عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Ankara Announces Killing of 2 SDF Leaders in Northeastern Syria

Members of the Deir Ezzor military council which fights under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seen in Deir al-Zor province, Syria August 25, 2017. (Reuters)
Members of the Deir Ezzor military council which fights under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seen in Deir al-Zor province, Syria August 25, 2017. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Ankara Announces Killing of 2 SDF Leaders in Northeastern Syria

Members of the Deir Ezzor military council which fights under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seen in Deir al-Zor province, Syria August 25, 2017. (Reuters)
Members of the Deir Ezzor military council which fights under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seen in Deir al-Zor province, Syria August 25, 2017. (Reuters)

Turkey announced on Monday the killing of two senior leaders of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the largest component of the Washington-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Two “terrorist” leaders of the YPG were eliminated in an air raid targeting their location in the al-Hasakah governorate, northeastern Syria, Turkish intelligence sources told Anadolu Agency.

The Turkish intelligence service was able to “neutralize” YPG leader Muhammad Aydin in the city of al-Darbasiyah in al-Hasakah, reported Anadolu.

Sources pointed out that Aydin joined the ranks of the Kurdish units in 2005 after coming from Iran. He operated in the countryside of Tunceli province in eastern Turkey and in the southern Hatay province between 2010 and 2013.

In 2013, he became a “regiment official” in Ain al-Arab (Kobani) in the Syrian countryside of Aleppo, and in 2015 a “front official” in Afrin in the countryside of Aleppo.

He later assumed responsibility for the Amuda and Darbasiyah regions.

Sources stated that Aydin had previously participated in the process of detaining and threatening to kill villagers in the Dortyol district in Hatay in 2013.

Local sources in northeastern Syria revealed that the operation that targeted Aydin also killed Sarfaraz Nidal, also known as “Yildiz.”

Yildiz was a member of the Kurdish Organization of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party. The organization is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Yildiz joined the group in 1991 and was arrested by Turkish intelligence in 2012 and released in 2017.

Sources said the SDF had buried Aydin and Yildiz in the village of Al-Daoudia in the countryside of al-Hasakah.

Separately, an operation led by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization led to the arrest of two ISIS terrorists in Syria, security sources said on Monday.

The terrorists, identified as Orhan Moran and Mustafa Kilicli, have been brought to Turkey, said the sources, who requested anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

They were handed over to gendarmerie forces in Turkey’s southeastern border province of Hatay, the sources said.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

FM: Iraq Wants Iran-backed Factions to Lay Down Weapons

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
TT
TT

FM: Iraq Wants Iran-backed Factions to Lay Down Weapons

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison

Iraq is trying to convince powerful armed factions in the country that have fought US forces and fired rockets and drones at Israel to lay down their weapons or join official security forces, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.

The push comes with a backdrop of seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran's armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria's government overthrown.

The incoming US Trump administration promises to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of political parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

Some Baghdad officials are concerned the status quo there may be upended next, but Hussein played this down in an interview with Reuters during an official visit to London.

"We don't think that Iraq is the next," Hussein said.

The government was in talks to rein in the groups while continuing to walk the tightrope between its ties to both Washington and Tehran, he said.
"Two or three years ago it was impossible to discuss this topic in our society," he said.

But now, having armed groups functioning outside the state was not acceptable.

"Many political leaders, many political parties started to raise a discussion, and I hope that we can convince the leaders of these groups to lay down their arms, and then to be part of the armed forces under the responsibility of the government," Hussein said.

Iraq's balancing act has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on US troops in the country they say are in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war.

A promised Gaza ceasefire has the government breathing a sigh of relief, though uncertainty prevails over how the country may fare after Donald Trump becomes US president.

During the last Trump presidency, relations grew tense as he ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020, leading to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US forces.

"We hope that we can continue this good relationship with Washington," Hussein said. "It is too early now to talk about which policy President Trump is going to follow for Iraq or Iran."

Iraq will only be reassured about Syria when it sees an inclusive political process, Hussein said, adding Baghdad would supply the country with grain and oil once it could be assured it would go to all Syrians.
Baghdad was in talks with Syria's foreign minister over a visit to Iraq, he said.

"We are worried about the ISIS, so we are in contact with the Syrian side to talk about these things, but at the end to have a stable Syria means to have the representative of all components in the political process."

Baghdad and Washington last year agreed to end the US-led coalition's work by September 2026 and transition to bilateral military ties, but Hussein said that the developments in Syria would have to be watched.

"In the first place, we are thinking about security of Iraq and stability in Iraq. If there will be a threat to our country, of course it will be a different story," he said.