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Airstrikes Pound Syria's Afrin As Turkey Launches 'Operation Olive Branch'

Turkish-backed fighters from the Free Syrian Army stand in the Tal Malid area, north of Aleppo, as they fire towards Kurdish People’s Protection Units positions in Afrin, on Saturday.(AFP Photo)
Turkish-backed fighters from the Free Syrian Army stand in the Tal Malid area, north of Aleppo, as they fire towards Kurdish People’s Protection Units positions in Afrin, on Saturday.(AFP Photo)
    Ankara, Moscow- Said Abdul Razek, Taha Abdul Wahed
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Airstrikes Pound Syria's Afrin As Turkey Launches 'Operation Olive Branch'

Turkish-backed fighters from the Free Syrian Army stand in the Tal Malid area, north of Aleppo, as they fire towards Kurdish People’s Protection Units positions in Afrin, on Saturday.(AFP Photo)
Turkish-backed fighters from the Free Syrian Army stand in the Tal Malid area, north of Aleppo, as they fire towards Kurdish People’s Protection Units positions in Afrin, on Saturday.(AFP Photo)

In an operation dubbed “Operation Olive Branch”, the Turkish Army launched on Saturday airstrikes against the city of Afrin in northern Syria, a development which Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said would pave the way for a ground infiltration.

“From tomorrow [Sunday], depending on developments, our ground units will perform the necessary activities [as part of the Operation Olive Branch],” Yildirim told reporters.

Meanwhile, pro-Turkish Free Syrian Army factions were seen on Saturday advancing towards the city of Afrin.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, a Kurdish official linked Russia’s approval that Ankara uses its warplanes with the withdrawal of Syrian opposition factions from the airport of Abu Duhur in Idlib.

On Saturday, Syrian regime troops completely seized the strategic Abu Duhur military airport, two years after they lost the airbase to a jihadist-led rebel coalition.

Sources close to the regime told the German news agency on Saturday that their troops entered the strategic airport on Saturday after controlling the village of Tal Salmo, under an airstrike cover.

Meanwhile, the Turkish military said in a statement on Saturday that its Operation Olive Branch in Afrin aims “to establish security and stability on our borders and region, to eliminate terrorists of PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and ISIS, and to save our friends and brothers… from the terrorists’ oppression and cruelty.”

It added that the strikes on the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia hit some 108 targets. According to Kurdish sources, the Turkish operation killed 6 civilians and 3 fighters.

Russia expressed its concerns over the operation, calling for “self-restraint.”

Later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his American counterpart Rex Tillerson spoke over the phone and discussed the issue. Tillerson then telephoned Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who said that Damascus was informed about the operation.

However, the Syrian regime denied the Turkish assertions and called the attacks a “brutal Turkish aggression on Afrin which is an intrinsic part of Syrian land,” according to Syrian regime media.

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Arab World

Israel’s Zamir: Lebanon is the Main Combat Arena

First responders gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Habbouch, southern Lebanon on April 10, 2026. (Photo by Abbas FAKIH / AFP)
First responders gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Habbouch, southern Lebanon on April 10, 2026. (Photo by Abbas FAKIH / AFP)
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Israel’s Zamir: Lebanon is the Main Combat Arena

First responders gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Habbouch, southern Lebanon on April 10, 2026. (Photo by Abbas FAKIH / AFP)
First responders gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Habbouch, southern Lebanon on April 10, 2026. (Photo by Abbas FAKIH / AFP)

The head of Israel’s military, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has said that the “main combat arena is in Lebanon.”

The mission is to keep weakening Hezbollah, Zamir said.

He was speaking on Thursday to Israeli troops inside Lebanon, on the outskirts of the town of Bint Jbeil.

“Our main combat arena is here in Lebanon,” he stated.

Zamir said the army’s mission is to “continue deepening the damage and to continue weakening Hezbollah.”

He added that the objective is to remove the direct threat to residents of northern Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered a potential boost to ceasefire efforts in the region when saying he had approved direct talks with Lebanon.

The announcement came after Israel’s pounding of Beirut Wednesday killed more than 300 people. The negotiations are expected next week in Washington.

Arab World

Macron Meets Pope Leo to Talk Lebanon, Middle East War

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron are welcomed as they arrive at the San Damaso courtyard to meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, April 10, 2026. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron are welcomed as they arrive at the San Damaso courtyard to meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, April 10, 2026. (Reuters)
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Macron Meets Pope Leo to Talk Lebanon, Middle East War

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron are welcomed as they arrive at the San Damaso courtyard to meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, April 10, 2026. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron are welcomed as they arrive at the San Damaso courtyard to meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, April 10, 2026. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Friday at the Vatican for his first meeting with Pope Leo XIV, a private audience expected to be dominated by the Iran war.

