Eyewitnesses talked ... how Manbij liberation's battles carried out -2

JUMMA MOHAMMED-SHILAN MOHAMMED / MANBIJ

The bullets and bombs sounds which exploded raised as the fighters of MMC and SDF who led the liberation campaign of Manbij reached the outskirts of the city.

Everyone was waiting for the battles that began on June 1, 2016, to reach the city, where everyone expected to have the fiercest battles in the streets, because Manbij was of very importance both militarily and politically.

Manbij was a vital and strategic center for foreign fighters and IS. It was a crossroads for those who came from Europe via Turkey and from Syria and Iraq to Europe to complete what they call "jihad" there.

Therefore, some of the military commanders who were leading the liberation campaign of Manbij named the city the capital of foreigners IS. The city was the most dangerous even more dangerous than al-Raqqa, and it witnessed the Turkish policy that supported IS as it was stationed by Turkey who helped them to cross into Syria and Iraq to spread havoc in the two ancient countries.

While the siege was imposed on Manbij city, and the details were mentioned in this context in the dossier of the first section we prepared, the battles did not stop. Some of the campaign groups were still busy liberating Manbij's villages as half of which were still under the control of the IS mercenaries, while other groups were preparing to break into the city.

The first moments to enter the city by those who lived them

From Hassen Agha village towards Kabeja village that are adjacent to the center of the Mills south of Manbij, Agid Shams al-Shimal (Agid Ahmed), the general commander of Shams al-Shimal Battalions said that their troops had taken that route when they tried to enter the Mills center adjacent to Manbij's southern neighborhoods.

The first attempts to enter the city occurred there, the very high the Mills, the largest building in area and height in Manbij city. Controlling the Mills was enabling you to control the fire on many kilometers around you in addition to several neighborhoods inside Manbij.

The advanced forces therefore aimed to control the Mills and then continue to crawl towards the city’s center.

He added, "4 groups broke into the Mills just before the sun went down, strong clashes erupted due to the great number of tunnels that have been dug there, IS mercenaries used to use snipers from the top of the Mills and they planted many mines in the Mills. More than 500 advanced landmines were planted and a number of our comrades martyred by them."

Agid added, "The situation was difficult, the tunnels were as many as the modern mines, we had to stop for two days and then we continued the battles of liberation, the war inside the Mills was a war of tunnels, IS did not dare to go to the surface of the land for fear of Coalition's warplanes that have bombarded the Mills several times, and the Coalition also helped by missiles launched from the sea."

Agid said, "The tunnels were the most difficult challenge. If you could close them, you would control the Mills, but we did not know the location of the tunnels until IS attacked us from them."

The task of liberating the center of the Mills was carried out by 24 fighters divided into 4 groups in the beginning, and then joined by 12 other fighters to intensify the fighting that lasted for several days and ended with the liberation of the Mills from IS.

One of the fighters participated in the battle to liberate the Mills was the fighter Fahed al-Labdah who said, "Our group consisted of four fighters. We infiltrated into the Mills until we got closer to the IS. We heard how they were talking to each other. We hit them with grenades, and went back a little and hit them with RBG. We tried 3 times so we could get in”

The fighting continued in the Mills as Fahed remembers from 7 pm to 3 am, and they managed to enter the Mills, but IS was also there.

Fahd said, "We went up to the Mills building, but IS mercenaries were still in the square below. We looked down and saw them. We were trapped till the next day at 2:00 pm. Then, our comrades came to help us and end the siege."

After the end of the Mills’ battles, Fahed moved to fight in the western front inside Manbij, and took part in the battles to liberate the western parts of the city.

The battles within the first neighborhoods

After the victory which was the largest in the context of the campaign has been achieved, the fighters of MMC directed their rifles towards al-Kashli neighborhood which runs along the Mills, the first southern neighborhoods.

The groups that liberated the Mills took over the task of breaking into the neighborhood, some of whom were martyred in the Mills but those who remained continued the battle of liberation.

Shams al-Shimal Battalions which Agid was one of its commanders had eight breakout groups working to advance and liberate the points from IS. Each group consisted of 6 fighters.

Agid said, "There were groups of infiltrating and others who were responsible for protecting the advanced groups and concentrating on the liberated points."

He added, "Sometimes we went 800 m deep into the neighborhoods in Manbij. The mercenaries concentrated everywhere so it was important to protect the advanced gropes from behind."

The liberation campaign encountered many difficulties during the progressing operations within the neighborhoods. It was not possible to walk or advance through the streets because the mercenary snipers were monitoring any movement that took place to shoot it.

New methods used by IS in the battle indicated their weakness

Before the launch of the campaign to liberate Manbij city, IS mercenaries were hit by painful blows by SDF's fighters, including YPG. Kobanî battle was the most effective battle; then, the battle of Girê Spî / Tal Abyad reaching the battles of Tishrin Dam liberation.

These battles have affected the strength and morale of IS mercenaries as shown by the methods adopted by the mercenaries in fighting in the neighborhoods of Manbij.

In Manbij, IS mercenaries resorted to using sniper tactics from afar, planting the mines to impede the advance of the liberating forces and causing the greatest losses in their ranks. These methods expressed a clear weakness in the ranks of IS.

Agid Shams al-Shimal said, "A few direct confrontations took place. Most of our comrades were killed by snipers and mines. The mercenaries planted mines inside the civilians’ houses. Everything that was touched was mined and most of the mines were planted in al-Hazawneh neighborhood."

Agid explained that their experience with mines was little and that the mines that were found were detonated in primitive ways or were avoided and progressed without attention.

Our experience to face the mines was limited so the majority of us were martyred by mines. When we entered a house, we were surprised by the presence of a mine that suddenly exploded.

To be continued... tomorrow, the liberation of the latest neighborhoods.

A.H

ANHA