ISIS is taking major hits in Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern Syria, and Libya

Beautiful celebrations are taking place in the city of Manbij this week, after their liberation from ISIS. This is just one of many great stories in the fight against Daesh this week.

This week ISIS is taking major hits in many places:

• In Afghanistan and Pakistan with the killing of their regional leader
• In Manbij, a key transport city in northern Syria
• And in their stronghold in Libya and Northern Africa

In Afghanistan and Pakistan

On Friday, it was revealed by a Pentagon spokesman that Hafiz Saeed Khan, the regional leader of IS in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was killed in late July. His death represents a blow to ISIS’ efforts to expand outside of Syria and Iraq.

In Syria

Manbij, a town in north Syria, was liberated from ISIS. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition, which includes the Kurdish YPG militia, was backed by US-led air strikes, and they managed to fight for 73 days in order to free 2,000 civilians. The liberation of Manbij represents a major blow to ISIS’s ability to move weapons and people into and out of Syria, due to its location near the border to Turkey and with a road between the two major cities of Aleppo and the IS capital Raqqa.

People are celebrating in the streets of Manbij after the liberation:

In Libya

The Libyan city of Sirte is now almost free from ISIS. Libyan militias backed by the US have taken back 70% of Sirte by seizing the IS headquarters there, in addition to a hospital and university campus. It has been occupied by IS since early 2015, and now has less than 1,000 fighters left there. The taking of IS’ headquarters in Sirte is a huge blow, since the city represents ISIS’ biggest stronghold in Libya and is an important part of their expansion into Northern Africa.