Turkey Bolsters Idlib Observation Posts

 US forces in Hasaka (Asharq Al-Awsat)
US forces in Hasaka (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Turkey Bolsters Idlib Observation Posts

 US forces in Hasaka (Asharq Al-Awsat)
US forces in Hasaka (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Turkey dispatched its largest military reinforcements to Syria's Idlib during the past months amid heavy strikes that targeted the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions in Ain Issa.

Since February, the number of military vehicles that arrived in the de-escalation zone rose to more than 10,835 Turkish trucks.

This includes tanks, personnel carriers, armored vehicles and mobile bulletproof guard booths and military radars.

Last week, Turkey also sent a military column via Kafr Losin crossing, north of Idlib, consisting of more than 20 vehicles.

The forces carried logistical equipment and concrete blocks that headed towards military posts.

Also on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it has monitored the entry of another three military columns of Turkish forces, including 60 new vehicles.

According to SOHR, the number of military vehicles that entered Syrian territory since the start of the new ceasefire has reached 7,500, in addition to thousands of Turkish soldiers.

The entry of new Turkish military reinforcement on Sunday coincided with ongoing artillery shelling by Syrian regime forces on areas in the countryside of southern Idlib.

Also, Turkish forces shelled Sunday SDF positions in the countryside of north Raqqa. Several missiles fell on a checkpoint in Ain Issa, injuring two members of the Kurdish-dominated Asayesh security forces.

SOHR told Asharq Al-Awsat that in the past few days, Turkish forces set up what it described as “smaller than a military base and larger than a military zone,” in the village of Tamamih, about 2 km from Ain Issa, which is under the SDF control.

The Turkish forces began to set logistic and construction equipment, it nited.

Meanwhile, the US army also enhanced its position in the countryside of the Hasaka governorate, as a new military convoy of the International Coalition crossed into Syria from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, via Al-Waleed border crossing. The convoy includes 35 trucks carrying military and logistical supplies. It headed to military bases in the Hasakah countryside.



Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 1 Building Destroyed

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
TT

Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 1 Building Destroyed

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Powerful Israeli airstrikes targeted central Beirut on Saturday, resulting in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroying an eight-story building, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Footage broadcast by TV stations showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it in the Basta neighborhood.

Israel used bunker buster bombs in the strike, leaving a deep crater, said NNA. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives hours after the attack.
The blasts shook the capital around 4 a.m.

NNA said at least five bombs were dropped in the attack.
It marked the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, where the bulk of Israel's attacks have targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs.

On Sunday an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif in the Ras al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.

The Israeli military did not issue a warning for Basta's residents to evacuate prior to the strike and did not immediately issue a statement on it.

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants was ongoing in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops have pushed farther from the border.