Baladi News – Aleppo (Abdulaziz Al-Khalifa)
By cutting-off all routs into the Islamic State held city of Manbij in the north of Aleppo, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), mainly constituted of Kurdish militias, managed to impose an absolute blockade on the city. The forces, which had previously surrounded the city from three sides, took control over the road to al-Bab city in the west, which completely isolated the city from the world.
However, the imminent attack against Manbij by SDF raises concerns about more than 200 thousand civilians besieged inside the city as well as its Arabic identity after politicians from the Kurdish Democratic Union Party proclaimed that the city is Kurdish, calling it “Mabuk” and obliterating its Arabic history and identity.
The local council of Aleppo city expressed concern regarding the city in a statement released on Saturday. Talking about the statement, member of public relations office in the council, Abdul Ghani Shoubak, said that “Manbij is blockaded by SDF from outside, but civilians are besieged by ISIS from within, and the situation is to be worse with battles approaching the inside of the city. So, we called upon the international community to save people.”
He also clarified that a safe route must be provided to protect civilians from massacres that could take place in the city due to SDF blockade and bombardment on the one hand and the possibility of using them by ISIS as human shields on the other.
Shoubak also demonstrated that it would be important to maintain the Arabic identity of the city against the “separatist” policy of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, the backbone of the forces attempting to control the city.
In turn, activists from Aleppo and Syria hold the international coalition responsible for the safety of civilians, sharing a hashtag on Twitter and Facebook named #MANBIJ-UNDER-BLOCKADE.
Abdul Moneim al-Abd, head of
Media Commission of the Board of Trustees of the Revolution in Manbej and its countryside, said that “over 200 thousand civilians are besieged by SDF”, clarifying that 20 thousands had previously left the city for al-Bab in the west before cutting off the route.
Al-Abd told Baladi News that the majority of civilians refused to flee the city in order to maintain its Arabic identity and for of plundering their properties by SDF as had previously happened in Tell Abyad , indicating that Kurdish people are only 5%.
Activists in the city held the “Syrian Observatory for Human Rights” responsible for over 200 thousand civilians currently suffering a double besiege by SDF and ISIS, accusing the observatory, which indicated that only 20 thousand are still in the city, of circulating “fake” news about the real number of civilians.
It is reported that SDF, backed by U.S forces and international coalition war planes, launched an advance one week ago against the IS organization holding the city for two years, where demonstrations and protests had been held against IS practices.