Kurdish Autonomous Administration Criticizes US, Russia Silence Over Turkish Raids

Flames rising from the power station in Qamishli on Monday after a Turkish bombing (EPA)
Flames rising from the power station in Qamishli on Monday after a Turkish bombing (EPA)
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Kurdish Autonomous Administration Criticizes US, Russia Silence Over Turkish Raids

Flames rising from the power station in Qamishli on Monday after a Turkish bombing (EPA)
Flames rising from the power station in Qamishli on Monday after a Turkish bombing (EPA)

A prominent Kurdish official said the US administration and Russia were responsible for the escalation of recent Turkish attacks in northeast Syria, demanding intervention of the Security Council and the implementation of international ceasefire resolutions.
On Monday, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said in a statement that Türkiye launched more than seven military airstrikes in its recent attacks.
Turkish aircraft also targeted five of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) checkpoints and oil sites and facilities.
The statement explained that the continuous bombing over the past 72 hours targeted 45 facilities, homes, and civilian property, injuring six citizens.

The AANES said Türkiye is launching a blatant cross-border attack targeting civilian infrastructure, aiming to displace them and empty the region of its indigenous population, according to deputy co-chair of the Executive Council Badran Jia-Kurd.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Jia-Kurd said the Turkish attack is part of Ankara's war to strike social solidarity and the political process led by the Autonomous Administration.
He condemned the US and Russia's silence regarding the repeated Turkish attacks, adding that Washington and Moscow must pressure Türkiye to stop its aggression.
"Our forces are committed to their right to respond to hostile attacks in the areas controlled by Türkiye and its loyal factions."
The Kurdish official said the US and Russian armies are deployed in these areas under military agreements to reduce the escalation.
He demanded that Washington and Moscow present the Turkish crimes to the Security Council due to Türkiye's failure to adhere to the ceasefire resolution and obstructing the implementation of Resolution 2254.
Over four consecutive days, Turkish military aircraft and drones targeted drinking water stations, laboratories, civilian warehouses, and wedding halls.
Türkiye had repeatedly targeted the Odeh oil field near al-Qahtaniyah in the eastern countryside, costing the administration tens of thousands of dollars in repairs. It is one of the largest oil fields in northeastern Syria.
Furthermore, the head of Jazira region's Energy Department, Akram Suleiman, declared that Turkish attacks caused widespread power outages in nine towns, half of Qamishli's cities, and 2232 villages.
During a phone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Suleiman said the Swedish electric power generation facility has also been out of service as a result of the Turkish bombing, targeting all sources of natural gas production.
Meanwhile, the General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces said that the Turkish attacks disrupted the provision of essential services, denying Turkish allegations that its members were killed during the recent attacks.
The General Command asserted in a statement on Monday that these allegations were false, noting that Türkiye aims to disrupt people's lives and target the infrastructure.

The authority asserted that it would respond under the legitimate right of self-defense.



Israel Pounds Southern Lebanon and Beirut Outskirts, Killing Five Medics

Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Chiyah neighborhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Chiyah neighborhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Israel Pounds Southern Lebanon and Beirut Outskirts, Killing Five Medics

Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Chiyah neighborhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Chiyah neighborhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Israeli forces pounded southern Lebanon and the outskirts of the capital Beirut on Friday, killing at least five medics, and ground troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters in the south.

Israel has pushed on with its intense military campaign against the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, tempering hopes that efforts by a US envoy will lead to an imminent ceasefire.

US mediator Amos Hochstein said this week in Beirut that a truce was "within our grasp". He travelled on to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz before returning to Washington, the news outlet Axios said.

His trip was aimed at ending more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border, which escalated when Israel ramped up its strikes in late September and sent ground troops into Lebanon on Oct. 1.

Israeli troops have fought Hezbollah in a strip of towns along the border and this week pushed deeper to the edges of Khiyam, a town some six km (four miles) from the border.

Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at Israeli troops east of Khiyam at least four times on Friday. Lebanese security sources told Reuters Israeli troops had also advanced in a string of villages to the west. They said Israel was most likely trying to isolate Khiyam before attacking the town.

Four Italian soldiers were lightly injured after two rockets exploded at a UNIFIL peacekeeping force base in southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for UNIFIL said on Friday.

Italian sources said an investigation was under way. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italian media that Hezbollah might be responsible for the attack.

Israeli strikes on two other villages in southern Lebanon killed five medics from a rescue force affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The more than 3,500 people killed by Israeli strikes over the last year include more than 200 medics, the health ministry said.

EVACUATION WARNINGS AND STRIKES

Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from Israel's north because of rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which began firing across the border in support of Hamas at the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

Israel also mounted more strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a once densely populated stronghold of Hezbollah.

Abeer Darwich, a resident of a building that was hit in Beirut southern suburbs on Friday, had to leave her apartment immediately after an evacuation warning from Israel's military.

She stood watching while an Israeli strike pounded the high rise building into dust.

"Do you know that most of the apartments' owners took credit to buy those houses? Life savings are gone, memories and safety ... which Israel decided to steal from us," Darwich said .

Evacuation orders were issued on X for several buildings in the area on Friday. Reuters footage showed one of the strikes appearing to pierce the center of a multi-storey building, which toppled in a cloud of smoke.