SDF Commanders Flee to Turkey, Finance Officer Killed

File photo: Fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces (AFP Photo/Delil Souleiman)
File photo: Fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces (AFP Photo/Delil Souleiman)
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SDF Commanders Flee to Turkey, Finance Officer Killed

File photo: Fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces (AFP Photo/Delil Souleiman)
File photo: Fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces (AFP Photo/Delil Souleiman)

Kurdish commanders from the Syrian Democratic Forces, carrying the Turkish nationality, have been recently escaping to Turkey, reports said Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a Turkish Kurd SDF finance official was killed while attempting to cross the border to Turkey.

The official "serves as a finance officer in the Syrian Democratic Forces. He was trying to escape to Turkey with large sums of money in his possession, while another person was escorting him,” the Observatory said.

It said the official planned to cross into Turkey through Jatli village and Qarmani town on the border where Turkish vehicles were waiting for him.

“However, after repeated visits to the area, he was tracked by SDF intelligence members and was shot dead while attempting to escape. There were no further details on the fate of the person escorting him,” SOHR said.

The London-based watchdog said it recently monitored similar incidents, which suggest that the escape of SDF commanders from Turkey’s Kurds is on the rise.

“In the past few days, another finance official in al-Derbasiyah managed to escape with large sums of cash after coordinating with Turkey,” the Observatory said.

It added that a Turkish-born woman, who serves as an SDF commander in Raqqa, and another official responsible for tunnels in Kobani have also managed to flee to Turkey.

Separately, an armed clash erupted Sunday among Turkish-backed factions in north Hasaka.

The fighting took place between “Al-Hamzat Division” faction and “Sultan Suleiman Shah” faction in the area between the villages of Al-Dadoya and Al-Arisha in rural Ras al-Ain, north of Hasaka province.

No casualties were reported.

The Observatory said the residents demanded the demilitarization of their city.



Mikati Says 'Danger is Threatening Us,’ 3 Days of National Mourning Announced for Nasrallah

A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Alloush
A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Alloush
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Mikati Says 'Danger is Threatening Us,’ 3 Days of National Mourning Announced for Nasrallah

A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Alloush
A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Alloush

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday that his country was facing the threat of danger, after an Israeli airstrike the previous day killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Mikati was speaking at an emergency cabinet meeting that he convened in Beirut upon returning from the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Mikati did not mention Nasrallah in his address, but his office later published a decision to hold three days of national mourning for Nasrallah

A new phase of escalation in the clashes between Israel and Hezbollah began Friday, when Israel targeted Nasrallah in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in one of the largest blasts to hit the Lebanese capital in years.