Two US-led coalition personnel killed

BEIRUT: Two members of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State Jihadist group were killed in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, the US military and a monitor said on Friday.

The attack in Manbij, a city where US personnel is stationed, was carried out late on Thursday, the day US President Donald Trump said he would pull out forces “very soon”. “Two Coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria” at around midnight (2100 GMT), the US-led coalition said in a statement.

It did not provide the nationalities of the pair nor did any group immediately claim responsibility for the attack. The US-led coalition said it was withholding details on the circumstances of the attack pending further investigation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor which relies on a nationwide network of sources on the ground, said the attack hit a convoy in Manbij. The monitor said four members of the local council were also wounded in the explosion, which struck in the heart of the city. Manbij used to be a key hub for the Jihadists when their self-styled “caliphate” was at its peak. It was retaken by Kurdish-led forces backed by the coalition.