After Soldier’s Death, Turkey Shells Syria’s Tall Rifat

: Internally displaced Syrians carry their belongings as they arrive at a refugee camp near the Bab al-Salam crossing, across from Turkey's Kilis province, on the outskirts of the northern border town of Azaz, Syria February 6, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
: Internally displaced Syrians carry their belongings as they arrive at a refugee camp near the Bab al-Salam crossing, across from Turkey's Kilis province, on the outskirts of the northern border town of Azaz, Syria February 6, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
TT
20

After Soldier’s Death, Turkey Shells Syria’s Tall Rifat

: Internally displaced Syrians carry their belongings as they arrive at a refugee camp near the Bab al-Salam crossing, across from Turkey's Kilis province, on the outskirts of the northern border town of Azaz, Syria February 6, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
: Internally displaced Syrians carry their belongings as they arrive at a refugee camp near the Bab al-Salam crossing, across from Turkey's Kilis province, on the outskirts of the northern border town of Azaz, Syria February 6, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Retaliating to earlier attacks staged by the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG), Turkish forces shelled Syria’s Tall Rifat city which is nestled in the northern Aleppo province.

In a statement released on Monday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said the country’s army forces successfully bombed YPG Kurdish sites in response to an attack that targeted Ankara military assets in Syria and which killed a Turkish soldier.

The ministry went on to confirm that not only one soldier was killed, but six others were injured by the attack. Victims were cleared from the area.

By far, this marks the heaviest toll incurred by a Turkey observation post set up in north Syria.

Back in 2017, Turkey and Russia had agreed to establish observation posts overlooking designated de-escalation zones in Syria’s north, especially in Idlib.

A military statement said it responded to the anti-tank attack by firing at militants in the region.

With the collapse of the declared truce in Hama and Idlib in recent weeks, Turkish observation posts have been the target of military escalation on behalf of the Russian-backed Syria regime and the YPG.
It is worth noting that the Syrian regime scaled up the bombing of Turkey-backed rebels in the Idlib region.

An agreement between Turkey and Russia, signed in September 2018 at the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, was intended to spare opposition forces in Idlib and its environs from regime attacks. But Russia, the Syrian regime’s major power backer, is accusing Ankara of failing to meet its obligations under the agreement as a rebel guarantor, especially with regard to the redeployment of hardline groups from some of the north’s main infrastructure.

Despite the resumed violence on behalf of the Syrian regime, it does not seem as though Russia will be allowing the military offensive to go into full-throttle in Idlib—a total breakout of violence in Syria’s northern areas would leave Turkey's southern borders in dismay.

In the same context, the United Nations warned that up to 2 million Syrians might flee to Turkey if the fighting raged in northwestern Syria.



Blaze at Cairo Telecom Building Kills 4 and Disrupts Internet, Phone

A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
TT
20

Blaze at Cairo Telecom Building Kills 4 and Disrupts Internet, Phone

A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Four workers were killed and at least 22 others were injured in a fire that broke out on Monday at a key data center in Cairo, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesperson at Egypt's Health Ministry, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The blaze at a Telecom Egypt facility, which state TV said was contained on Monday, caused disruptions to communications across the capital.

Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, said in a statement on Tuesday that services will be gradually restored within 24 hours.

In a statement on Tuesday, Telecom Egypt said it mourned the employees that lost their lives and offered support for their families.

The fire halted phone calls, and disrupted internet access, with internet monitoring group Netblocks saying network data showed national connectivity at 62% of ordinary levels.

The health ministry posted alternative numbers for ambulance services across different governorates in case people were unable to reach its main hotline.

Besides phone calls, some digital banking services were also impacted including credit cards, ATM machines and online transactions, a bank source and residents said on Monday. Banks had already been closed for the day.

The injuries were mostly because of smoke inhalation, health ministry spokesperson Ghaffar said on Monday.

The state news agency MENA said on Monday the fire had been prevented from spreading to the entire building and neighboring rooftops.

An initial examination indicated that the fire was likely to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, MENA cited a security source as saying.