BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-backed forces fighting against Islamic State near the Syrian-Turkish border have reached the "last main road" into the city of Manbij, which is held by the jihadists, a spokesman said on Thursday.
"We have reached the road that links Manbij and Aleppo, from the west ... (it is) the last main road to the city," Sharfan Darwish, spokesman for the Syria Democratic Forces-allied Manbij Military Council, told Reuters.
He appeared to be referring to the highway between Manbij and Islamic State-held al-Bab, further west. That highway also leads onto Aleppo city.
The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, has advanced to the outskirts of Manbij one week into a campaign aimed at driving Islamic State from territory along the Turkish border.
The SDF, which is also fighting against Islamic State in neighboring Raqqa province, is backed by U.S.-led air strikes and assisted by U.S. special forces.
A statement from the Manbij Military Council said its forces had taken control of other highways leading north, east and south from the city.
It said its fighters were close enough to Manbij itself to be able to fire at Islamic State militants inside the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the SDF were in firing range of the main road leading west.
(Reporting by John Davison; Editing by Alison Williams)
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