US-led coalition tracking Daesh convoy fleeing Manbij

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – The U.S.-led anti-Daesh coalition said Tuesday that it is tracking a series of Daesh vehicles that fled the strategic Syrian city of Manbij last week as it fell to opposing forces.

The northbound vehicles were not fired upon when they fled last Friday because civilians were "intermingled with fighters in every vehicle", spokesman Army Col. Christopher Garver told reporters via Skype from Baghdad.

"When they went north, they didn't all go together and stay together," he said, but added that "the coalition continues to track those Daesh forces."

Garver hailed the liberation of Manbij, saying it has "significantly impacted the lines of communication for Daesh between Raqqah and the outside world and also impacted the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria and out to the rest of the world."

Regarding the YPG, which fought alongside Arab fighters to oust Daesh from its former stronghold, Garver said that the group has not yet returned to the eastern bank of the Euphrates because "the battle's not over yet.

"They've still got work that they're doing in their clearing," he said.

Manbij lies west of the Euphrates River.

Since operations to liberate Manbij began in May, the U.S. has promised Turkey that the YPG would leave the area after the city's liberation.

U.S. officials have said about 15 percent of the roughly 6,000 fighters that fought in Manbij belong to the YPG.