of Manbij. The northern attack at the Sajur River failed disastrously, resulting in the death of 111 ISIL fighters and the SDF destroying several armored vehicles. In the south, however, ISIL claimed to have retaken the Al-Aqra Mountains, as well as the villages of Umm Al-Sirraj and Qarah Saghirah. In Manbij itself, heavy fighting continued, while the US Central Command stated that liberating the city would probably still take much time. On 21 July, the SDF issued ISIL an ultimatum to leave the city along with their light weaponry within 48 hours, though ISIL did not respond to the offer. U.S. Army Colonel Christopher Garver, chief spokesman for the US military command in Iraq and Syria, commented that fighting was "very intense", describing it as "different than what we've seen in Fallujah [or] Ramadi" and concluding that "this is a fight like we haven't seen before." Fierce fighting continued during the next days in the city center, with the SDF attacking the Post Office and the Cultural Center. By 22 July, the SDF had reportedly captured 90% of western Manbij, though a number of small ISIL pockets in the area continued to resist, most notably at the Tetbekat Prison. On 24 July, ISIL attempted yet again to break the siege on Manbij, launching several attacks in the countryside. ISIL fighters attacked Osajli village in the southwest, Zinogil village in the northwest, and Til Sarraj in the south. All assaults were eventually repelled, but only after fierce fighting that continued until the next day. On 25 July, Kurdish sources reported that SDF had retaken Bannawi neighbourhood and were fighting in al-Kejeli. SDF sources claimed that 51 ISIS fighters were killed during the clashes. The SOHR backed this claim up by stating that the SDF was advancing "in several areas in Manbij city, amid more casualties among both parties". The clashes in al-Kejeli continued throughout the following night, and resulted in the death of Abu Aisha, a Turkish ISIL emir and commander of eastern Manbij. However, even as ISIL forces retreated, they attempted to hamper the SDF's advances as much as possible. Thus, there are reports of ISIL fighters planting large numbers of bombs and landmines in Manbij's houses, shops, schools and other public places to detonate them while retreating from their positions. Second major ISIL counter-offensive On 28 July, ISIL launched a major counter-offensive in the western Manbij countryside. In course