Syrian Kurds Say They Have Stopped Operations against ISIS 

A view shows the aftermath after Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes, in Derik countryside, Syria November 21, 2022. (Reuters)
A view shows the aftermath after Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes, in Derik countryside, Syria November 21, 2022. (Reuters)
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Syrian Kurds Say They Have Stopped Operations against ISIS 

A view shows the aftermath after Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes, in Derik countryside, Syria November 21, 2022. (Reuters)
A view shows the aftermath after Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes, in Derik countryside, Syria November 21, 2022. (Reuters)

The commander of the main US-backed Kurdish-led force in Syria said Saturday they have halted operations against the ISIS group due to Turkish attacks on northern Syria over the past week. 

Mazloum Abdi of the Syrian Democratic Forces told reporters that after nearly a week of Turkish airstrikes on northern Syria, Ankara is now preparing for a ground offensive. He said Türkiye-backed opposition fighters are getting ready to take part in the operations. 

Abdi added that Turkish strikes over the past week have caused severe damage to the region’s infrastructure. 

Abdi said Türkiye is taking advantage of the deadly Nov. 13 bombing in Istanbul that Ankara blames on Kurdish groups. Kurdish organizations have denied any involvement in the Istanbul attack that killed six and wounded dozens. 

Over the past week, Türkiye launched a wave of airstrikes on suspected Kurdish rebels hiding in neighboring Syria and Iraq in retaliation for the Istanbul attack. 

“The forces that work symbolically with the international coalition in the fight against ISIS are now targets for the Turkish state and therefore (military) operations have stopped,” Abdi said. “Anti-ISIS operations have stopped.” 

His comments came hours after the US military said two rockets targeted US-led coalition forces at bases in the northeastern Syrian town of Shaddadeh resulting in no “injuries or damage to the base or coalition property.” 

The US military statement said SDF fighters visited the site of the rocket's origin and found a third unfired rocket. 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, in an early report about the Friday night rocket attack said “the area has been witnessing attacks by (ISIS) cells.” It later said that Iran-backed militias “are responsible for yesterday’s rocket fire.” 

“Attacks of this kind place coalition forces and the civilian populace at risk and undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region,” said Col. Joe Buccino, CENTCOM spokesman. 

The SDF said in a statement before midnight Friday that as Turkish drones flew over the al-Hol camp that is home to tens of thousands of mostly wives, widows and children of ISIS fighters, some ISIS family members attacked security forces and managed to escape from the sprawling facility. The SDF did not say how many escaped but that they were later detained. 

Kurdish authorities operate more than two dozen detention facilities scattered across northeastern Syria holding about 10,000 ISIS fighters. Among the detainees are some 2,000 foreigners whose home countries have refused to repatriate them, including about 800 Europeans. 



EU Report Finds Little Aid Is Getting into Gaza

Humanitarian aid is airdropped by the Royal French Army over the northern part of the Gaza Strip, 08 August 2025. (EPA)
Humanitarian aid is airdropped by the Royal French Army over the northern part of the Gaza Strip, 08 August 2025. (EPA)
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EU Report Finds Little Aid Is Getting into Gaza

Humanitarian aid is airdropped by the Royal French Army over the northern part of the Gaza Strip, 08 August 2025. (EPA)
Humanitarian aid is airdropped by the Royal French Army over the northern part of the Gaza Strip, 08 August 2025. (EPA)

The European Union has concluded that little aid is flowing into Gaza despite an understanding reached between Brussels and Israel last month, according to a report by the 27-nation bloc’s foreign service.

Although roughly 5,000 trucks entered Gaza during the “limited lifting of the blockade by Israel,” there are still “significant operational and bureaucratic constraints” on aid delivery, according to a copy of the report obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

Since May 19, an average of 36 trucks a day has entered Gaza, laden with food, nutrition supplements, medical supplies and chlorine, but 90% was looted once in Gaza, the report says.

The EU had reached an agreement with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza, but officials have not been able to confirm any improvements for themselves.

Israel has blocked an EU monitoring team from entering Gaza because they were not humanitarian aid providers, said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a European Commission spokesperson, at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.