The Syrian Democratic Forces have cleared 90 percent of the strategic city of "Islamic State" militants. Manbij had been "a citadel of foreign terrorists," said a spokesman for the US-led coalition against the group.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/S. Backhaus
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The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Saturday said an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters took control of the "Islamic State" (IS) stronghold of Manbij near the Turkish border.
"The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took control of Manbij on Saturday and are combing the city in search of the last remaining jihadists," the Observatory said.
Around 90 percent of the city had been cleared of the IS fighters, but skirmishes continue in parts of the city, including the center, SDF-allied Manbij military council spokesman Sharfan Darwish told Reuters news agency.
In May, the SDF launched a major offensive in and around Manbij to sever the key transit point in the militant group's supply route from the Turkish border to Raqqa, its de facto capital.
Backed by US airstrikes, the SDF surrounded the city in June. However, the alliance of anti-IS Syrian groups, including Kurdish YPG fighters, faced setbacks as the militant group fought back using suicide bombers and car bombs.
The offensive witnessed a series of successes in August, with US-led coalition spokesman Mark McGurk saying the militant group's defenses had been degraded "in what had been a citadel of foreign terrorists."
How the Syrian civil war began - and gave 'Islamic State' room to grow
Although the emergence of "IS" prompted international intervention in Syria, the jihadist group entered the conflict late in the game. DW examines how the war created space for this terrorist group to expand.
Image: AP
The "Arab Spring" effect
In 2011, as regimes crumble across the region, tens of thousands of Syrians take to the streets to protest against corruption, high unemployment and soaring food prices. The Syrian government responds with live ammunition, claiming some 400 lives by May.
Image: dapd
Condemnation without consensus
At the urging of Western countries, the UN Security Council condemns the violent crackdown. The EU and US implement an arms embargo, visa bans and asset freezes in the months that follow. With the backing of the Arab League, calls eventually grow for the Syrian president's departure. But not all UN members agree with this demand.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Szenes
Assad refuses to back down
Bashar al-Assad - who has been in power since the death of his father in 2000 - sees his reputation wane with the continuing unrest. He refuses to end decades-long emergency rule, which allows for surveillance and interrogation. Russia backs its ally, supplying weapons and vetoing UN resolutions on Syria multiple times.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Badawi
The opposition gets organized
By the end of the year, human rights groups and the UN have evidence of human rights abuses. Civilians and military deserters are slowly beginning to organize themselves to fight back against government forces, which have been targeting dissidents. More than 5,000 have died so far in the fighting. It will take another six months before the UN acknowledges that a war is taking place on Syrian soil.
Image: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Outside intervention
In September 2012, Iran confirms that it has fighters on the ground in Syria - a fact long denied by Damascus. The presence of allied troops underscores the hesitance of the US and other Western powers to intervene in the conflict. The US, stung by failed interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, sees dialogue as the only reasonable solution.
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Fleeing the conflict
As the death toll nears 100,000, the number of refugees in neighboring countries - such as Turkey and Jordan - hits one million. That number will double by September 2013. The West and the Arab League have seen all attempts at a transitional government fail in the two years of war, watching as fighting spills over into Turkey and Lebanon. They fear Assad will stay in power by any means possible.
Image: Reuters/B. Khabieh
No united front against Assad
Assad has long claimed he's combatting terrorists. But it's not until the second year of war that the fragmented Free Syrian Army is definitely known to include radical extremists. The group Al-Nusra Front pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, further splintering the opposition.
Image: Reuters/A. Abdullah
From brute force to chemical warfare
In June 2013, the White House says it has evidence that Assad has been using sarin nerve gas on civilians - a report later backed by the UN. The discovery pushes US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders toward considering the use of military force. However, Russia's proposal to remove the chemical weapons ultimately wins out.
Image: Reuters
Islamic State emerges
Reports of a new jihadist group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) emerge in the final weeks of 2013. Taking land in northern Syria and Iraq, the group sparks infighting among the opposition, with some 500 dead by early 2014. The unexpected emergence of IS ultimately draws the US, France, Saudi Arabia and other nations into the war.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
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Aleppo's rebels make gains
Meanwhile, rebels and allied Islamists on Saturday captured key government territory south of Aleppo in a bid to cut off regime forces laying siege to the city.
"The Army of Conquest on Saturday took control of the armament school, where there is a large amount of ammunitions, and a large part of the artillery school" at a military academy south of Aleppo, the Observatory said.
A coalition of rebel groups and Islamists "is about to cut off, by gunfire, the supply route into government-controlled districts," added Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
Regime forces late July cut off the only supply line into rebel-held areas of Aleppo, prompting fears that the humanitarian disaster on the ground would take a turn for the worse.
At least 280,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced since 2011, when government forces launched a violent crackdown against peaceful protesters calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
