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)
TT

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.



Over 50,000 Have Fled Lebanon for Syria Amid Israeli Strikes, Says UN

Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
TT

Over 50,000 Have Fled Lebanon for Syria Amid Israeli Strikes, Says UN

Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo

The UN refugee chief said Saturday that more than 50,000 people had fled to Syria amid escalating Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.

"More than 50,000 Lebanese and Syrians living in Lebanon have now crossed into Syria fleeing Israeli air strikes," Filippo Grandi said on X.

He added that "well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon".

A UNHCR spokesman said the total number of displaced in Lebanon had reached 211,319, including 118,000 just since Israel dramatically ramped up its air strikes on Monday, AFP reported.

The remainder had fled their homes since Hezbollah militants in Lebanon began low-intensity cross-border attacks a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel has shifted the focus of its operation from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 700 people, according to Lebanon's health ministry, as cross-border exchanges escalated over the past week.

Most of those Lebanese deaths came on Monday, the deadliest day of violence since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

"Relief operations are underway, including by UNHCR, to help all those in need, in coordination with both governments," Grandi said.