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Fighting Intensifies between Pro-Türkiye Factions, SDF Near Syria’s Manbij

Syrian opposition fighters secure the area near Manbij city, northern Syria, 04 January 2025. (EPA)
Syrian opposition fighters secure the area near Manbij city, northern Syria, 04 January 2025. (EPA)
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Fighting Intensifies between Pro-Türkiye Factions, SDF Near Syria’s Manbij

Syrian opposition fighters secure the area near Manbij city, northern Syria, 04 January 2025. (EPA)
Syrian opposition fighters secure the area near Manbij city, northern Syria, 04 January 2025. (EPA)

Fighting intensified on Saturday between the Türkiye-backed Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Tishrin Dam region southeast of Manbij city in the Aleppo countryside.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish jets struck SDF positions in the area, as well as in the city of Deir Hafir southeast of Manbij.

In a statement, the SDF said the pro-Türkiye factions launched a broad attack on several villages south and east of Manbij, but its forces managed to repel them.

The factions have for days been seeking to seize areas surrounding the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River.

The SDF added that the factions, with support from Turkish drones and modern tanks, launched violent attacks on the villages of al-Atshana, Khirbet Tueni, Khirbet Zamala, al-Mastaha, Alloush and others near Manbij.

The SDF managed to repel “all attacks”, kill several members of the factions and destroy Turkish vehicles, stressed the statement.

SDF members were killed and eight others were wounded in the fighting. Fifty members of the factions were also killed, said the Observatory, which confirmed the attacks on the Manbij countryside.

The SDF has since detonated mines in the area to slow down the factions’ advance. It has also bolstered the deployment of its forces in anticipation of air strikes, added the Observatory.

The fighting has been ongoing since December when the factions seized Manbij and Tal Rifaat. Since then, neither side has managed to claim any major victory against the other or capture any territory.

Meanwhile, Turkish drones struck and damaged a power plant in the Tabaqa countryside in the western Raqqa province.

Two members of the SDF security forces were also wounded in a drone strike on the municipality building in the countryside.

Türkiye has been targeting infrastructure in the regions held by the People’s Protection Forces (YPG) - the military backbone of the SDF - in northern and eastern Syria.

Turkish artillery also targeted areas in Hasakeh. There have been no reports so far of casualties.

Elsewhere, American forces and the US-led international coalition to fight ISIS continued to send military reinforcements to areas held by the SDF.

A 20-truck American military convoy entered Syria through the Iraqi Kurdistan region and headed towards the Tal Baydar and Qasrak bases in the Hasakeh countryside on Saturday.

The Observatory said the US forces sent 13 armored vehicles, as well as fuel tankers, from these bases to Ain al-Arab, or Kobane, in the eastern Aleppo countryside to complete the construction of a military base there.

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Arab World

Syria's Leader Sharaa in Berlin on Tuesday, Says German Presidency

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
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Syria's Leader Sharaa in Berlin on Tuesday, Says German Presidency

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be visiting Berlin next Tuesday and meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German presidency said.

The office of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has yet to announce whether they would also hold talks during the visit, which comes at a time when the German government is seeking to step up repatriations of Syrians to their homeland.

Arab World

US Envoy Opens File on Funds Smuggled from Iraq

Iraqis burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, January 13, 2026 (Reuters). 
Iraqis burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, January 13, 2026 (Reuters). 
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US Envoy Opens File on Funds Smuggled from Iraq

Iraqis burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, January 13, 2026 (Reuters). 
Iraqis burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, January 13, 2026 (Reuters). 

Iraqi politicians and observers warn of the potential fallout from a comprehensive review of suspicious financial transactions in Iraq as promised by US envoy Mark Savaya.

Meanwhile, a surprise decision by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the leading vote-getter in the elections, to relinquish his right to form a government in favor of runner-up Nouri al-Maliki continues to cast a shadow over the leadership of the Coordination Framework, the umbrella alliance of Shiite political forces.

Savaya, who was praised on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump for having done “a great job in Iraq,” announced on Thursday the launch of a comprehensive review of suspicious payments and financial transactions in Iraq.

