Kurds Reveal Meetings with Syrian Govt to Protect Border against Turkey

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters walk at a position along the battle frontlines with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Syria's northern city of Manbij, on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters walk at a position along the battle frontlines with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Syria's northern city of Manbij, on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
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Kurds Reveal Meetings with Syrian Govt to Protect Border against Turkey

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters walk at a position along the battle frontlines with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Syria's northern city of Manbij, on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters walk at a position along the battle frontlines with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Syria's northern city of Manbij, on June 8, 2022. (AFP)

A prominent Kurdish official revealed that meetings have been held between the autonomous Kurdish authority in the region east of the Euphrates River and representatives of the Syrian government to reach understandings on “protecting” the Syrian-Turkish border.

The talks, which were sponsored by Russia, are the first amid a rise in Turkey's threats that it will carry out a new incursion into Kurdish-held regions in northern Syria.

Forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad are deployed in limited numbers along the lines that separate the regions held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and pro-Turkey opposition Syrian factions, mainly in the al-Hasakeh, al-Raqqa and Aleppo provinces.

Amid the Turkish threats, Damascus has reinforced its positions in the northern Raqqa and eastern Aleppo countrysides.

Badran Jia Kurd, a vice president of the autonomous authority that runs the regions held by the SDF, confirmed the discussions that were held between the Kurds and the regime.

He told a press conference that an understanding between the two sides over protecting the border has been in place since 2019.

The latest talks have focused on expanding the understanding for the sake of the stability of the region, he added.

Damascus must have a clear stance on the Turkish threat and it must confront any Turkish incursion because it targets the whole of Syria and jeopardizes its unity, stability and future, he declared.

Jia Kurd warned that any Turkish attack will be met with “strong resistance.”

“Our people will not allow an attack against their gains and regions,” he vowed, stressing the need to also protect the gains claimed in defeating the ISIS terrorist group.

Turkey views the SDF, whose military backbone is formed of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), as a terrorist group. The US, however, sees the Kurdish forces as trusted allies in its war against ISIS in Syria.

Through its meetings with the regime, the SDF is hoping to transfer protection of the border to Damascus to avoid the latest Turkish offensive.

Damascus has its own interests and is seeking to reclaim the oil-rich regions that are held by the Kurdish forces. These regions are also Syria’s breadbasket, producing the bulk of its wheat and barley.



Israeli Airstrike Targets Hezbollah Weapons Facility in Syria

This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon on October 28, 2024. (AFP)
This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon on October 28, 2024. (AFP)
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Israeli Airstrike Targets Hezbollah Weapons Facility in Syria

This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon on October 28, 2024. (AFP)
This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon on October 28, 2024. (AFP)

The Israeli military said it conducted an airstrike on a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in Syria on Tuesday.

The military said the strike targeted the facility run by Hezbollah’s munitions unit in the Syrian town of al-Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon. It said Hezbollah had recently expanded its facilities in the area to step up weapons smuggling into Lebanon from Syria.

The strikes hit an industrial zone in al-Qusayr, according to Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a conflict-monitoring group. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria over recent years, primarily targeting government-controlled areas, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses these operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.

On Monday, an Israeli airstrike struck near the Sayida Zeinab suburb, south of Damascus, an area where Iran-backed groups are active. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for killing the head of Hezbollah’s military branch in Syria, whom it identified as Mahmoud Mohammed Shaheen.

For the past month, Israel has been carrying out an escalated bombardment campaign in Lebanon, aiming to cripple the Hezbollah armed group, which is allied with Syria and Iran. Israel has also launched ground incursions just across the Israel-Lebanon border, saying it aims to put an end to a year of Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel.