KILIS, Turkey: Syrian activists and a Kurdish militia say Turkish troops and allied fighters are targeting a strategic hill in northwestern Syria as their offensive enters its second week.
Associated Press reporters in Kilis, on the Turkish-Syrian border, heard constant shelling and clashes Sunday as Turkish aircraft whizzed above.
Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters have been trying to capture the hill that separates the Kurdish-held Syrian enclave of Afrin from the Turkey-controlled town of Azaz since the start of the offensive on Jan 20.
Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Turkish troops briefly seized the hill but lost it to Kurdish fighters hours later.
The Kurdish militia known as the People’s Defense Units, or YPG, says Turkish-backed reinforcements were sent to the area following intense airstrikes.
Turkish forces target strategic hill near Syria’s Afrin
Turkish forces target strategic hill near Syria’s Afrin
Lawyers in Sanaa face Houthi repression: report
- Claims of arbitrary arrests and detentions, direct threats
- 159 Houthi violations in 2025, 88 in 2024, 135 in 2023
DUBAI: In Yemen, the Houthis are attacking lawyers, raising widespread concerns about the rule of law and state of the justice system, Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Tuesday.
“Recent reports from local human rights organizations have revealed a recurring pattern of systematic restrictions on the practice of (the) law profession, including arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, and direct threats,” according to Arab News’ sister publication.
The publication added that the situation “in Sanaa and other Houthi-controlled cities no longer provides a professional environment for lawyers who themselves are now subject to questioning or targeted for defending their clients, especially in cases of a political or human rights nature.”
The Daoo Foundation for Rights and Development organization have reported more than 382 Houthi violations against lawyers in Sanaa from January 2023 to December 2025.
These include arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without legal justification, threats of murder and assault, preventing them from practicing law, and restrictions on the right to defense in cases of a political or human rights nature.
The report stated that there were 159 Houthi violations against lawyers in 2025, 88 in 2024 and 135 in 2023, which was described as a “systematic pattern.”
Local and international human rights organizations have called for urgent intervention to protect the legal practitioners in Yemen.
“Human rights activists believe that protecting lawyers is a prerequisite for maintaining any future reform or political path because the absence of an independent defense means the absence of justice itself,” Asharq Al-Awsat reported.
