Kurdish-led Syrian forces advance on IS group bastion

A fighter from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), holds her weapon in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqa on May 25, 2016. US-backed Syrian fighters and Iraqi forces pressed twin assaults against the Islamic State group, in two of the most important ground offensives yet against the jihadists. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), formed in October 2015, announced on May 24 its push for IS territory north of Raqa city, which is around 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of the Syrian-Turkish border and home to an estimated 300,000 people. The SDF is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) -- largely considered the most effective independent anti-IS force on the ground in Syria -- but it also includes Arab Muslim and Christian fighters. / AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN

 

BEIRUT / AP

Kurdish-led Syrian fighters have launched a new advance on the northern town of Manbij, a key IS stronghold, with the aid of US-led airstrikes, a spokesman for the fighters and a monitoring group said on Wednesday.
The United Nations meanwhile said it was looking into “every possible means” to deliver life-saving aid to besieged Syrians now that a Wednesday deadline set by world powers has passed. UN spokeswoman Josephine Guerrero said the “main priority” is to access 592,700 people in besieged areas and millions more in hard-to-reach areas facing severe food shortages.
The US- and Russia-led International Syria Support Group last month called on the UN to “immediately carry out a program for air bridges and air drops for all areas in need” starting June 1 if it was denied access to designated areas. The UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has called air drops, which cost more than land delivery, a “last resort.”
The so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led militia that includes Arab fighters, have approached to within 14 kilometers of Manbij, which lies along a key supply route from the Turkish border to the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS group’s self-styled caliphate. The SDF announced a campaign to advance on areas around Raqqa last week.
“There are tens of casualties among fighters and evacuating civilians,” said Nasser Haj Mansour, an adviser to the SDF. He could not provide an exact figure. “IS is using its entire means to stop the forces,” he said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighters had recaptured at least 16 villages from IS.

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