Syrian government forces captured new areas from insurgents in their efforts to control a key highway in the northwest Saturday, as Turkey sent more reinforcements into the war-torn country, state media and opposition activists said.
A top UN official has said the Islamic State (IS) remains at the centre of the transnational terrorism threat, despite its defeat in Syria and the death of its longtime leader last year.
The attack is the latest in a series of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites in Syria, which Israel usually claims as the positions of Iranian-backed fighters.
The UN Security Council has re-authorized the cross-border aid mechanism for Syria after a heated discussion.
Under the cover of airstrikes and heavy shelling, Syrian troops have been pushing into the northwestern province of Idlib toward a major rebel-held town, Maaret al-Numan. The town sits on a key highway linking the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest.
At least 320 people have died and more than 15,000 others have been injured in the ongoing unrest, including members of security forces, according to figures issued by the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights.
Israeli air defense systems captured the projectiles, the military said, and no harm was caused to Israeli communities in the Golan Heights after warning sirens awoke residents there early in the morning. There was no immediate official comment from Syria but the SANA state news agency reported explosions were heard near Damascus International Airport, indicating a potential Israeli retaliatory strike.
Syrian opposition activists say a car bomb has killed at least 12 people in a northern town controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 14 people, including nine civilians, were killed Saturday in the town of al-Bab.
Esper said, "Those who remain will continue to execute counter-terrorism operations while staying in close contact with the Syrians Democratic forces who have fought alongside us. Additionally, the United States will retain control of oil fields in northeast Syria."
Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the military’s oil field mission also will ensure income for Syrian Kurds who are counted on by Washington to continue guarding Islamic State prisoners and helping American forces combat remnants of the group — even as President Donald Trump continues to insist all U.S. troops will come home.
A video has shown the site where the elusive Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a nighttime raid on Sunday. The 18-second video was posted by Bloomberg a day after Islamic State founded al-Baghdadi was killed in the US commando raid.
Following a pact struck between Ankara and Moscow this week, Turkish forces suspended a military campaign against the Kurds, whom Ankara regards as a terrorist threat, on Wednesday, giving Kurdish fighters 150 hours to leave a 20-mile-deep belt that Turkey calls a safe zone, reports Efe news.
Despite Trump's consistent call for bringing back US troops from Syria, Trump announced in his Wednesday remarks that Washington would still keep a limited military presence in parts of Syria to protect the oil fields.
The ceasefire, which ends at 10 p.m. on Friday, was agreed on October 17 between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US Vice President Mike Pence, reports Efe news. Turkish officials, who consider the Kurdish-led People's Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) as terrorists, said fighting would resume at 10:01 p.m. if one single Kurdish fighter was left in the region.
Since the ceasefire was penned between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday night, the city of Ras al-Ain has been under attack by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels backed by Ankara.
The airstrikes came after a cease-fire agreement was announced by the US on Thursday.
The last week decision paved the way for Turkey to launch a cross-border military offensive that aims to push the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the region. Turkey considers the biggest militia in the SDF a terrorist organisation.
Protesting Turkey''s military offensive in northeast Syria, US President Donald Trump has announced sanctions against Turkish officials, raising of steel tariffs and ending negotiations on a USD 100 billion trade deal. Trump has signed an executive order that empowers his administration to slap sanctions on Turkey.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday that President Donald Trump had directed U.S. troops in northern Syria to begin pulling out “as safely and quickly as possible.” He did not say Trump ordered troops to leave Syria, but that seemed like the next step in a combat zone growing more unstable by the hour.
The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces released two videos said to be from inside Ras al-Ayn, showing fighters saying that it is Saturday and they are still there.
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