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.



Argentina Withdraws from UN Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon

 UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Argentina Withdraws from UN Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon

 UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon November 19, 2024. (Reuters)

Argentina has notified the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon of its withdrawal from the force, a UNIFIL spokesperson said on Tuesday, in the first sign of cracks in the unity of the mission following attacks it has blamed on Israel.

The 10,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping mission is deployed in southern Lebanon to monitor the demarcation line with Israel, an area where there have been hostilities between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters for over a year.

"Argentina has asked its officers to go back (to Argentina)," UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in response to a question about a newspaper report.

He declined to comment on the reason for their departure, referring the question to Argentina's government.

Argentina is one of 48 countries contributing peacekeepers to UNIFIL, with a total of three staff currently in Lebanon, a UN website showed. It did not immediately respond to Tenenti's comments.

UNIFIL has previously referred to "unacceptable pressures being exerted on the mission through various channels".

Peacekeepers have refused to leave their posts despite more than 20 injuries in the past two months and damage to facilities which UNIFIL blames on the Israeli military.

Israel has denied such incidents are deliberate attacks. Israel says UN troops provide a human shield for Hezbollah fighters and has told UNIFIL to evacuate from southern Lebanon for its own safety - a request that the force has rejected.

Tenenti said there was no broader indication of declining support for the mission.

"The idea is to stay. So there is no discussion of withdrawing at all," he said.

He said that its monitoring activities were "very, very limited" because of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict and repairs to some of its facilities.

"We're still working on fixing some of the positions, but this has been definitely a very difficult moment, because we've been deliberately attacked by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) in recent months, and we're doing our utmost to rebuild the areas," he said.

Israel's military did not immediately comment on Tenenti's remarks.