Russia Threatens Syria's Kurds with New Turkish Incursion

A Syrian opposition fighter in Aleppo's northern countryside, April 5, 2022. (EPA)
A Syrian opposition fighter in Aleppo's northern countryside, April 5, 2022. (EPA)
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Russia Threatens Syria's Kurds with New Turkish Incursion

A Syrian opposition fighter in Aleppo's northern countryside, April 5, 2022. (EPA)
A Syrian opposition fighter in Aleppo's northern countryside, April 5, 2022. (EPA)

The Russian mediator in Syria warned Kurdish forces that Turkey would carry out an incursion should they reject Moscow's conditions to end the tensions between Qamishli and Damascus.

Informed sources told the German news agency (dpa) that the mediator informed the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that Turkey-backed Syrian opposition factions would invade the towns of al-Darbasiyah and Amoud to reach Qamishli if the SDF doesn't pull out of the government security zone.

The SDF was also demanded to end the siege of the security zones in Qamishli and Hasakeh.

The SDF did withdraw from the government buildings without incident.

Meanwhile, residents of the town of Tal Tamer, in Hasakeh's northern countryside, said Turkish artillery had shelled for a second consecutive day villages in northeastern Syria.

Aram Hanna, a spokesman for the SDF, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Turkey is seeking a green light to launch new offensives in northern Syria to achieve its "terrorist" interests.

It wants to exploit the world's preoccupation with the Ukrainian-Russian war to carry out the attack, he warned.

Moreover, he stated that Turkey's attacks aim to destabilize the region and allow terrorist groups to reorganize their ranks to commit atrocities.

Hanna said the SDF was in contact with the Russian mediator over Ankara's violations, but little has been seen on the ground to stop them.

The SDF, he stressed, is a defensive force and it will retaliate to the sources of fire in the right time.

It has taken the necessary measures to secure the safety of the region and stand against Turkey's malign ambitions, he added.



Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Hezbollah said its fighters on Thursday fired missiles at a military base near south Israel’s Ashdod, the first time it has targeted so deep inside Israel in more than a year of hostilities.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted... for the first time, the Hatzor air base" east of the southern city, around 150 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, "with a missile salvo," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

A rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.
The service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.
Israel meanwhile struck targets in southern Lebanon and several buildings south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Israel has launched airstrikes against Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' attack on Israel last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.
On the Israeli side, Hezbollah’s aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.