US-backed Syrian fighters seize haul of IS documents

US-backed Syrian fighters battling the Islamic State group have snatched thousands of documents, cellphones and other digital devices from the jihadists, a Pentagon official says Wednesday.

The seizure comes as an anti-IS force comprising Kurdish and Syrian Arab fighters hones in on the northern city of Manbij, an important waypoint between the Turkish border and Raqqa, the jihadists’ de facto capital.

Colonel Chris Garver, a spokesman for the US-led anti-IS campaign, says Syrian Arab fighters were establishing “footholds” on the southern and western edges of Manbij, and had seized entrances to an intricate jihadist tunnel complex.

They also seized more than 10,000 documents from the outlying edges, including textbooks, propaganda posters, cellphones, laptops, maps and digital storage devices, Garver tells reporters.

“Exploitation of this information is ongoing to better understand Daesh networks and techniques, including the systems to manage the flow of foreign fighters into Syria and Iraq,” he adds, using an Arabic abbreviation for the IS group.

— AFP