The United States released footage that showed coalition air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria. US-backed forces are trying to conquer the Islamic State-controlled Syrian city of Manbij, where according to the Joint-Task-Force Commander Lieutenant-General Sean MacFarland noted that a “pocket of enemy resistance shrinks on a daily basis.” Manbij is in the northern province of Aleppo, which forms a theatre for several separate battles between multiple warring sides in Syria’s five-and-a-half-year conflict, which has already claimed the lives of more than half a million people. Aleppo, is besieged since last month by Syrian government forces with the backing of Russia and Iran. Following demands by the international community to provide hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in the city with humanitarian assistance, Moscow announced it would provide a daily, three-hour ceasefire, that would allow aid to enter the embattled city. The humanitarian gesture by Moscow, however, was defined by UN Special envoy to Syria as “not enough,” reiterating a request by the international body for 48 hours.
“First of all, we the U.N. were not consulted. Second, based on what we heard from Yacoub El Hillo, our U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Damascus, three hours are not enough. Next point, we have been reiterating, we need obviously that, to maintain the aim for what has been the pause request by the UN, which is 48 hours,” said Staffan de Mistura, UN Special envoy to Syria. De Mistura also said that senior military officials from Russia and the United States are still working on restoring an overall cessation of hostilities, excluding Islamist organizations, to bring about a significant ceasefire that would allow a resumption of peace negotiations between government and opposition groups.