BEIRUT, Lebanon: Tens of thousands of Syrian civilians have fled advancing Russian-backed regime forces fighting Daesh group jihadists in the north over the past week, a monitoring group said Saturday.
Most of the more than 30,000 fleeing civilians in Aleppo province were women and children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It said the army had retaken several villages from Daesh during a vast offensive that was still ongoing on Saturday.
Most of the civilians who fled went to areas around Manbij, under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by the United States that is also fighting Daesh, it said.
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Thousands flee Syria army advance in north: monitor
Thousands flee Syria army advance in north: monitor
UN nuclear agency holds special meeting on Iran
VIENNA: Delegates at the United Nations’ nuclear agency began meeting on Monday for an extraordinary session on Iran in the wake of the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.
Russia, a key ally of Tehran, requested the meeting on Saturday at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), following the same request by Iran.
The extraordinary meeting precedes an already scheduled regular session of the IAEA’s board of governors, which represents 35 countries.
Following the strikes, the IAEA — which monitors Iran’s nuclear program — said on Saturday that it was “closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, and urges restraint to avoid any nuclear safety risks to people in the region.”
Russia, a key ally of Tehran, requested the meeting on Saturday at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), following the same request by Iran.
The extraordinary meeting precedes an already scheduled regular session of the IAEA’s board of governors, which represents 35 countries.
Following the strikes, the IAEA — which monitors Iran’s nuclear program — said on Saturday that it was “closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, and urges restraint to avoid any nuclear safety risks to people in the region.”
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