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3rd Turkish Soldier Killed in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, fright wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey, on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, fright wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey, on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)
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3rd Turkish Soldier Killed in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, fright wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey, on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, fright wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey, on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)

A Turkish soldier died Sunday during the ongoing clashes with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq’s Kurdish region, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said.

The clashes are part of the “Operation Claw-Tiger,” which Turkish forces launched in northern Iraq on June 17, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry tweeted that Specialist Corporal Recep Yuksel was killed in a firefight with PKK members as part of the Operation Claw-Tiger’s mission area.

Yuksel was the third soldier to be killed in this offensive. The ministry announced on Saturday the death of its second soldier, adding that two PKK elements were neutralized in the clashes.

On June 20, it announced that a Turkish soldier in Haftanin was killed and four PKK elements neutralized in airstrikes on al-Zab province.

Turkish forces have carried out two separate operations in northern Iraq over the past two weeks, justified by “increased PKK attacks on Turkish army bases in the borders between the two countries.”

The first operation, dubbed Claw-Eagle, was launched on June 15, during which areas in northern Iraq were bombed by airstrikes and artillery.

Two days later, the second ongoing operation, called Claw-Tiger, kicked off with the participation of the Special Forces.

Ankara says there is no timeframe for the two operations, noting that they will continue until PKK capabilities are paralyzed and their locations and logistical capacities are destroyed.

Iraq rejects the Turkish operations in which many civilians have been killed.

The Iraqi presidency said the operations are in violation of Iraq’s national sovereignty, but Ankara says its military offensives are carried out in coordination with Baghdad authorities.

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Arab World

Lebanon PM: Those Killed in Israeli Strike Were Not 'Military Infrastructure'

People inspect a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike on the village of Ansar, southern Lebanon, 15 August 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
People inspect a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike on the village of Ansar, southern Lebanon, 15 August 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Lebanon PM: Those Killed in Israeli Strike Were Not 'Military Infrastructure'

People inspect a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike on the village of Ansar, southern Lebanon, 15 August 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
People inspect a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike on the village of Ansar, southern Lebanon, 15 August 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Saturday that seven people, including two women and three children, killed in an Israeli strike were not military targets, after Israel said it struck Hezbollah "infrastructure.”

"The seven martyrs of the Israeli strike on the village of Ansar are not 'military infrastructure' and the women and children who were killed are not military targets," Salam said, adding that "Israel must halt this escalation,” which he said was "extremely dangerous and undermines efforts to consolidate stability in the south.”

State-run National News Agency said the airstrike targeted a home on the edge of Ansar.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck “Hezbollah infrastructure” in the areas of Ali Taher and Ansar in response to an action against Israeli soldiers in the area.

The military added that it will not allow Hezbollah to harm Israeli civilians or soldiers “and will continue to operate to remove threats.”

Israel and the Lebanese government announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon, in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Hezbollah has refused direct talks and wasn’t party to the deal.

Arab World

Israeli Airstrike on Southern Lebanon Kills 7 People

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge on August 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge on August 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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Israeli Airstrike on Southern Lebanon Kills 7 People

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge on August 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge on August 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

An Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon killed seven people early Saturday, the worst toll since deals in June saw a lull in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israel "escalated its attacks on the south,” reporting that "a strike launched by enemy warplanes on a home" on the outskirts of the village of Ansar "killed seven people and wounded three others.”

It said the strike destroyed the home and that emergency rescuers were removing rubble and transporting the casualties to hospital.

The death toll from the airstrike makes it the deadliest since Lebanon and Israel announced a framework agreement on June 26, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon, in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Violence has significantly decreased since the signing of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June on the broader Middle East war, and the US-sponsored framework deal between Lebanon and Israel.

But Lebanon still reports intermittent Israeli strikes occasionally causing casualties, and the broad demolitions of civilian buildings in southern villages and towns.

The NNA said "the valley between Ansar and Zarariyeh was also subjected to a strike, the first at this geographical depth since the ceasefire two months ago.”

It also said "Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes targeting the Ali al-Taher ridge,” a strategic hill overlooking the Nabatieh area, also reporting Israeli shelling there.

The news agency said Israeli forces detonated homes in the town of Bint Jbeil near the border.

Arab World

Iraqi Faction Rejects Using Force to Disarm Groups

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Coordination Framework member Hadi al-Amiri, and Reconstruction and Development Alliance leader Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani (Coordination Framework)
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Coordination Framework member Hadi al-Amiri, and Reconstruction and Development Alliance leader Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani (Coordination Framework)
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Iraqi Faction Rejects Using Force to Disarm Groups

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Coordination Framework member Hadi al-Amiri, and Reconstruction and Development Alliance leader Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani (Coordination Framework)
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Coordination Framework member Hadi al-Amiri, and Reconstruction and Development Alliance leader Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani (Coordination Framework)

Iraq's Badr Organization that is led by Hadi al-Amiri has rejected the government's attempts to using force to disarm armed factions.

The organization’s stance reflects growing disagreement within the political parties of the Coordination Framework over the future of weapons held by armed groups and their relationship with the state.

In a statement issued on Friday, head of the political bureau of the Badr Organization Mohammed Naji said the group opposes any threat to use force to seize the weapons of the factions, warning that raising the issue of disarmament in this manner could lead to tensions and internal strife.

Naji argued that the campaign to place all weapons exclusively under state control is viewed by the organization as coming under pressure from the United States.

"We will not allow the Prime Minister or anyone else to reach this level in dealing with our brothers in the resistance, because that would open the door to internal discord, the primary beneficiaries of which would be the US, the Zionist entity, and those lying in wait for us,” said Naji.

The Organization's position comes at a time when the Iraqi government is seeking to reinforce the principle that all weapons should be held solely by state institutions, amid increasing debate among political parties and armed factions on how this policy should be implemented and the timetable for doing so.

Writer and journalist Montadhar Naser believes that the issue of placing all weapons under state control has exposed contradictions within the forces that make up the Coordination Framework, with divisions extending even into some of the parties and factions themselves.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said the dispute is not limited to how weapons should be handled. It is also linked to defining the nature of Iraq’s relationship with both the US and Iran, and to determining the extent to which security and military decision-making can remain independent of armed groups that are connected to external actors.

The debate on the issue of weapons coincided with another unannounced visit to Baghdad by Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), during which he met with a number of leaders of the Coordination Framework.

The visit sparked speculation about the nature of Qaani's meetings and whether he had also met Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

Iraqi sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Tehran wants to keep the issue of factional weapons effectively unresolved, while potentially transferring nominal control of those arms to the government.

According to the same sources, this proposal may be acceptable to some leaders within the Coordination Framework, but it is not favored by the relevant Iraqi state authorities.

The disagreement places the government before a sensitive political and security test. Any attempt to impose disarmament by force could trigger a confrontation with factions that possess significant political and security influence.

Conversely, postponing the issue or settling for merely symbolic measures could undermine the state's efforts to strengthen its monopoly over military and security decision-making.