NEAR BAGHOUZ, Syria: US-backed Syrian forces prepared for another outpouring of civilians and suspected militants Thursday from the remnants of the Daesh group’s “caliphate,” which is teetering on the brink of total collapse.
A fierce assault on the besieged enclave in eastern Syria has sparked an exodus of dust-covered children, veiled women dragging suitcases and disheveled, wounded men from the village of Baghouz.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are waiting for more survivors to trickle out before dealing what they hope will be a final blow to militants holed-up in a makeshift camp along the banks of the Euphrates.
The SDF was not actively advancing Thursday, out of concern for remaining civilians, but its fighters entered the settlement two days earlier and control a chunk of it, an SDF source said.
Remaining families have been pushed toward the far end of the camp near the river, he said.
More than 7,000 people have exited the enclave over the past three days, mostly women and children.
The operation to smash the last pocket of the “caliphate” that Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi proclaimed in 2014 had resumed on Friday after a long humanitarian pause.
The deluge of fire unleashed by SDF artillery and coalition air strikes at the weekend appears to have taken a toll on the diehard militants and relatives still inside.
Many emerged on Wednesday wounded and using crutches.
One bearded man gripped the handle of a half-full blood bag attached to his body, as he trudged across a field to reach an SDF screening point.
Around him, a solemn procession of bearded men led by armed guards filed slowly toward US-led coalition troops for processing.
Around a tenth of the nearly 58,000 people who have fled the last Daesh bastion since December were militants trying to slip back into civilian life, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.
They have emerged into the spotlight of the international media for the first time.
Daesh fighters had previously managed to secure passage out of their former strongholds before US-backed forces recaptured the territory.
Remaining militants, however, are now surrounded on all sides, with Syrian government forces and their allies on the west bank of the Euphrates blocking any escape across the river and Iraqi government forces preventing any move downstream.
A senior SDF officer said 400 militants were captured on Tuesday night as they attempted to slip out of Baghouz in an escape he said was organized by a network that had planned to smuggle them to remote hideouts.
While suspected militants are transferred to Kurdish-run detention centers, their relatives are trucked to camps for the displaced further north.
An AFP correspondent on Thursday saw more than 10 truckloads of people leaving an SDF screening point en route to the camps, a day after hundreds steamed out of Baghouz.
Around 4,000 people arrived from Baghouz to the Al-Hol camp on Wednesday, pushing the camp’s population to over 60,000, according to the International Rescue Committee.
Many are wounded or in poor physical shape after living for weeks without much food and hiding from bombs in underground shelters.
“Many of the arrivals are in a very weak condition or have life-changing injuries” Misty Buswell of the IRC said.
“Particularly vulnerable are the many heavily pregnant women as well as mothers with newborns.”
The battle against Daesh is now the main front of the Syrian war, which has claimed more than 360,000 lives since 2011.
The capture of Baghouz would mark the end of Daesh territorial control in the region and deal a death blow to the “caliphate” proclaimed in 2014, which once covered huge swathes of Syria and Iraq.
At its peak more than four years ago, the proto-state created by Daesh was the size of the United Kingdom and administered millions of people.
It effectively collapsed in 2017 when Daesh lost most of its major cities in both countries.
The loss of Baghouz, which the SDF says is only days away, would carry mostly symbolic value.
The group remains a potent force in both Syria and Iraq, where it carries out deadly attacks.
In Syria, it maintains a presence in the vast Badiya desert and has claimed attacks in SDF-held territory.
Syria force braces for new outflux from last Daesh village
Syria force braces for new outflux from last Daesh village
- A fierce assault on the besieged enclave in eastern Syria has sparked an exodus of dust-covered children and veiled women
- Daesh remains a potent force in both Syria and Iraq, where it carries out deadly attacks
US, Arab mediators make some progress in Gaza peace talks, no deal yet, sources say
- Israeli strikes continue amid ongoing peace talks
- Hamas demands end to war for hostage release
As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people, Palestinian medics said.
Qatar, the US and Egypt are making a major push to reach a deal to halt fighting in the 15-month conflict and free remaining hostages held by Islamist group Hamas before President Joe Biden leaves office.
