The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces entered Manbij on Thursday and were advancing slowly to the center of the city, an Islamic State group stronghold in northern Syria, an adviser to the predominantly Kurdish force and a monitoring group said.
Manbij is a key waypoint on an ISIS supply line between the Turkish border and the extremist group's de facto capital, Raqqa, which is also under intense pressure from a Syrian government offensive. If Manbij is captured, it will be the biggest strategic defeat for ISIS in Syria since July 2015, when it lost the border town of Tal Abyad.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense fighting is taking place between ISIS fighters and the SDF on the southwestern edge of Manbij. Rami Abdurrahman, the director of the monitoring group, which relies on a network of activists in Syria, said the SDF recaptured a village about 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) outside the city, enabling them to move on to seize two squares on the western side of the city. The forces then advanced toward a third square with air support from the US-led coalition, he said.
An adviser to the SDF, Nasser Haj Mansour, said the force on Wednesday moved into the city from its northern edge, close to its grain silos, prompting clashes with ISIS jihadists. He confirmed other troops entered Manbij from the west. The observatory's director Rami Abdurrahman said ISIS still controls the silos. He said fighters on the ground reported that the silos are within close range but forces have so far abstained from shelling it.
Earlier on Thursday, the US Central Command said the SDF had consolidated their positions around Manbij in preparation for seizing it.
The Syrian Arab Coalition, which is part of the SDF, "have consolidated their position around Manbij in anticipation of the next phase of operations to secure the city," the statement said Thursday. "For the last seven days they have been refining their plans as to how to gain a foothold in Manbij and maintain the safety of the civilian population trapped" by ISIS. Thousands of civilians have fled Manbij in recent weeks.
The US has embedded 300 Special Forces troops with the SDF. France also confirmed it is providing training to the SDF.
The operation against ISIS in Manbij began on May 31. The US Central Command said in its statement the international coalition has since conducted more than 233 airstrikes in the vicinity of the city.
The ISIS news agency Aamaq meanwhile said the group's militants repelled an advance by the SDF from north of Manbij, adding that a suicide attack against the retreating forces killed many fighters.
Mansour, the SDF adviser, said suicide bombings are no obstacle to advance on the city.
"They are no longer a surprise for the forces in Manbij," he said. "The tactic and their moves have become known and ineffective, particularly when there is always air support. They no longer have the desired impact."
The observatory said around 63 SDF fighters had been killed since the start of the operation. Meanwhile, the group said 458 ISIS militants, including field operators and foreign fighters, have been killed since May 31.
The US Central command said displaced people from the Manbij area were beginning to return to their villages after they was cleared of ISIS fighters.
Also on Thursday, at least eight civilians were killed in Syria's Aleppo when airstrikes and mortar shells struck different neighborhoods in opposite sides of the divided city, anti-government activists and Syrian state media reported.
In past months, Aleppo has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting and bombardment, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of people on both sides of the contested city. Partial ceasefires have failed to hold in the city that has been divided between rebel and government areas since 2012.
Syria's state news agency SANA said four people were killed and four others wounded when rocket shells hit the government-controlled al-Khalidia district in Aleppo.
Meanwhile, the anti-government Aleppo Media center said four civilians were killed when airstrikes hit the rebel-held al-Katerji neighborhood. Bebars Mishal, a member of the Syrian Civil Defense, a team of volunteer first responders operating in rebel-held areas, said the airstrike hit a residence, putting the number of those killed at five members of the same family. He said the search continued for others under the rubble.
