Islamic State's far-flung enemies in Syria and Iraq pressed ahead on Wednesday with major advances on multiple fronts that have put some of the greatest pressure on the ultra-hardline Islamists since they declared their caliphate two years ago.
A spokesman for a U.S.-backed alliance in northern Syria said it was poised to enter the city of Manbij, a week after launching an assault with the aim of cutting off the last stretch of Turkish frontier still under Islamic State control.
A short distance further west, rebels fighting against both Islamic State and the government of President Bashar al-Assad said Islamic State fighters had pulled out of an area near the border.
Assad's forces, backed by Russian airpower, also launched an offensive against Islamic State last week and have advanced in territory further south.
And at the opposite end of the self-proclaimed caliphate, 750 km down the Euphrates River, Iraqi government forces said they had fought their way into built-up areas of Falluja, the second-biggest city in Iraq under Islamic State control and the militants' closest bastion to Baghdad.
The Iraqi government is backed both by U.S. air power and by Shi'ite militia allied to Washington's regional foe Iran.
A five-year civil war in Syria and the weakness of the Iraqi government have made it difficult for world powers and their disparate allies on the ground to coordinate a campaign against the militants.
But the simultaneous attacks on a variety of fronts have created unprecedented pressure on the militants, who have imposed harsh rule over territory with millions of inhabitants while making enemies of all global and regional powers.
