Islamic State leader 'surrenders' in Syria

Manbij (Syria), Jan 26 (IANS/AKI) An Islamic State jihadist commander has surrendered to Kurdish-led rebels near Manbij, local news site ARA News reported on Thursday, citing military sources.

Bahraini jihadist Abu Abdullah al-Bahreni surrendered to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the town of Kifsa in northern Syria on Wednesday, ARA News quoted the sources as saying.

Bahreni was chief of IS's al-Hisba Islamic police force in Kifsa, ARA News said.

"After the SDF forces foiled an attempt by IS to infiltrate Manbij, a number of IS militants, headed by al-Bahreni, surrendered to the SDF," Kurdish officer Habun Osman told ARA News.

At least seven IS militants were killed in the clashes, while the rest could have escaped but opted to surrender and handed over their weapons to the SDF, according to Osman.

Bahreni's surrender to the SDF showed "the helplessness of the terrorist group in continuing the fight against our forces in northern Syria," an SDF spokesman said, quoted by ARA News.

The US-backed SDF liberated Manbij and the surrounding countryside in mid-August last year.

The ethnically diverse city had served for over two years as an IS stronghold on the Syrian-Turkish border.

--IANS/AKI

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