SDF Chief: Turkey Hinders Anti-ISIS Operations

Kurdish National Council offices set on fire in northeast Syria. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kurdish National Council offices set on fire in northeast Syria. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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SDF Chief: Turkey Hinders Anti-ISIS Operations

Kurdish National Council offices set on fire in northeast Syria. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kurdish National Council offices set on fire in northeast Syria. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said Turkey has intensified attacks against SDF-run areas east of the Euphrates, violating international covenants with the guarantor countries.

He pointed to the Turkish attacks targeting Syria’s Ain al-Arab (Kobani) and the drone attacks that have killed innocent civilians and administrative figures.

He said in a tweet on his official page on Saturday that these provocative attacks threaten peace and security and hinder anti-ISIS operations in these areas.

Abdi’s remarks followed a series of violent attacks targeting SDF sites in the countryside of Aleppo, Hasakeh and Raqqa governorates in northeastern Syria.

Since early April, the Turkish army has targeted nine SDF military sites and posts in its areas of influence east of the Euphrates, killing six military personnel, including three women, one of whom was a prominent leader in the SDF women's wing, and injuring 17 others.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) denounced in a statement published on its official Facebook page on Saturday Turkey’s constant brutal attacks and policy of genocide adopted against Kurdish areas, the latest of which was targeting a car in Kobani, in which head of the Defense Office and her companions were killed.

It further slammed Turkey’s “systematic” escalation against its regions and warned that this policy will affect Syria and the region.

It urged Moscow and Washington, guarantors of the ceasefire agreements with Ankara, to prevent escalation, the risks of ISIS return and the deepening of the role played by Turkish-supported mercenaries to divide Syria and implement its occupying policies in the war-torn country.

The statement underlines Turkey’s exploitation of the worsening global situation, especially Russia’s war in Ukraine, to pass its hostile policies against the residents of the Autonomous Administration areas.

Separately, the office of a party linked to the Kurdish National Council (KNC) was set on fire on Friday in Qamishli city. The attack was the eighth in a week and resulted in material damages.

The Yekiti Kurdistan Party accused an armed group affiliated with the Democratic Union Party (PYD) of carrying out the attack.



France Expels 12 Algerian Officials in Tit-for-Tat Move amid Diplomatic Tensions

Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
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France Expels 12 Algerian Officials in Tit-for-Tat Move amid Diplomatic Tensions

Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)

France said Tuesday it was expelling 12 Algerian diplomatic officials a day after Algeria announced the expulsion of the same number of French officials in escalating tensions between the two countries.

Algeria said Monday that its expulsion of 12 French officials was over the arrest of an Algerian consular official by French authorities in a kidnapping case, but relations between the two sides have been deteriorating since last summer. That's when France shifted its position to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara — a disputed territory claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front, which receives support from Algeria.

Tensions further peaked in November after Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who is an outspoken critic of the Algerian regime. He has since been sentenced to five years in prison — a verdict he subsequently appealed.

In addition to what French officials called the "symmetrically" calibrated expulsion of 12 Algerian officials, France's ambassador to Algiers also was being recalled home for consultations, a statement from the French presidential palace said Tuesday.

It said Algerian authorities were responsible for "a brutal deterioration in our bilateral relations."

French counterterrorism prosecutors said three Algerian nationals in total were arrested last week and handed preliminary charges of "kidnapping or arbitrary detention … in connection with a terrorist undertaking."

The group is allegedly involved in the April 2024 kidnapping of an Algerian influencer, Amir Boukhors, or Amir DZ, a known critic of the Algerian government with 1.1 million followers on TikTok.

The latest surge in acrimony followed a brief easing of tensions about two weeks ago when French President Emmanuel Macron called Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune. French officials said they had agreed to revive bilateral relations.