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Attack on Turkish-Backed Opposition Fighters in Syria Kills 13 Militants

Members of the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) take up positions at Dhiban town in Deir Ezzor province, eastern Syria, 09 September 2023. (EPA)
Members of the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) take up positions at Dhiban town in Deir Ezzor province, eastern Syria, 09 September 2023. (EPA)
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Attack on Turkish-Backed Opposition Fighters in Syria Kills 13 Militants

Members of the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) take up positions at Dhiban town in Deir Ezzor province, eastern Syria, 09 September 2023. (EPA)
Members of the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) take up positions at Dhiban town in Deir Ezzor province, eastern Syria, 09 September 2023. (EPA)

A Kurdish-led force attacked Turkish-backed opposition fighters in northern Syria on Monday, killing at least 13 of the militants, activists said.

The opposition activists blamed the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces for carrying out the assault, though the US-backed group did not claim responsibility.

Türkiye says Syria’s main Kurdish militia is allied with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, that has led an insurgency against Türkiye since 1984 that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Türkiye since 2016 has conducted three major incursions into northern Syria to clear areas under Kurdish control and create a buffer zone near its border. Since then, the two groups have routinely clashed, while Türkiye has also conducted airstrikes and drone attacks on targets in Kurdish-controlled areas.

According to opposition activists, SDF forces tried to infiltrate the opposition-controlled city of Tal Battal in northern Aleppo province, attacking positions belonging to Turkish-backed militants and the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al Sham.

Meanwhile, the Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the death toll was at 14. According to the Observatory, mines exploded during the attack that took place at dawn.

The SDF has been the main US ally in Syria in the campaign against the ISIS group that was defeated on the battlefield in the war-torn country in March 2019.

The US has some 900 troops in eastern Syria backing SDF forces in targeting ISIS sleeper cells.

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Lebanon Parliament Adjourns for Consultations after Failing to Elect Aoun in First Round

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Parliament Adjourns for Consultations after Failing to Elect Aoun in First Round

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri adjourned a session held on Thursday to elect a president for two hours of consultations, after a first round of voting failed to produce enough votes for Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun.
Aoun needs 86 votes to be elected but received 71. Two political sources said he was likely to cross the 86-vote threshold in a second session on Thursday.

Lawmakers began the session amid expectations it could see Aoun elected as president following a vacancy of more than two years.
The 128-lawmaker chamber, which has failed to reach consensus a dozen times amid tensions between the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its opponents, started discussions at 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
Aoun, no relation to the former president, is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, the leader of Marada movement with close ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad.
However, on Wednesday, Franjieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Aoun, apparently clearing the way for the army chief.
Lebanon’s fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons. The small, crisis-battered Mediterranean country has been through several extended presidential vacancies, with the longest lasting nearly 2 1/2 years between May 2014 and October 2016. It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected.
As a sitting army commander, Joseph Aoun is technically barred from becoming president by Lebanon's constitution. The ban has been waived before, but it means that Aoun faces additional procedural hurdles.
Under normal circumstances, a presidential candidate in Lebanon can be elected by a two-thirds majority of the 128-member house in the first round of voting, or by a simple majority in a subsequent round.
But because of the constitutional issues surrounding his election, Aoun would need a two-thirds majority even in the second round.
Other contenders include Jihad Azour, a former finance minister who is now the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; and Elias al-Baysari, the acting head of Lebanon’s General Security agency.
A president is needed to appoint a permanent prime minister and cabinet. The caretaker government that has run Lebanon for the last two years has reduced powers because it was not appointed by a sitting president.
The next government will face daunting challenges apart from implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction.
Lebanon is six years into an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country's currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese. The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day.
The country's leaders reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bail-out package in 2022 but have made limited progress on reforms required to clinch the deal.