forces left Manbij later that day; around 500 vehicles containing the surviving ISIL fighters and civilians fled from the town towards Jarabulus. How the ISIL forces were able to leave unopposed was disputed; SOHR reported that a secret deal had taken place, with all pro-ISIL forces being allowed to leave peacefully for releasing the civilian hostages. The SDF leadership, on the other side, claimed that the ISIL forces had taken 2,000 civilians as human shields with them in order to flee to Jarabulus. Fars News reported yet another version of the events: Accordingly, a secret agreement had indeed taken place, which allowed the ISIL fighters to leave the city with their civilian supporters, but they had also taken some civilians hostage to prevent CJTF–OIR from bombing their convoy. After the ISIL fighters had left, the SDF declared the city fully captured, and began carrying out clearing operations in the area. Continued offensive in the countryside and Jarabulus offensive Two days after the capture of Manbij, the creation of the Al-Bab Military Council was announced for the planned offensive to take Al-Bab from the ISIL. Thousands of displaced people started returning to the city after ISIL was driven out, even though much of the city was destroyed and many ISIL mines still remained. Furthermore, there is no electricity, running water or medical care in the city. The SDF started shoring up defenses in the outlying neighborhoods of the city to defend against possible counterattacks. On 15 August, the Manbij Military Council announced that it would continue the offensive to capture the countryside south and northeast of Manbij city. The next day, the SDF captured three villages in the southwestern countryside from the ISIL. On 18–19 August, the SDF took control of a number of villages in the northern, northeastern and southern countryside. By 20 August, the SDF had captured 16 villages since the conquest of Manbij. Manbij Military Council on 19 August issued a statement that the SDF had handed over the control of Manbij to it and had withdrawn from the city. At this point, the SDF declared that they had succeeded in establishing a defensive line against ISIL north of the Sajur River, ending their offensive in the northern countryside. In consequence, the SDF began to intensify their offensive in the southern countryside, capturing Al-Kasra and another village in the region on the 21 August. Even though the SDF