Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill at Least 7, Including a Child, State Media Report

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
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Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill at Least 7, Including a Child, State Media Report

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)

Five Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday killed at least eight people, including a child and several Hezbollah fighters, state media reported.

A drone strike in the town of Aita al-Jabal killed a 7-year-old child along with one other person, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The Israeli military said the strike killed Mohammad Mahmoud Najem, an operative in Hezbollah’s drone and rocket unit.

Iran-backed Hezbollah later confirmed Najem’s death and also announced the deaths of four other members Friday.

Photographs from the scene showed a burned-out small pickup truck.

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has been clashing nearly daily with Israeli forces in the border region for more than 10 months. The clashes have killed more than 500 people in Lebanon — most of them fighters but including more than 100 civilians and noncombatants — and 23 soldiers and 26 civilians in Israel.



Türkiye, Russia Resume Joint Patrols in Northeast Syria, Turkish Ministry Says

A Turkish soldier walks next to a Turkish military vehicle during a joint US-Türkiye patrol near Tel Abyad, Syria. (Reuters file)
A Turkish soldier walks next to a Turkish military vehicle during a joint US-Türkiye patrol near Tel Abyad, Syria. (Reuters file)
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Türkiye, Russia Resume Joint Patrols in Northeast Syria, Turkish Ministry Says

A Turkish soldier walks next to a Turkish military vehicle during a joint US-Türkiye patrol near Tel Abyad, Syria. (Reuters file)
A Turkish soldier walks next to a Turkish military vehicle during a joint US-Türkiye patrol near Tel Abyad, Syria. (Reuters file)

Turkish and Russian troops in armored vehicles have resumed joint ground patrols in northeast Syria after operations were halted last year for security reasons, Türkiye’s defense ministry said on Friday.

The joint ground patrol was relaunched on Thursday into the east of the "Operation Peace Spring" zone in northeast Syria, involving four vehicles and 24 personnel, the statement said.

The ministry did not elaborate on the security issues that halted joint patrol operations in October last year. A total of 344 joint patrols had been conducted in the area since 2019, the ministry said.

In 2019, Türkiye and its Syrian opposition allies began military operations in northeast Syria, dubbed "Operation Peace Spring", aiming to drive back Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

That year, Ankara and Moscow agreed to conduct joint patrols in the region under a deal struck by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Joint ground patrols will continue in the near future to establish stability in northeast Syria, ensure security of Türkiye’s borders and demonstrate Turkish-Russian cooperation in the fight against terrorism, the defense ministry said.