Syria

Turkey clashes with Kurdish militia as US sounds alarm

Hassa - Muslimchronicle

The Turkish army on Tuesday clashed with Kurdish militia in Syria in an operation that has already left three of its soldiers dead, as the United States voiced alarm that the offensive could endanger attempts to end the Syrian civil war. Amid growing international concern over the four-day-old cross-border campaign into Turkey's neighbour, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Ankara would emergeRead more

UN Security Council refrains from condemning Turkey

Hatay - Muslimchronicle

The UN Security Council discussed Turkey’s intensifying offensive against Kurdish militias and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria on Monday but did not condemn or demand an end to the sensitive Turkish operation. Already scheduled to hear a report from UN aid chief Mark Lowcock on his recent visit to Syria, at France’s request the Security Council also touched onRead more

Turkey presses assault on Kurdish militia in Syria

Afrin - Muslimchronicle

Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel allies pressed an assault on a border enclave held by Kurdish militia on Tuesday but the fighting was more narrowly focused, a monitor said. Turkish warplanes carried out new strikes on the northwest of the Afrin enclave and also hit the outskirts of the mainly Kurdish-held city of Qamishli far to the east, woundingRead more

Ministers' visits to Syria occur in their personal capacity

Beirut - Muslimchronicle

Future bloc on Thursday categorically deprecated the visits by some ministers in the Lebanese government to Syria, saying such visits occurred in their "personal capacity" rather than official. "Ministers who visited or shall visit Syria do so in their personal capacity, rather than enjoying official authorization," the bloc said on Thursday in a statement issued in the wake of its regularRead more

Kurds invited to join Syria peace

Raqa - Muslimchronicle

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a speech at Stanford University on Wednesday that U.S. troops in Syria—thought to currently number around 2,000—would be remaining there indefinitely, even after all of ISIS’s territory has been retaken. What exactly those troops will be doing is unclear—other than finding themselves in the middle of a new and unpredictable phase of the Syrian conflict,Read more

Turkey in new assault on Kurdish militia on Syria

Afrin - Muslimchronicle

Turkey on Monday intensified its offensive against Kurdish militia targets in Syria as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be no stepping back in a campaign that has stoked concern among Ankara's allies and neighbours. The Turkish military announced the death of its first soldier since the launch of operation "Olive Branch" on Saturday, its second major intervention in Syria's devastating seven-year civilRead more

Turkish soldier killed in Syria operation

Ankara - Muslimchronicle

A Turkish soldier was killed as the country pressed its offensive against Kurdish militia targets in northern Syria, the army said, confirming the operation's first Turkish fatality on its third day. "One of our heroic soldiers was martyred during clashes" with Kurdish militants from the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia southeast of the Turkish border town of Gulbaba in Kilis,Read more

Moscow rejects schemes to topple Syrian regime, Yemeni FM slams Houthis

Moscow - Muslimchronicle

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow rejects any schemes to topple the Syrian regime. Commenting on developments in Syria, he noted that Russia called for restraint and for respecting Syria’s sovereignty after Turkey launched its military operation in Afrin, north of Syria. During a press conference with his Yemeni counterpart Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi in Russia, Lavrov addedRead more

Syria Kurds say Turkish operation 'clear' support for IS

Ain Issa - Muslimchronicle

The Kurdish force in northern Syria on Monday said Turkey's operation against it in Afrin amounted to supporting the Islamic State jihadist group and urged its Western allies to act. "This barbaric attack... is clear support to the Daesh terrorist organisation," the Syrian Democratic Forces, who played a key part in retaking some of IS's main bastions last year, saidRead more