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.



Hamas Says Nasrallah 'Assassination' will only Strengthen Resistance

A sign depicting Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is placed in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
A sign depicting Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is placed in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
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Hamas Says Nasrallah 'Assassination' will only Strengthen Resistance

A sign depicting Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is placed in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
A sign depicting Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is placed in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo

Palestinian group Hamas said on Saturday it mourned Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah following his killing in an Israeli airstrike, saying his death would only fuel the fight against Israel.

"Crimes and assassination by the occupation will only increase the determination and the insistence of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon to go forward with all their might, bravery and pride on the footsteps of the martyrs...and pursue the path of resistance until victory and the dismissal of the occupation," Hamas said in a statement.

His death marks a heavy blow to Hezbollah as it reels from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks. It is also a huge blow to Iran, given the major role he has played in the Tehran-backed regional "Axis of Resistance."

According to Reuters, the 'Axis of Resistance' refers to groups including Hezbollah that are backed by Iran and have been waging attacks on Israel since war erupted between their ally Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7.

"We reaffirm our absolute solidarity and standing with the brothers in Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, who are taking part in the battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood to defend Al-Aqsa mosque, alongside our people and our resistance," Hamas added.

Islamic Jihad, another Iranian-backed Palestinian group, said in a statement: "Sooner or later, the resistance forces in Lebanon, Palestine, and the region will make the enemy pay the price of its crimes, and taste defeat for what its sinful hands have done."