DAMASCUS - The Islamic State (IS) militants have kidnapped nearly 2,000 civilians while evacuating their last position in the northern town of Manbej near Turkey on Friday, state news agency SANA and a monitor group reported.
A convoy of 500 vehicles carrying the IS militants and civilians started leaving Manbej, in the northern countryside of the northern province of Aleppo, toward the town of Jarablus, another town in northern Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The IS withdrawal comes apparently as part of mediation by local dignitaries between the IS and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which mounted a wide-scale offensive to flush out IS from Manbej in June, according to the Observatory.
The UK-based watchdog group said the deal was not officially declared between both sides, but it could be explained, as it's impossible for 500 vehicles to leave Manbej without being targeted by the SDF.
Friday marks the end of the IS presence in their last pocket in Manbej, the last IS position on the Turkish borders, activists said, adding that the town has become almost empty following the IS withdrawal with civilians. (Xinhua)