عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Syrian Kurdish Force Says It Lost 9 Fighters in Iraq Crash

The Syrian Democratic Forces said the helicopters crashed during bad weather while en route to the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Wednesday night. (Getty Images/AFP)
The Syrian Democratic Forces said the helicopters crashed during bad weather while en route to the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Wednesday night. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
20
TT

Syrian Kurdish Force Says It Lost 9 Fighters in Iraq Crash

The Syrian Democratic Forces said the helicopters crashed during bad weather while en route to the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Wednesday night. (Getty Images/AFP)
The Syrian Democratic Forces said the helicopters crashed during bad weather while en route to the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Wednesday night. (Getty Images/AFP)

The main US-backed and Kurdish-led force in northeastern Syria said Friday it lost nine fighters, including a commander, when two helicopters crashed this week in neighboring Iraq.

The Syrian Democratic Forces said the helicopters crashed during bad weather while en route to the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Wednesday night. The nine killed included elite fighters, the group said.

The statement added that the Syrian Kurdish fighters were in Iraq as part of an “exchange of expertise” in the fight against the ISIS group. It identified the killed commander as Sherfan Kobani, a cousin of SDF's top commander, Mazloum Abdi.

The SDF did not elaborate on the cause of the crash or provide further details. The group called on local authorities in Iraq to hand over the nine bodies so they could be brought home for burial in Syria.

The SDF has been a main force in the fight against the ISIS in Syria and still carries out operations against the extremists. ISIS once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq under the extremists’ so-called “caliphate” and still has sleeper cells in the region. The militants frequently stage attacks, targeting Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, and also Iraqi forces and civilians in Iraq.

The SDF statement is in sharp contrast to a report on Thursday from Iraqi Kurdish authorities, which said that only one helicopter — an AS350 Eurocopter — had crashed in Iraq’s Dohuk province in the northern semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region.

That report said that at least five people, including insurgents of Türkiye's outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, were on board. Zagros Hiwa, a PKK spokesperson, said Thursday the group does not possess helicopters and that the PKK was also investigating the crash.

The PKK has been waging an insurgency against Türkiye since the 1980s and is considered a terrorist group by Ankara, the United States and the European Union. Its militants have established safe havens in northern Iraq and frequently come under attack by Türkiye in the region.

Iraq’s government, the US-led coalition and Türkiye had all denied ownership of the helicopter.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

Tunisia Dismantles Makeshift Camp Housing Thousands of Sub-Saharan Migrants

Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa sit at a house in Tunis on February 2, 2025. Fethi Beland, AFP
Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa sit at a house in Tunis on February 2, 2025. Fethi Beland, AFP
TT
20
TT

Tunisia Dismantles Makeshift Camp Housing Thousands of Sub-Saharan Migrants

Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa sit at a house in Tunis on February 2, 2025. Fethi Beland, AFP
Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa sit at a house in Tunis on February 2, 2025. Fethi Beland, AFP

Tunisian authorities have dismantled makeshift camps housing 7,000 undocumented sub-Saharan African migrants and begun forcibly deporting some of them, a senior official told Reuters on Saturday, as the country grapples with an unprecedented migrant crisis.
Houssem Eddine Jebabli, an official in the National Guard, told Reuters a number of migrants was arrested for violence during the ongoing operation. He said their forced repatriation began Friday night and the authorities are also seeking to voluntarily repatriate thousands more.
He said the number forcibly deported was significant, without specifying how many, and that bladed weapons, including knives and swords, were seized.
Jabbabli added that investigations with the detainees showed their connections with foreign parties to spread confusion in the camps and in the surrounding areas.
The camps had prompted anger from residents in nearby villages, raising pressure on the authorities.
Jebabli said locals had taken legal action over the occupation of their olive groves by the migrants.
Tunisia's government said about 20,000 of migrants live in tents in forests in southern towns, such as Amra and Jbeniana, after authorities prevented them from travelling across the Mediterranean.
Migrants have frequently clashed with local residents, who want them deported from their area.
Tunisian President Kais Saied on March 25 called on the International Organization for Migration to accelerate voluntary returns for irregular migrants to their home countries.
Tunisia has earned praise from Italian authorities in recent months for its progress in stemming the flow of thousands of migrants from sub-Sahran Africa who are trying to reach Europe in boats.