AFRIN: Turkish airstrikes pounded the Syrian border region of Afrin and fighting raged on two fronts as Ankara pursued its offensive against the Kurdish enclave on Tuesday.
A monitoring group and Kurdish sources said Turkey’s air force had stepped up its raids on the 10th day of operation “Olive Branch,” which sees Turkey providing air and ground support to Syrian opposition fighters in an offensive against Kurdish militia in northwestern Syria.
Turkish jets were hitting Kurdish positions in the towns of Rajo and Jandairis, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
Syrian opposition backed by Turkey “were engaged in fierce battles against Kurdish forces” in the two towns, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory.
“Turkey’s aerial campaign against Afrin has escalated since Monday,” he added.
A spokesman for the YPG, which Ankara considers a “terror” group, said the strikes had been relentless.
At least 85 YPG militiamen have died, the Observatory says, as have 81 fighters from the opposition groups fighting with Turkish backing.
Turkey said seven of its soldiers have been killed.
Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Tuesday that two villages in the Afrin region had been “cleared” of the YPG.
Turkey and allied forces have made gains in the offensive and on Sunday seized control of Mount Barsaya, a strategically important high point near the town of Afrin.
A Turkish military convoy of dozens of vehicles crossed the border overnight, the Observatory said. It initially headed toward an area south of Afrin but was forced to change course after coming under fire from forces loyal to President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Turkish authorities have cracked down on criticism of the operation and on Tuesday detained all the top members of the country’s main medical association, including its chief.
The arrests came after the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) issued a statement saying that “war is a man-made public health problem.”
Turkish airstrikes pound Kurdish fighters
Turkish airstrikes pound Kurdish fighters
Somali president visits city claimed by breakaway region
MOGADISHU: Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Friday visited a provincial capital claimed by the breakaway region of Somaliland -- the first visit there by a sitting president in over 40 years.
The visit to Las Anod, the administrative capital of the Sool region, comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions in the Horn of Africa after Israel officially recognised Somaliland, drawing strong opposition from Mogadishu.
Mohamud was attending the inauguration of the president of the newly created Northeast State, which became Somalia's sixth federal state in August.
It was the first visit by a Somali president since 1984.
Somalia is a federation of semi-autonomous states, some of which have fraught relations with the central government in Mogadishu.
The Northeast State comprises the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, all territories Somaliland claims as integral to its borders.
Somaliland had controlled Las Anod since 2007 but was forced to withdraw in 2023 after violent clashes with Somali forces and pro-Mogadishu militias left scores dead.
Mohamud's visit "is a symbol of strengthening the unity and efforts of the federal government to enforce the territorial unity of the Somali country and its people", the Somali president's office said.
