Turkish Army Dispatches Reinforcement to Eastern Euphrates

Syrians are seen on the rubble of a destroyed building that covers a street after Assad regime airstrikes in the town of Ariha, in Idlib province, Syria, January 30. /AP Photo
Syrians are seen on the rubble of a destroyed building that covers a street after Assad regime airstrikes in the town of Ariha, in Idlib province, Syria, January 30. /AP Photo
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Turkish Army Dispatches Reinforcement to Eastern Euphrates

Syrians are seen on the rubble of a destroyed building that covers a street after Assad regime airstrikes in the town of Ariha, in Idlib province, Syria, January 30. /AP Photo
Syrians are seen on the rubble of a destroyed building that covers a street after Assad regime airstrikes in the town of Ariha, in Idlib province, Syria, January 30. /AP Photo

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported sources as saying that Turkish military reinforcement were crossing into areas under the control of “Peace Spring” factions.

A convoy of 30 Turkish military vehicles entered the city coming from a checkpoint in Adwaniya, carrying logistic and military gears, according to the sources.

This is the first time that military reinforcements are dispatched to the region since halting the operation on October 17.

Earlier last week, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced taking strict procedures in areas under its controlled or the control of its loyal factions in the East of Euphrates to ban the sneaking of members from People's Protection Units.

Turkish forces are still sending families of Turkish-backed fighters to the areas of “Peace Spring”, as part of Turkey’s demographic change in the region.

On May 6, SOHR sources said that eight buses arrived in Ras al-Ain city in rural Al-Hasakeh, carrying families from north Aleppo countryside, in addition to a bus transporting armed militiamen of Turkish-backed factions. The Turkish intelligence facilitated the passage of these buses.

On April 21, SOHR activists also reported that a convoy of nearly 150 vehicles carrying displaced families from Al-Ghouta, Homs, and Idlib arrived in Tal Abyad city, north of Raqqa. The vehicles carried over 500 people of Turkish-backed fighters’ families from the city of Jarabulus, north of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Turkish forces and forces of loyal factions targeted Al-Arida village by heavy ammunition. There were no details about causalities.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.