US-backed Syrian forces made new territorial gains against Daesh (IS) on Saturday, moving closer to another of its major strongholds in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Observatory said the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), bringing together Kurdish and Arab fighters, were now almost 17 km from the city of al-Bab, north east of Aleppo.
The SDF on Friday cut off the last route into the encircled town of Manbij from al-Bab after over a week of advances around that area, allowing it to lay siege to the large town from all directions, the monitor said..