US-backed Syria fighters edge into Daesh border hub

ALEPPO, Syria — US-backed fighters edged further into the Daesh terror group stronghold of Manbij on Saturday, threatening a key stop on the extremists’ lifeline from Turkey to their "caliphate" in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

But in the Daesh-held eastern town of Al Quriyah, 47 people, most of them civilians, died in Russian and government bombardment, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Thirty-one civilians were killed in three raids alone, but it was not immediately clear whether the 16 others were civilians or Daesh militants, said the observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman.

Russian, Syrian and US-led coalition warplanes are all carrying out raids against Daesh territory in the battered country.

In Manbij, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces overran a key road junction in the city’s south after capturing nearby grain silos overnight.

“The grain silos overlook more than half of Manbij. SDF fighters can climb to the top and monitor the city,” said Abdel Rahman.

The Raqa Revolutionaries Brigades — one of the Arab components of the Kurdish-dominated alliance — also said the SDF had seized the silos and pushed into the city.

The Mills Roundabout lies less than two kilometres from the city centre.

Captured by Daesh in 2014, Manbij was a key transit point for foreign fighters and funds, as well as a trafficking hub for oil, antiquities and other plundered goods.

If it succeeds, the offensive on Manbij — backed by intense air strikes by a US-led coalition — would mark the most significant victory against Daesh for the SDF.

Aleppo under fire 

Across the frontier in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, security forces were poised to assault Jolan, the last neighbourhood still held by Daesh.

Tens of thousands of people fled the fighting, with many camped out in the open in the summer heat.

“Dozens of families are still without tents or any form of shelter inside the camps, living in miserable conditions. The majority are elderly people, women and children,” said the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The SDF launched its offensive to take Manbij on May 31, driving across the Euphrates River from the east with military advice from some 200 US special forces troops.

Daesh has thrown large numbers of fighters into the battle, losing 463, according to the observatory. The SDF has lost at least 89.

The extremists have taken as many as 1,000 Kurdish civilians hostage in areas under their control west of Manbij, according to the observatory.

Manbij lies in the eastern plains of Aleppo province, which has become a battleground between an array of competing armed groups, including Al Qaeda, non-extremist rebels and government forces, as well as the SDF and Daesh.

Aleppo was once the country’s commercial hub but now lies divided between government forces in the west and rebels in the east.

A two-day freeze on fighting brokered by Moscow and Washington this month expired without renewal.

On Saturday, Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded rebel-held areas in and around the city in support of a regime offensive on the rebels’ sole remaining supply route, the observatory said.

The Castello Road has been repeatedly hit by air strikes but residents said the bombing had intensified in recent days.

No sleep 

An AFP correspondent in the rebel-held east of the city said the latest strikes lasted throughout the night.

“In the past two days, my kids and I haven’t been able to sleep all night because of the huge blasts, the likes of which we haven’t heard before,” said 38-year-old shopkeeper Abu Ahmad.

A father of three, Abu Ahmad owns a small convenience store in east Aleppo.

“We haven’t been able to get any products or produce for the shop over the past two days because no one can use the [Castello] road,” he said.

The observatory said government forces were also fighting rebels in northern neighbourhoods of the city in a bid to halt rocket fire on government-held districts.

The renewed government offensive around Aleppo comes a day after another key ally, Lebanese militant group Hizbollah, pledged to send more fighters to join the “greatest battle” of the war.

More than 280,000 people have been killed since the conflict began with anti-government protests in 2011.

A prominent Syrian activist and journalist died in a Turkish hospital overnight after being seriously wounded in a bomb blast in Aleppo last week.

Facebook pages managed by fellow activists said Khaled Al Issa, a Syrian photographer in his 20s, died in Antakya.

Journalist Hadi Al Abdullah, who was wounded in the same bombing that some activists have blamed on Al Qaeda, was in stable condition in hospital.