US SERVICEMEN AMONG THE DEAD IN ISIS SUICIDE ATTACK IN SYRIA
▶ Manbij explosion comes a day after a key village was recaptured from the extremists by American-backed fighters
American servicemen were killed in a suicide attack in the northern Syrian city of Manbij yesterday, the United States-led coalition said.
It did not specify how many soldiers died in the blast, which was claimed by ISIS, but unidentified US officials told Reuters and Bloomberg news agencies that up to four Americans may have been killed.
The US troops were conducting a “routine patrol” in Manbij at the time of the attack, the coalition said on Twitter.
The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed. “We will continue to monitor the ongoing situation in Syria,” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 16 people had died, including five US-backed fighters as well as nine civilians.
The war monitor reported that at least two US troops died in the blast, which it said targeted a restaurant.
The Kurdish-run Hawar news agency said three American servicemen, two US-backed local fighters and 13 civillians were killed in the attack.
Amaq, ISIS’s media wing, claimed that the attacker used a suicide vest to strike at coa- lition forces near a restaurant in the flashpoint Kurdish-held city. A video posted on social media networks purported to show the moment the attacker detonated his suicide vest.
The attack came a day after coalition forces and US-backed fighters captured a key village from ISIS in the militants’ last holdout east of the Euphrates River, leaving only 15 square kilometres of land under militant control.
It was the first major attack to explicitly target US forces in Syria since Mr Trump announced that he would be withdrawing troops from the country.
Sharfan Darwish, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Manbij Military Council, said the blast occurred on a crowded street. He said there were casualties but did not specify how many.
The Observatory said that a helicopter it claimed belonged to the coalition took troops to a hospital east of the Euphrates River.
A video posted by reporters and activists purported to show the helicopter landing in Manbij after the attack.
Videos and pictures posted on social media by Hawar also showed damaged shopfronts and shattered windows.
The US-backed Manbij Military Council, which is linked with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, has controlled Manbij since they seized the city from ISIS in 2016.
The US-led coalition conducts regular patrols in Manbij and on the outskirts of the city.
Russia’s military police have been stationed to areas outside Manbij recently, where they conduct patrols in a zone adjacent to rebel-held territory in Aleppo province.
Yesterday’s incident was not the first time that forces of the US-led coalition came under attack in the area, although they have been rare.
In March last year, a roadside bomb killed two coalition personnel, an American and a Briton, and wounded five people in Manbij.
Turkey has threatened to attack Kurdish forces in Manbij, stirring tensions with the US president
The latest attack came as US forces prepare to withdraw from the country after a shock announcement by Mr Trump last month.
Turkey has repeatedly threatened to attack Kurdish forces in Manbij, stirring tensions with the US president, who has warned Ankara against such an offensive.
Separately, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said it would support efforts to establish a safe zone in northern Syria, a day after Turkey’s president said his country would establish such a zone.
“We will offer all the support and assistance to set up the safe zone that is being discussed, in a way that guarantees the protection of all co-existing sects and ethnicities from annihilation,” the Kurdish-led alliance said.