US-backed, Kurdish-led forces repel IS in northern Syria

MANBIJ, Syria (Kurdistan24) – Around the Syrian northern city of Manbij, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and their allied brigades of Manbij Military Council (MMC) repelled counterattacks by the Islamic State (IS) group on Monday and killed dozens.

Speaking to Kurdistan24, Chakdar Botan, an SDF fighter, said that their forces repelled IS attacks from various directions and killed more than a hundred insurgents since yesterday.

“We were between the jaws of the pliers: IS insurgents sent car bombs from inside the city and they attacked us from behind by sending a large group of militiamen,” he said.

Additionally, Sharvan Darwish an SDF senior military commander and spokesperson talked about the south and west fronts of Manbij and the counterattacks by the insurgents.

“To ease pressure on the siege of Manbij, large groups of insurgents attacked our forces coming from Jarabulus in the north of Manbij and al-Bab from the west,” Darwish said.

[A screenshot of a live map of the town of Manbij and its surrounding areas by an online project. The shot shows the IS counterattacks on the east and south corners of Manbij. The yellow spaces indicate the SDF-controlled areas, while the gray spaces are controlled by IS. The red arrows indicate the IS counterattacks against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and their allied brigades of Manbij Military Council (MMC). (Photo: Syrian Civil War Map/Edited on June 21, 2016 at Kurdistan24)]

Regarding the casualties suffered by the IS, Manbij Military Council (MMC) said in a statement that about 142 terrorists were killed.

“Our forces killed 142 IS insurgents and had 89 IS bodies in addition to seizing 20 Kalashnikov guns, 7 RPGs, other 10 heavy weapons and a large amount of ammunition,” the statement said.

On the casualties of the US-backed forces, the statement said that 6 fighters lost their lives in defending the liberated territories.

“The insurgents targeted our forces by four car bombs in different places around Manbij: one from the north at the village of Zongil village, and the other two from the west targeted the Kitab Square. The last one was at the town of Sarrin from the east,” the statement added.

The statement further explained that the SDF and MMC forces foiled the car bomb attacks and killed all the jihadists who initiated the attacks.

On May 31, MMC and SDF launched the Manbij operation.

The SDF have liberated several IS strongholds in north and northeast Syria since.

Although mainstream media presents SDF as an inclusive force, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) are the primary element of the coalition, outnumbering all other groups.

Editing by Ava Homa
(Kurdistan24 correspondent Ekrem Salih contributed to this report from the west side of Manbij)