Turkey Strikes SDF Positions in Aleppo, Enhances Military Presence in Idlib

Turkish forces in Syria (AFP/File photo)
Turkish forces in Syria (AFP/File photo)
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Turkey Strikes SDF Positions in Aleppo, Enhances Military Presence in Idlib

Turkish forces in Syria (AFP/File photo)
Turkish forces in Syria (AFP/File photo)

Three Ankara-backed fighters, including two members of Ahrar al-Sham movement, were killed Monday during clashes with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the Maranaz frontline in northern Aleppo countryside.

“Activists had monitored an attack by Ankara-backed factions on positions of the Kurdish forces on Maranaz frontline in the northern Aleppo countryside, backed by Turkish forces,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Two regime soldiers were injured in the fighting after a shell fell on their post in the conflict zones.

Also in Aleppo, the Observatory said an exchange of rocket attacks continued between Kurdish forces and Turkish backed factions, south of Azaz, where the factions blocked the Azaz-Afrin road.

It said fierce clashes erupted between the two sides along with intensive shelling and exchange of fire, amid confirmed reports of casualties on both sides.

Meanwhile in Idlib, Turkish forces brought on Monday 20 vehicles into Syrian territory, loaded with military and logistical equipment.

The column entered via Kafr Losin border crossing with the Iskenderun region, north of Idlib and then headed to observation posts in the de-escalation zone.

The number of military vehicles that have entered Syrian territories since the start of the new ceasefire has reached 8,465, in addition to 10,000 Turkish soldiers.

Meanwhile, regime forces renewed their rocket attacks on positions in the de-escalation zone.

The London-based Observatory said it monitored in the early hours of the morning the fall of rocket-propelled grenades fired by regime forces on places in Safohin, Kansafra, Al-Fatira, Fleifel, Benin, the outskirts of al-Bara, al-Ruwayha and Majdalia, south and southeast of Idlib.

Meanwhile, an exchange of fire between opposition fighters and regime forces erupted on the frontlines in Sahl al-Ghab. No casualties were reported.

In the Hasaka governorate, a huge explosion shook the center of the city of Ras al-Ain, which is under the control of Turkish forces and the factions of the Peace Spring operations room, leaving several injuries and causing material damage.

The Observatory said there was no confirmed information as to whether the explosion was caused by an IED or a car bomb.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”