the next day the SDF had secured the crucial Al-Kitab crossroad in western Manbij, while they continued to assault the ISIL-held villages of Yasta and Eyn En-Nexîl northeast of the city. The two villages were eventually captured after heavy clashes, depriving ISIL forces of their last strongholds in Manbij's outskirts. Subsequently, a SDF field commander claimed that the SDF had captured all villages around Manbij from ISIL, and that the situation for the besieged forces in the city became dire. He reported that some ISIL emirs had attempted to bribe the SDF to let them flee the city. Furthermore, clashes between SDF and ISIL took place near al-Kawkali and al-Arima, where ISIL forcibly conscripted 200 locals to fight against the SDF. The next day, the coalition intensified their airstrikes in order to assist the SDF, while the latter continued to advance into Manbij. In course of these airstrikes, Abu Hamza al-Ansari, another leading ISIL commander of the city, was killed. Despite their losses, ISIL forces reportedly continued to defend their positions in Manbij fiercely. On the morning of 20 June, ISIL fighters attacked forces of the SDF from the side of al-Bab, Jarabulus and the village of Arima in an attempt to break the siege of Manbij. The clashes continued until the afternoon, with ISIL forces retaking three villages before they were repelled by SDF forces. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, with the SDF losing 28 fighters and ISIL suffering over 140 dead and much lost matériel. As a result of the SDF advance, ISIL initiated mass arrests of Kurdish civilians in many towns and villages of the northern Aleppo countryside. Activists expressed fear that the civilians would be used as human shields. In two villages, the locals revolted against ISIL fighters when they attempted to kidnap women, resulting in clashes that left six civilians dead. With some western parts of the city on Manbij proper under SDF control, a humanitarian corridor was opened between the city and its captured countryside on 22 June in order to assist civilians evacuating the city. The next day, SDF broke into the Manbij Silos, one of the most important ISIL strongholds in the city. According to U.S. officials, despite their recent defeats ISIL forces in Manbij did not show signs of faltering and were expected to fight till the last for the city. By 23 June, while there were heavy clashes in the