Syrians return to Manbij as security forces drive Islamic State out of city
With air support from the US-led coalition, the SDF began its assault on Manbij on 31 May, surging into the town itself three weeks later.
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A Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter smokes a cigarette in the city of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria on Wednesday. The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia and Arab fighters, launched its campaign two months ago with the backing of US special forces to drive Islamic State from a last stretch of the Syrian-Turkish frontier. The SDF finally succeeded in expelling IS from the town at the weekend after more than two months of ferocious fighting. Reuters
Residents ride on the back of a pick-up truck in Manbij. "Daesh is finished. The town will be liberated in the coming hours," SDF fighter Ibrahim al-Hussein told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for the group. Reuters
Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters walk with people that fled their homes due to clashes between Islamic State fighters and Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) towards safer parts of Manbij. Manbij is in the northern province of Aleppo, which forms a theatre for several separate battles between multiple warring sides in Syria's five-year-old conflict. Reuters
Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) female fighters embrace each other in Manbij. With air support from the US-led coalition, the SDF began its assault on Manbij on 31 May, surging into the town itself three weeks later. But the offensive was slowed by a massive jihadist fightback using suicide attackers and car bombs, before a major push last week saw the SDF seize 90 percent of the town. Reuters
Rebel fighters and people carry the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham flags as they celebrate the news of the breaking of the siege of rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Now, the SDF is preparing to clear the "security quarter", a central district where the last pocket of jihadists is thought to be. In Manbij on Monday, Arab fighters in the SDF said they would allow the last remaining IS men to leave if the jihadists freed residents in the security quarter. Reuters
Residents walk in Manbij. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 433 civilians were killed in the fight for Manbij. Another 973 IS jihadists and 281 SDF fighters also died. Reuters