BEIRUT—U.S.-backed fighters have seized a key Islamic State (ISIS) stronghold in northern Syria after two months of heavy fighting and freed hundreds of civilians the extremists had used as human shields, Syrian Kurdish officials and an opposition activist group said Saturday.
Nasser Haj Mansour, of the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces told The Associated Press that the town of Manbij “is under full control,” adding that search operations are still ongoing to try to find any ISIS militants who might have stayed behind.
The SDF launched its offensive in late May to capture Manbij under the cover of U.S.-led airstrikes. The town lies on a key supply route between the Turkish border and the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS’s self-styled caliphate.
Amateur videos posted online showed that shortly after SDF fighters captured the town late Friday, scores of residents went down to celebrate in the streets. Some men were seen clipping their beards with scissors while women were able to uncover their faces. ISIS imposes a harsh and extreme version of Islam on the territory under its control, including a mandatory dress code.
“May God destroy them. They slaughtered us,” a young man shouted in a Manbij square. “May they not live for a minute.”
