The main supply route of the Islamic State group (EI) between Syria and Turkey was cut after the total encirclement of the city of Minbej (north) by forces supported by Washington.
In the complex war raging in Syria for over five years, the noose tightens on EI, jihadist organization responsible for abuses in that country and in neighboring Iraq as well as deadly attacks around the world.
A coalition of Arab and Kurdish fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDS), cut on Friday, “the last road linking Minbej to the Turkish border,” AFP Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Man (OSDH).
“The terrorists of IE are now completely besieged” in Minbej, tweeted his side the US representative to the international coalition antijihadistes, Brett McGurk.
Minbej cut an assault on a strategic axis of the EI and deprive a hub of jihadism to Europe, also assured Mr. McGurk.
Minbej “is the place where the attackers of Paris, the attackers Brussels, the area through which they all passed,” he said.
At least 218 dead –
Passed under the control of jihadists in 2014 Minbej was a key junction on the main axis allowing the transit of EI men, weapons and money between Turkey and Syrian stronghold of Raqa (north).
The IE still controls a border strip and secondary roads to Turkey but they are dangerous and difficult to access, according to Abdel Rahman.
Since the beginning of the offensive on May 31, FDS, supported by the strikes of the international coalition led by the United States have cut the roads linking Minbej to areas controlled by the EI in Syria: that Jarablos to the north , that to Raqa, southeast, toward the al-Bab, southwest, and finally Friday one leading to the border crossing al-Rai, northwest.
SDS took 79 villages and hamlets around Minbej during fighting that left at least 218 dead -159 jihadists FDS 22 fighters and 37 civilians, they killed mostly by the strikes of the coalition internationally, according the OSDH.
Thousands of residents have fled Minbej while the jihadists remained to defend the city, according to OSDH.
The IU is the object for a few weeks to several attacks in Syria by forces backed by Washington but by the forces of the Syrian regime supported by Russian aviation.
Bombardments on Daraya –
On the humanitarian front, the Syrian Red Crescent and the UN announced that aid had been delivered Friday in Douma, a rebellious city under siege by regime forces north of Damascus. 39 trucks brought food and non food products, including medicines.
A spokesman of Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office (OCHA) in Geneva confirmed “the entrance to a convoy Duma today.”
For the first time since 2012, a food aid convoy was also entered Thursday night in another city besieged Daraya, south-west of Damascus.
These provisions however, have not been distributed “because of the intensity of the shelling” of the regime, told AFP by internet Shadi Matar, an activist who antirégime reported an “intensive dropping barrels explosives “.
Damascus “led several bombing (…) on Daraya this morning”, denounced the spokesman for American diplomacy, Mark Toner. These attacks have “slowed the distribution of badly needed help,” he lamented in Washington, calling for a resumption of the distribution “as quickly as possible.”
The French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has also expressed its “indignation” and condemned the “duplicity” of Damascus.
The people of Daraya, with severe shortages, eagerly awaiting this aid is especially by the Syrian Red Crescent in the “dry food and bags of flour.”
Pro-government forces are trying for four years to take this rebel stronghold near the airbase Mazze, intelligence services headquarters of the air force and their prison.
About 8,000 people according to OSDH and the local council, 4000 according to the UN, still inhabit this city and many are malnourished.
The UN estimates that some 592,700 people living in 19 villages and besieged areas in Syria.
The conflict in Syria, triggered by the repression of demonstrations calling for reforms, has become more complex over the years with a multitude of Syrian actors, regional and international. He made over 280,000 deaths and millions of displaced persons and refugees.
Stéphane © armenews.com