The French leader, who arrived with his wife Brigitte after flying to Rome on Thursday, will meet the US pontiff and the Vatican's secretary of state, Pietro Parolin.

Macron and the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics were due above all to discuss "the resolution of the crisis in the Middle East", a spokesman for Macron's office told reporters.

They are particularly focused on Lebanon, where deadly Israeli strikes threatened this week's temporary truce between the US and Iran.

Leo XIV visited Lebanon late last year as part of his first trip abroad, which also included Türkiye, and has repeatedly prayed for the victims of conflict there.

Macron has also made numerous appeals for Lebanon to be included in the ceasefire.

He discussed the conflict on Thursday evening with representatives of the Catholic community of Sant'Egidio, an informal diplomatic channel of the Holy See that is very active on Middle Eastern and humanitarian issues.

"Macron is a man of peace," and "can do a lot" to "support" the Lebanese authorities, the community's founder, Andrea Riccardi, told reporters, adding that Lebanon "must not be left alone".

In recent days, both Macron and the Chicago-born pontiff have spoken out against US President Donald Trump over the war, which began with Israel-US attacks on Iran.

Leo condemned as "unacceptable" threats to civilian targets -- while not citing Trump by name -- while Macron said there was "too much talk, and it's all over the place".

Both welcomed the truce and have urged a diplomatic solution to the war, which has expanded across the Middle East and roiled the global economy.

The US government on Thursday denied a report that the Vatican's US envoy was summoned in January for a "bitter" dressing down over a speech by the pope condemning "diplomacy based on force", in remarks widely viewed as aimed at the Trump administration.

Macron is expected to invite Leo, a more reserved character than his predecessor, to visit France soon.

Friday's meeting at the Vatican comes three days before the pope's visit to the former French colony of Algeria, the first ever by a pontiff.

Arab World

World Food Program Warns Lebanon Facing Food Security Crisis Due to Iran War

Volunteers carry World Food Program (WFP) boxes of aid supplies in a school-turned-shelter in Beirut, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Volunteers carry World Food Program (WFP) boxes of aid supplies in a school-turned-shelter in Beirut, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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World Food Program Warns Lebanon Facing Food Security Crisis Due to Iran War

Volunteers carry World Food Program (WFP) boxes of aid supplies in a school-turned-shelter in Beirut, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Volunteers carry World Food Program (WFP) boxes of aid supplies in a school-turned-shelter in Beirut, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon is facing a food security crisis as the Iran war disrupts supplies of goods inside the country, the United Nations World Food Program said on Friday. 

A fragile two-day-old ceasefire has halted the campaign of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, but it has not so far calmed a parallel war waged by Israel against Iran's Hezbollah allies in Lebanon. 

"What we're witnessing is not just a displacement crisis, it is rapidly becoming a ‌food security ‌crisis," said World Food Program country director Allison ‌Oman, ⁠speaking via video ⁠link from Beirut. 

She warned that food was becoming increasingly unaffordable due to rising prices and demand among displaced families. 

PRICE OF VEGETABLES HAS SOARD 

The price of vegetables has soared by more than 20% and bread prices have increased by 17% since March 2, the WFP said. 

"What we're now seeing is ⁠a very worrying combination: prices are rising, incomes ‌are disrupted and demand is increasing ‌as displacement continues for many families," Oman stated. 

Lebanon faces a two-layered ‌crisis, in which some markets have fully collapsed - especially in ‌the south, where more than 80% of markets are no longer functioning - while those in Beirut are under increasing strain, Oman said. 

Many traders in conflict-affected areas in southern parts of Lebanon are reporting ‌less than one week of essential food stocks remaining, she added. 

The ability to deliver food ⁠aid into ⁠hard-to-reach areas in the south, which has faced heavy bombardment by Israeli airstrikes since March 2, was becoming increasingly difficult. 

While the Qasmiyeh bridge, which was previously struck, is now operational, movement remains difficult. Ten WFP convoys have reached the south to provide aid to some of the estimate 50,000 to 150,000 in need of humanitarian support in that part of the country. 

"This escalation is pushing vulnerable communities even closer to the edge," said Oman, adding that, due to this latest escalation, about 900,000 people across Lebanon were facing food insecurity - a number that was set to rise.