISIS positions in the city of Manbij, near the Turkish border, local sources reported.
At least nine ISIS militants were killed, including ISIS senior leader Abu Hamza al-Ansari, and dozens were wounded in the coalition raids on Sunday.
“Al-Ansari was killed along with three of his escorts after one of the airstrikes hit a building where they’ve been hiding in Manbij city,” said local media activist Nasser Taljbini.
“Another raid targeted an ISIS security centre in Manbij and killed at least five militants and wounded 12 others,” the source reported.
In the meantime, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) advanced towards the ISIS-held city.
SDF commander in Manbij Adnan Abu Amjad said: “Our forces captured the Al-Kitab square in western Manbij after fierce clashes with ISIS militants.”
The commander added that the international coalition has intensified its airstrikes inside Manbij city to assist the SDF in their ground operations against ISIS.
ISIS Strives To Keep Manbij Border Pocket
The so-called Islamic State group (ISIS) is still fighting hard to keep Manbij city in northern Syria, and so far fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have not entered the city, US Colonel Christopher Garver, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman, said about the ongoing Manbij operation.
The SDF-led Manbij Military Council last Monday announced the final phase of the Manbij campaign to capture the city and to save the civilians trapped inside the city, after capturing more than 1,000 km2s from ISIS.
According to US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, the Manbij operation “is particularly critical for helping to seal the Turkish border and cut off the flow of foreign fighters in and out of Syria — a challenge that affects all NATO member nations.”
International coalition spokesperson Colonel Garver said so far no Kurdish or Arab fighters have entered the city.
“Nobody on the attack has gotten into the city yet. They are around Manbij. They still have to fight their way up to the city,” Garver said.
“It’s hard to rate their [ISIS] effort one way or another. They’re still fighting hard to try to keep Manbij,” he said. “The SDF forces have encircled Manbij, closed those lines of communications running out of Manbij. So we’ve seen forces kind of flowing back into the city.”
“The fighting for Manbij has continued to be significant and at times heavy. Daesh [ISIS] continues to defend the area with machine guns, indirect fire, and IEDs,” Garver added.
The coalition spokesperson said hundreds of ISIS fighters are still in Manbij and they’re continuing to defend the city. “There are also indications that Daesh may be holding large groups of civilians as hostages and forcefully compelling citizens into fighting for them, as we have certainly seen before.”
However, the SDF-led Manbij Military Council has been exercising great care in its application of firepower against Daesh in the city to avoid collateral damage and especially civilian casualties, the coalition said.
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20 June 2016 - 05:37
News ID: 761245
“Al-Ansari was killed along with three of his escorts after one of the airstrikes hit a building where they’ve been hiding in Manbij city,” said local media activist Nasser Taljbini.
