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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)
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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.

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Arab World

UN Seeks $4.2 Billion to Face Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

Sudanese refugees in Chad on October 6, 2024 (AP)
Sudanese refugees in Chad on October 6, 2024 (AP)
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UN Seeks $4.2 Billion to Face Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

Sudanese refugees in Chad on October 6, 2024 (AP)
Sudanese refugees in Chad on October 6, 2024 (AP)

The United Nations has launched the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), seeking $4.2 billion to address the urgent needs of nearly 21 million vulnerable people whom the international community is failing to adequately support.

Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan (OCHA), emphasized that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan has reached unprecedented levels.

“The humanitarian crisis in Sudan has reached unprecedented proportions, with more than half of the population in need of urgent humanitarian and protection assistance, including 16 million children - the future of this country,” she said.

Salami added that acute food insecurity has reached historic levels, particularly in conflict-affected regions of Darfur, Khartoum, and Kordofan.

After over 20 months of conflict, Sudan has become one of the world's largest humanitarian emergencies.

Ongoing armed conflict and attacks against civilians, displacement, hunger, malnutrition, disease outbreaks, and climate shocks have left nearly two-thirds of the population in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection services.

Salami said given the scale and gravity of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, the humanitarian community calls for urgent conflict de-escalation and unrestricted humanitarian access, including across borders and conflict lines, to fight famine and enable effective humanitarian action.

“We call on all parties to facilitate this access and ensure the protection of humanitarian operations and aid workers on the ground,” she said.

“We also urge the international community to provide immediate and flexible funding.”

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator added that this support is crucial for scaling up and expanding the reach of critical lifesaving aid, including cash assistance, and protection services to millions of people who need them most.

According to Salami’s statement, the 2025 HNRP is underpinned by a joint analysis of humanitarian needs in Sudan based on three key shocks – conflict, floods, and disease outbreaks – and their impact on the population and essential services.

The analysis encompasses the entire country, recognizing the widespread impact of these three identified shocks affecting a significant portion of the population in Sudan, although the severity of impact varies across different geographic areas.

An earlier OCHA statement said the humanitarian appeal for Sudan is significantly underfunded, with only $1.5 billion of the required $2.7 billion received.

The Sudanese government, which has Port Sudan as its temporary capital, denies there is a famine in Sudan.

Army Commander Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said that the Sudanese government had met all humanitarian needs and facilitated aid delivery.

In a televised address marking Sudan’s 69th Independence Day, Burhan said that “what is being circulated about famine is pure fabrication and intended to interfere in Sudanese affairs.”

According to Sudanese organizations, 28.9 million people in Sudan need humanitarian assistance due to the ongoing civil war.

A staggering 30.4 million people in Sudan - approximately 64% of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance humanitarian assistance in 2025, according to the latest OCHA report.