President-elect Donald Trump has warned there will be “hell to pay,” if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
On Thursday, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and said this was the most serious attempt so far to reach an accord.
“There are extensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes narrowing old existing gaps but there is no deal yet,” he told Reuters, without giving further details.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar-Tal said Israel was fully committed to reaching an agreement to return its hostages from Gaza but faces obstruction from Hamas.
The two sides have been an at impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
Severe humanitarian crisis
On Thursday, the death toll from Israel’s military strikes included eight Palestinians killed in a house in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, where Israeli forces have operated for more than three months. Nine others, including a father and his three children, died in two separate airstrikes on two houses in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.
There was no Israeli military comment on the two incidents.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory’s 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.
Israel denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza and says it has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of truckloads of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to warehouses and shelters over the past week.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the body of Israeli Bedouin hostage Youssef Al-Ziyadna, along with evidence that was still being examined suggesting his son Hamza, taken on the same day, may also be dead.
“We will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Lebanon’s parliament fails to elect new president; Aoun falls 15 votes short of required 86 in first round
- Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun is the leading candidate
- He is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the US and Saudi Arabia
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament yet again failed to elect a president on Thursday, after 12 previous attempts to choose a successor to former President Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022.
Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun, the leading candidate, failed to muster enough support – getting only 71 votes or 15 short of the required 86 in the first round of voting.
He is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri adjourned the session for two hours of consultations, after a first round of voting failed to produce enough votes for Aoun.
Two political sources said Aoun was likely to cross the 86-vote threshold in a second session later in the day.
Hezbollah previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Frangieh, the leader of a small Christian party in northern Lebanon with close ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad.
However, on Wednesday, Frangieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Aoun, apparently clearing the way for the army chief.
Lebanon’s fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons. The small, crisis-battered Mediterranean country has been through several extended presidential vacancies, with the longest lasting nearly 2 1/2 years between May 2014 and October 2016. It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected.
As a sitting army commander, Joseph Aoun is technically barred from becoming president by Lebanon’s constitution. The ban has been waived before, but it means that Aoun faces additional procedural hurdles.
Under normal circumstances, a presidential candidate in Lebanon can be elected by a two-thirds majority of the 128-member house in the first round of voting, or by a simple majority in a subsequent round.
But because of the constitutional issues surrounding his election, Aoun would need a two-thirds majority even in the second round.
Other contenders include Jihad Azour, a former finance minister who is now the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; and Elias Al-Baysari, the acting head of Lebanon’s General Security agency.
The next head of state will face daunting challenges apart from implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction.
Lebanon is six years into an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country’s currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese. The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day.
The country’s leaders reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bail-out package in 2022 but have made limited progress on reforms required to clinch the deal.
Turkiye to tell US that Syria needs to be rid of terrorists, Turkish source says
- Ankara has repeatedly demanded that its NATO ally Washington halt its support for the YPG
ANKARA: Turkish officials will tell US Under Secretary of State John Bass during talks in Ankara this week that Syria needs to be rid of terrorist groups to achieve stability and security, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said on Thursday.
Bass’ visit comes amid repeated warnings from Turkiye that it could mount a cross-border military offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia if the group does not meet its demands.
The YPG spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which played an important role in defeating Islamic State in Syria. Ankara views the group as terrorists and an extension of the Kurdish militants waging a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state, and has said it must lay down its weapons and disband.
During his visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday, Bass will hold talks with Turkiye’s deputy foreign ministers, the source said, adding the talks would focus on Syria.
Talks are expected to “focus on steps to establish stability and security in Syria and to support the establishment of an inclusive government,” the source said.
“Naturally, the Turkish side is expected to strongly repeat that, for this to happen, the country needs to be rid of terrorist elements,” the person said, adding the sides would also discuss expanding the US sanctions exemption to Syria for the country to rebuild.
Ankara has repeatedly demanded that its NATO ally Washington halt its support for the YPG. It has mounted several incursions against the group and controls swathes of territory in northern Syria.
Syria’s Kurdish factions have been on the back foot since the ousting of former President Bashar Assad, with the new administration being friendly to Turkiye.
