Kurdish leaders have confirmed that Manbij Military Council forces now control 80 percent of the total area of the city Manbij which is located in northern Syria. They also spoke of the “break down” of ISIS after its soldiers were besieged in small areas in the old city.

A spokesman for the Manbij Military Council Sharfan Darwish told Asharq Al-Awsat that his forces continue to advance and stressed that “the situation is well under control after 80 per cent of the city was liberated.” He added that “ISIS is in a state of collapse and is dispersing within the city .. We are now heading to the centre of the city”.

On his part, an adviser to the Syrian Democratic Forces Nasser Hajj Mansour pointed out that soldiers of ISIS are currently trapped in small areas in the old city. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that “The noose is being tightened and all their attempts to lift the siege from outside have failed”.

Hajj Mansur considers it likely that the next few hours and days will give definitive answers about the fate of the city. Members of ISIS will either surrender or the areas that they occupy will be invaded. He revealed that the initiatives that were put forward earlier and which involved allowing ISIS militants to leave for other areas under ISIS control in exchange for allowing wounded citizens and civilians trapped in Manbij to leave for areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces have been withdrawn, and added that “the offer no longer exists”.