Nearly a dozen Syrian rebels have been killed in hit-and-run clashes with a US-backed alliance dominated by Kurdish forces in the country’s north, a monitoring group said on Tuesday. Rebels were locked in their second day of fighting on Tuesday with units from the Syrian Democratic Forces around the village of Ain Daqna. “The fighting … Read more
A suicide car bomb attack killed four people overnight at a Kurdish security checkpoint in northeast Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Tuesday. The attack comes as Kurdish forces from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) spearhead the fight for the Islamic State group’s Syrian stronghold Raqa as part of a US-backed alliance. … Read more
India on Monday announced it will send a top minister to Iraq in an effort locate dozens of its missing citizens after Mosul was all but recaptured from the Islamic State group. Thirty-nine Indian labourers have been missing, believed taken hostage by IS, since the militant outfit overran Iraq’s second largest city in 2014. There … Read more
Tens of thousands of people protested on Wednesday in a town in northern Syria against Turkey, as speculation mounts it is planning to attack the Kurdish-held border region. The demonstrators took to the streets of Afrin wrapped in flags of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and carrying portraits of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader … Read more
The White House envoy coordinating the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group was holding talks in Ankara on Friday a day after visiting a Syrian Kurdish militia deemed by Turkey to be “terrorists”. The visit by Brett McGurk, which was not announced in advance, comes a month after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called … Read more
Dilan Lurr and his sister Lezan often ask themselves where would they be now if their parents had not left Iraq when they were children. Would they be fighting against Islamic State like their cousins back in Kirkuk? What is almost certain they would not be showing their first collection at Paris fashion week sandwiched … Read more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday strongly criticised the decision of the authorities in Iraq’s Kurdistan region to hold a referendum on independence, calling it “an error and a threat” to the country’s territorial integrity. Turkey has prided itself on its good ties with the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq’s north, with … Read more
Many Iraqi Kurds hailed last week’s announcement of a September referendum on independence as historic, but major obstacles will remain on the path to statehood after an expected landslide “yes”. The autonomous region is still at war with the Islamic State group, it hosts a displaced population of more than a million and its once … Read more
Iran voiced its opposition on Saturday to an announcement by Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region that it will organise a vote on independence later this year. “Iran’s principal position is to support the territorial integrity of Iraq,” foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said. “The Kurdistan region is part of the Iraqi republic and unilateral decisions outside … Read more
Turkey on Friday warned that a decision by Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region to hold an independence referendum would be a “grave mistake.” Iraq’s Kurdish region, with which Turkey has forged close trade ties, announced this week that it would vote on whether to split from the rest of Iraq and form an independent region. “We … Read more
The United States on Thursday warned that a decision by Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region to hold an independence referendum could distract from the fight against the Islamic State group. The Kurdistan region announced on Wednesday that it would vote on September 25 on whether to split from the rest of Iraq and form an independent … Read more
Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region will hold a referendum on statehood in September, its presidency said Wednesday, despite opposition to independence from Baghdad. “September 25, 2017 was designated as the day for holding the referendum” on independence, the presidency said in a statement. Iraqi Kurdistan is made up of three provinces that are run by an … Read more
US President Donald Trump has approved the supplying of weapons to Kurdish forces battling the Islamic State group in Syria, a US official said Tuesday. The funding “to provide support to the YPG has been approved,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “The approval is effective immediately but the timeline for weapons delivery is … Read more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday his government is ‘seriously saddened’ by television footage showing US military forces operating alongside Syrian Kurdish fighters that Ankara views as terrorists and Washington believes are the most effective fighting force against Islamic State jihadists. Turkish forces last week launched airstrikes on Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), … Read more
Fighting erupted on Wednesday along Syria’s northeastern border between Turkish forces and Kurdish militiamen, as tensions boiled over in the aftermath of deadly Turkish air strikes the previous day. The strikes against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have thrown the complexity of Syria’s war into sharp relief and even sparked calls for a no-fly … Read more
The toll in Turkish air raids on Kurdish positions in northeastern Syria rose to 28 killed, a monitor said Wednesday, a day after Ankara said it had targeted “terrorist havens” near its border. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of those killed were members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is … Read more
Turkish warplanes killed more than 20 Kurdish fighters Tuesday in strikes in Syria and Iraq, where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic State group. The deadliest bombardment was on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), who are leading the US-backed fight for the important IS-held town of Tabqa in northern … Read more
Turkish warplanes conducted a barrage of air strikes on Kurdish positions in northeast Syria early Tuesday, leaving several fighters dead, Kurdish forces and a monitor said. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) said the strikes hit their positions near the Syrian border town of Al-Malikiyah at 2:00 am Tuesday (2300 GMT Monday). “Turkish planes carried … Read more
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and the US’s top military officer met with Kurdish leaders in Arbil on Tuesday, the second day of their visit to Iraq. His inclusion in the US delegation is a sign of the influence wielded by Jared Kushner, a 36-year-old with no prior government experience who has become one of the … Read more
Turkey has officially ended the “Euphrates Shield” military operation it launched in Syria last August, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday, but suggested there might be more cross-border campaigns to come. Turkey sent troops, tanks and warplanes to support Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, push ISIL fighters away from its border and stop the … Read more