The review will be conducted in cooperation with the US Treasury Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, alongside discussions on potential sanctions targeting networks that undermine financial integrity and finance terrorist activities.

Savaya has not yet made an official visit to Baghdad since assuming his role as presidential envoy to Iraq, although he previously visited the country in a personal capacity. He is of Christian Iraqi origin, and his family left Iraq in the 1990s.

In a statement, Savaya said he was meeting with the US Treasury Department and OFAC to discuss key challenges and reform opportunities in Iraq’s state-owned and private banks, with a particular focus on strengthening financial governance, compliance, and institutional accountability.

According to the statement, both sides agreed to conduct a comprehensive review of records related to suspicious payments and financial transactions involving Iraqi institutions, companies, and individuals linked to smuggling operations, money laundering, and fraudulent contracts and financial projects that fund and enable terrorist activities.

Discussions also included next steps regarding potential sanctions against entities and networks that undermine financial integrity and state authority.

Savaya said relations between Iraq and the United States have never been stronger than they are today under Trump’s leadership.

Iraqi politician and former electricity minister Luay al-Khatteeb told Asharq Al-Awsat that Savaya’s message aligns with statements made by the US chargé d’affaires during his shuttle meetings with political bloc leaders regarding Washington’s official stance should a parliamentary majority vote in favor of undesirable figures.

Al-Khatteeb said the Coordination Framework must act with intelligence, seriousness, and realism by selecting credible figures who exceed US administration expectations and command international respect.

He warned that Iraq’s political scene is deeply unsettled and that the economy is in its worst condition, heading toward collapse if Shiite leaders continue clinging to failed policies and appointing ineffective and internationally unacceptable figures.

“The choices of the Coordination Framework,” he said, “will be the official response and message to the international community - and especially to the US administration - either yielding rewards or exacting a heavy price.”

 

Arab World

Doctors Without Borders: Humanitarian Work in Sudan Hampered by Bureaucratic Hurdles

Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (AFP) 
Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (AFP) 
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Doctors Without Borders: Humanitarian Work in Sudan Hampered by Bureaucratic Hurdles

Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (AFP) 
Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (AFP) 

The health system in Sudan is suffering, with massive shortage of medical staff and supplies, said Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Abdelmoneim said a large number of hospitals have been damaged, or completely out of service, amid widespread disease outbreaks like cholera and measles, pushing an already fragile health system to the brink.

Earlier, the World Health Organization said about 65% of the population lack access to healthcare and between 70 – 80% of health facilities are not functioning due to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.

Abdelmoneim said assistance in Sudan is urgent, including in the fields of maternal and childcare, treatment of injuries, infant and childbirth, infectious diseases, and malnutrition.

Also, the population in Sudan is in urgent need of safe drinking water, sanitation services, psychological support, and assistance for survivors of sexual violence due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

He reported that access to health service facilities remains severely restricted due to insecurity and persistent bureaucratic obstacles.

Abdelmoneim noted that while MSF is not directly affected by these restrictions, other humanitarian organizations face an additional hurdle of limited funding and reduced aid.

Concerning the situation in El Fasher, the official said MSF treated residents who had been trapped in the city, which was under siege by the RSF for approximately 500 days.

After the RSF took control of the city, many survivors fled, often walking 60 km to the nearby town of Tawila, where MSF teams provided emergency medical care.

Abdelmoneim said the survivors arrived exhausted, malnourished, dehydrated, with traumatic injuries, gunshot wounds, and infected wounds.

On their journeys, they saw many dead bodies, and suffered torture, kidnappings for ransom, sexual violence, humiliation, and had everything they owned stolen, he said.

Concerning civilians who were still alive in El Fasher before 26 October, Abdelmoneim said they faced extreme violence including massacres, ethnic cleansing inside the city, and while escaping.

100 Violence Incidents

Abdelmoneim then mentioned the attacks on health care facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries.

He said that since April 2023, MSF has documented 100 incidents of violence targeting its staff, facilities, vehicles and supplies, including looting and destruction of clinics, theft of medicines, assaults, and threats to health workers.