Fighting Between Pro-Turkey Factions Escalates in Syria

File photo of a car bombing in Aleppo's countryside. (Aleppo News)
File photo of a car bombing in Aleppo's countryside. (Aleppo News)
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Fighting Between Pro-Turkey Factions Escalates in Syria

File photo of a car bombing in Aleppo's countryside. (Aleppo News)
File photo of a car bombing in Aleppo's countryside. (Aleppo News)

Fighting between pro-Turkey factions in Syria's Aleppo countryside has escalated with assassinations and bombings being reported in regions under Ankara's control in the north.

Syrian sources said on Sunday that several people were wounded in a car bombing at the entrance of the al-Bab city in Aleppo's eastern countryside, amid a "war between opposition factions."

State news agency SANA reported other sources as saying that an explosive planted in a car went off at the entrance of the city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on the same bombing, saying it took place at a checkpoint of a pro-Turkey faction.

It confirmed injuries but did not provide further details.

Al-Bab in northeastern Aleppo has been held by pro-Ankara factions since 2016. Turkey had seized the area from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as a terrorist group.

The Observatory also reported that unknown gunmen attempted to assassinate a leading member of the Jaysh al-Sharqiya unit of the pro-Turkey National Army.

He came under fire on the Afrin-al-Tranda road in northwestern Aleppo.



Tunisia Groups Urge Inclusion of Rejected Candidates in Poll

FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
TT

Tunisia Groups Urge Inclusion of Rejected Candidates in Poll

FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo

A petition signed by prominent Tunisians and civil society groups was published on Saturday urging that rejected candidates be allowed to stand in the October 6 presidential election, Agence France Presse reported.

Signed by 26 groups including Legal Agenda, Lawyers Without Borders and the Tunisian Human Rights League, it welcomed an administrative court decision this week to reinstate three candidates who had been disqualified.

They are Imed Daimi, who was an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.

The three were among 14 candidates barred by the Tunisian election authority, ISIE, from standing in the election.

If they do take part, they will join former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui and businessman Ayachi Zammel in challenging incumbent President Kais Saied.

Saturday's petition was also signed by more than 180 civil society figures including Wahid Ferchichi, dean of the public law faculty at Carthage University.

It called the administrative court "the only competent authority to adjudicate disputes related to presidential election candidacies.”

The petition referred to statements by ISIE head Farouk Bouasker, who on Thursday indicated that the authority will soon meet to finalize the list of candidates, "taking into consideration judicial judgements already pronounced.”

This has been interpreted as suggesting the ISIE may reject new candidacies if they are the subject of legal proceedings or have convictions.

The administrative court's rulings on appeals "are enforceable and cannot be contested by any means whatsoever,” the petition said.

It called on the electoral authority to "respect the law and avoid any practice that could undermine the transparency and integrity of the electoral process.”