Turkey-backed Syrian rebels aim for Manbij

A Syrian rebel commander said that Turkish-backed rebels aim to capture Manbij city from Kurdish-allied forces as conflict between the sides escalated in northern Syria yesterday.

Manbij on the west bank of the Euphrates River was captured this month from Islamic State by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, including the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, in a United States-backed offensive.

Colonel Ahmed Osman, head of the Sultan Murad rebel group, told Reuters that the Turkey-backed rebel force was "certainly heading in the direction Manbij" since YPG forces had fortified their positions rather than evacuate.

The United States and Turkey have both demanded that the Kurdish forces withdraw to the east bank of the Euphrates. The YPG says its forces have withdrawn from the area and their presence could not be used as a pretext for an attack.

Asked how long he expected the Turkey-backed rebel forces to advance to Manbij and take it, Osman said "a few days, God willing".

Meanwhile, forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed unity government yesterday pushed into the last areas of Sirte held by the Islamic State group in what was the jihadists' coastal stronghold.

Loyalists to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord have for more than three months been pressing an offensive to retake the city from the jihadists, reports AFP.

IS captured Sirte -- which had been the hometown of Libya's slain dictator Moamer Gaddafi -- in June 2015, sparking fears the extremists would use it as a launchpad for attacks in Europe.

Pro-GNA forces earlier this month made a significant breakthrough by seizing a conference centre where IS had set up base, pinning down the jihadists in a small downtown area near the sea.

"Our forces entered the last areas held by Daesh in Sirte: district number one and district number three," a spokesman for the pro-GNA forces said yesterday, using an Arabic acronym for IS.