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Turkish Forces Kill 11 YPG Members in Northern Syria

Leading members of SDF were killed in a vehicle targeted by a Turkish drone in Tell Rifaat. (Twitter) 
Leading members of SDF were killed in a vehicle targeted by a Turkish drone in Tell Rifaat. (Twitter) 
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Turkish Forces Kill 11 YPG Members in Northern Syria

Leading members of SDF were killed in a vehicle targeted by a Turkish drone in Tell Rifaat. (Twitter) 
Leading members of SDF were killed in a vehicle targeted by a Turkish drone in Tell Rifaat. (Twitter) 

Turkish intelligence forces have neutralized 11 from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the largest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in an operation conducted in Manbij, Aleppo’s eastern countryside.

Turkish security sources said Monday that the intelligence members determined the sites from where attacks were launched against the Operation Euphrates Shield area that is controlled by the Turkish forces and the factions known as Ankara-pro Syrian National Army in Aleppo.

The intelligence further determined the locations from where “terrorists” sneak to carry out terrorist attacks in the region.

Anadolu Agency quoted sources as saying that the MIT closely monitored the shelters of terrorists in Manbij and conducted simultaneous operations in cooperation with the Turkish Armed Forces, killing 11 terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its extensions and destroying a terrorists’ compound.

Türkiye considers the YPG an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Syria.

Ankara escalated land and aerial shelling in the past three weeks against the sites ruled by SDF and the Syrian army in northern Syria in retaliation for two SDF offensives on a military base in Kaljibrin in Aleppo’s northern countryside ad a police station in Kilis.

The Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced 69 SDF members dead in response to the two offensives.

The escalation mainly focused on Manbij and Tell Rifaat which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last year as the focus of a new Turkish operation that targets the SDF-ruled locations in order to resume the establishment of safe zones for Syrian refugees.

Erdogan reiterated talks about the military operation months before the presidential and parliamentary elections held in Türkiye in May. Yet it faced objections from the US, Russia, and several parties involved in the Syrian crisis.

The Turkish intelligence eradicated via drones several leaders from the YPG through recent operations in northern Syria.

Moreover, the intelligence revealed on Friday the killing of Abdul Rahman Chadarchi (Jadarji), a member of the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization, in an operation conducted in Al-Qamishly.

Meanwhile, Russian Military Police conducted on Monday a one-sided patrol without the Turkish forces in the eastern countryside of Kobani, eastern Aleppo.

A joint patrol was scheduled between the Russian and Turkish forces. However, the Turkish military vehicles did not show up at the border gate near the village of Gharib, 20 km east of Kobani, due to the Eid holiday.

Four Russian military vehicles passed through the scheduled patrol route alone, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Moreover, Russian forces conducted a military patrol comprising four military armored vehicles in the eastern and western countryside of Al-Dirbasiya, where the patrol set off from Al-Qamishly Airport in northern Al-Hasakah countryside and checked military checkpoints where the Syrian army is stationed near the Turkish borders.

The Russian forces continued to conduct one-sided patrols during the past three months which witnessed a Turkish escalation in the SDF and Syrian forces areas.

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Arab World

Barrack Presses Netanyahu to Accept a Turkish Role in Gaza

Photo of the meeting between the US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Israeli Government). 
Photo of the meeting between the US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Israeli Government). 
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Barrack Presses Netanyahu to Accept a Turkish Role in Gaza

Photo of the meeting between the US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Israeli Government). 
Photo of the meeting between the US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Israeli Government). 

Hebrew-language media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday in Jerusalem with US envoy Tom Barrack, amid what were described as unusually blunt private messages from the administration of President Donald Trump ahead of a planned US–Israel summit later this month in Florida.

According to the reports, the talks focused on three files: Gaza, Syria and Netanyahu’s expected meeting with Trump.

On Gaza, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said Barrack sought to allay Netanyahu’s concerns about a Turkish role in any international force deployed to the enclave during a prospective second phase of a fragile ceasefire that began in October. Barrack, the paper reported, argued that Türkiye has the greatest leverage over Hamas and is best placed to persuade the group to disarm.

The newspaper said Barrack reminded Netanyahu that Ankara had endorsed the Trump administration’s ceasefire framework for Gaza and had pledged, on Hamas’s behalf, to provisions related to weapons handover. He reportedly said that Turkish participation would also encourage other hesitant countries to join an international force.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Barrack warned that excluding Türkiye would cause those states to step back, adding that Trump would not allow the initiative to fail. Netanyahu’s public statements questioning whether Hamas would ever relinquish its weapons — and his assertion that only Israel could enforce that outcome — were described by Barrack as “unacceptable” and as jeopardizing the plan.

Israel’s Channel 12 also reported that the White House delivered a “private and sharp” message to Netanyahu, asserting that the killing of a senior Hamas military figure, Raed Saad, constituted a breach of the ceasefire brokered with Trump’s mediation.

The channel cited growing tension between the Trump administration and Netanyahu’s government over moving to the deal’s second phase and over Israel’s broader regional policies.

Two US officials were quoted as saying that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were “deeply frustrated” with Netanyahu’s conduct.

One senior US official was quoted as telling Israeli media that the message to Netanyahu was explicit: if he chose to damage his own credibility, that was his decision, “but we will not allow you to damage President Trump’s reputation after he mediated the Gaza agreement.”