37 killed in north Syria clashes between pro-Turkiye, Kurdish forces: monitor
- Latest reported fighting comes despite the US saying it was working to address Turkiye’s concerns in Syria
- Syria’s Kurds control much of the oil-rich northeast of the country, where they enjoy de facto autonomy
DAMASCUS: Battles between Turkish-backed groups, supported by air strikes, and Kurdish-led forces killed 37 people on Thursday in Syria’s northern Manbij region, a war monitor said.
The latest reported fighting comes despite the United States saying Wednesday that it was working to address Turkiye’s concerns in Syria to dissuade the NATO ally from escalating an offensive against Kurdish fighters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported “fierce battles in the Manbij countryside... in the past hours between the (Kurdish-led) Syrian Democratic Forces and the (Turkish-backed) National Army factions... with Turkish air cover.”
“The attacks killed 37 people in a preliminary toll,” mostly Turkish-backed combatants, but also six SDF fighters and five civilians, said the British-based Observatory with a network of sources inside Syria.
The monitor said at least 322 people have been killed in fighting in the Manbij countryside since last month.
On Wednesday, Mazloum Abdi, who heads the US-backed SDF, said his group supported “the unity and integrity of Syrian territory.” In a written statement, he called on Syria’s new authorities “to intervene in order for there to be a ceasefire throughout Syria.”
Abdi’s comments followed what he called a “positive” meeting between Kurdish leaders and the Damascus authorities late last month.
Turkish-backed factions in northern Syria resumed their fight with the SDF at the same time as Islamist-led militants were launching an offensive on November 27 that overthrew Syrian president Bashar Assad just 11 days later.
The pro-Ankara groups succeeded in capturing Kurdish-held Manbij and Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo province, despite US-led efforts to establish a truce in the Manbij area.
The fighting has continued since, with mounting casualties.
On Wednesday Washington’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Turkiye had “legitimate concerns” about Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants inside Syria and called for a resolution in the country that includes the departure of “foreign terrorist fighters.”
“That’s a process that’s going to take some time, and in the meantime, what is profoundly not in the interest of everything positive we see happening in Syria would be a conflict, and we’ll work very hard to make sure that that doesn’t happen,” Blinken told reporters in Paris.
Turkiye on Tuesday threatened a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accepted Ankara’s conditions for a “bloodless” transition after Assad’s fall.
Syria’s Kurds control much of the oil-rich northeast of the country, where they enjoyed de facto autonomy during much of the civil war since 2011.
The US-backed SDF spearheaded the military campaign that ousted Daesh group militants from their last territory in Syria in 2019.
But Turkiye accuses the main component of the SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with the PKK, which has waged a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States, the European Union and most of Turkiye’s Western allies.
Turkiye has mounted multiple operations against the SDF since 2016.
Gaza rescuers say children among 12 killed in Israeli strikes
- Israeli air strikes and shelling continues across Gaza, even as mediators push on with their efforts to halt the fighting
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces pounded the Palestinian territory on Thursday, killing at least 12 people including three girls, 15 months into the war.
The latest strikes came as Qatar, Egypt, and the United States mediate negotiations in Doha between Israel and Hamas militants for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.
Three girls and their father were killed when an air strike hit their house in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the civil defense agency reported.
Local paramedic Mahmud Awad said he helped transfer the bodies of two girls and their father, Mahmud Abu Kharuf to a hospital.
“Their bodies were found under the rubble of the house that the occupation bombed in the Nuseirat camp,” Awad said. He added that the body of the third girl had been found earlier by residents.
In a separate strike, eight people were killed when their house was struck in the town of Jabalia in northern Gaza, where the army has focused its offensive since October 6.
Several more were wounded in that strike, the civil defense agency said.
Israeli air strikes and shelling continues across Gaza, even as mediators push on with their efforts to halt the fighting and secure a deal for the release of hostages still held in Gaza.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Paris that a ceasefire was “very close.”
“I hope that we can get it over the line in the time that we have,” Blinken said, referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
But if not, “I believe that when we get that deal – and we’ll get it – it’ll be on the basis of the plan that President (Joe) Biden put before the world back in May.”
In May, Biden unveiled a three-phase plan for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.