US officials were also cited as expressing rising concern over settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and what they termed Israeli “provocations” that undermine Washington’s efforts to expand the Abraham Accords. The United States, one official said, was not asking Israel to compromise its security, but to avoid steps perceived in the Arab world as inflammatory.

On Syria, Israeli assessments quoted in the press said Barrack outlined US “red lines,” stressing Trump’s desire to see stability there and warning that frequent Israeli operations could risk destabilizing the country. Reports added that Washington favors reaching a security understanding and wants to avoid actions it views as undermining the Syrian leadership.

Regarding Lebanon, Trump was said to support continued pressure on Hezbollah through limited operations, while opposing a broader escalation.

Despite recent criticism by Netanyahu of Barrack — including remarks questioning his impartiality — the envoy’s visit went ahead. Columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth that US officials increasingly believe Netanyahu is not serious about advancing Trump’s peace plan and is intent on prolonging the war, language he said has sparked intense anger inside the White House.

Israeli analysts suggested Netanyahu is unlikely to reject all US requests outright, instead seeking partial accommodation to ensure a successful meeting with Trump on December 29. Yet, in a show of independence, Israeli forces reportedly carried out an airstrike in Syria shortly before Barrack arrived.

Netanyahu also announced a trilateral summit with Greece and Cyprus, a move widely interpreted in Israel as a political signal directed at Türkiye.

At the close of the meeting, Barrack was quoted as saying the talks were a “constructive dialogue aimed at achieving regional peace and stability.”

 

 

Arab World

Sudan Once again Tops International Rescue Committee Crises Watchlist

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
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Sudan Once again Tops International Rescue Committee Crises Watchlist

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo

Sudan has once again topped a watchlist of global humanitarian crises released by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization, as warring sides press on with a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.

It is the third time in a row Sudan has headed the list, which was published on Tuesday. It highlights the 20 countries most at risk of new or worsened humanitarian emergencies.

"What the IRC is seeing on the ground is not a tragic accident. The world is not simply failing to respond to crisis; actions and words are producing, prolonging, and rewarding it," IRC CEO David Miliband said in a statement.

"The scale of the crisis in Sudan, ranking first on this year’s Watchlist for the third year in a row and now the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded, is a signature of this disorder."

War erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world's largest displacement crisis. More than 12 million people have already been displaced by the ongoing war in Sudan, where humanitarian workers lack resources to help those fleeing, many of whom have been raped, robbed or bereaved by the violence.

Sudan is followed by the Palestinian territories, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Haiti, according to the list.

The IRC said although these countries are home to just 12% of the global population, they account for 89% of those in humanitarian need. It added that the countries are projected to host more than half of the world's extreme poor by 2029.

The remaining countries on the list are Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.

Arab World

Torrential Rains and Flash Floods Kill 37 in Moroccan City of Safi

People inspect the damage caused by flash floods in Safi, Morocco, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abderrazak Gouach)
People inspect the damage caused by flash floods in Safi, Morocco, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abderrazak Gouach)
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Torrential Rains and Flash Floods Kill 37 in Moroccan City of Safi

People inspect the damage caused by flash floods in Safi, Morocco, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abderrazak Gouach)
People inspect the damage caused by flash floods in Safi, Morocco, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abderrazak Gouach)

Floods triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 37 people in the Moroccan coastal city of Safi, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

Authorities said heavy rain and flash floods overnight inundated about 70 homes and businesses and swept away 10 vehicles. The Interior Ministry reported 14 people hospitalized.

Local outlets reported that schools announced three days of closures. Rains also caused flooding and damage elsewhere throughout Morocco, including the northern city of Tetouan and the mountain town of Tinghir.

Safi, a city on Morocco’s Atlantic shore more than 320 kilometers (200 miles) from the capital, Rabat, is a major hub for the country’s critical fishing and mining industries. Both employ thousands to catch, mine and process the commodities for export. The city, with a population of more than 300,000 people, is home to a major phosphate processing plant.

Videos shared on social media showed cars stranded and partially submerged as floodwaters surged through Safi’s streets.

Climate change has made weather patterns more unpredictable in Morocco. North Africa has been plagued by several years of drought, hardening soils and making mountains, deserts and plains more susceptible to flooding. Last year, floods in normally arid mountains and desert areas killed nearly two dozen people in Morocco and Algeria.

This week's floods came after 22 people were killed in a two-building collapse in the Moroccan city of Fez. Morocco has invested in disaster risk initiatives although local governments often do not enforce building codes and drainage systems can be lacking in some cities. Infrastructural inequities were a focus of youth-led protests that swept the country earlier this year.

"This is a disaster, I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime," Khalil Sidki, 67, a Safi resident and member of the local branch of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, told The Associated Press.

He said the flooding caught people by surprise in a commercial area. In reaction, many shopkeepers locked themselves inside their stores, but as water levels climbed up to 4 meters (13 feet), shops were submerged, killing those trapped inside, he said. Another Safi resident described similar scenes.

Moroccan authorities launched an investigation into the cause of the flooding. Safi received 46 millimeters (less than 2 inches) of rainfall over 24 hours — a level Houcine Youabid from Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology described as “normal” for the region. He said infrastructure issues could have combined with the rainfall to contribute to the flooding.

Parts of the North African nation experienced heavy rain and snow over the weekend, and authorities issued alerts for similar conditions throughout the coming days.