BEIRUT: An explosion outside an office belonging to an Al-Qaeda-linked group in northwestern Syria on Friday killed at least 11 people and wounded several others, opposition activists said.
The blast comes a week after members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee, or HTS, took over control of wide parts of Idlib province and the surrounding countryside after forcing rival insurgents to accept a deal for a civil administration run by HTS in their areas.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Smart news agency, an activist collective, said the blast occurred on the southern edge of the rebel-held city of Idlib.
The Observatory said 11 people were killed in the blast, including seven HTS members. Smart said 12 people were killed, many of them militants.
In the country’s east, an airstrike in the last area held by Daesh killed at least 20 people.
State news agency SANA said 20 people were killed in the airstrike on the Daesh-held village of Baghouz, while the Observatory said 23 people were killed including 10 IS members.
They both blamed the US-led coalition that has been providing air cover to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their monthslong offensive to capture the area from extremists near the Iraqi border.
The SDF has intensified its offensive over the past weeks on the Daesh-held area.
Meanwhile in Turkey, President Tayyip Erdogan met with US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to discuss the situation in Syria as the United States prepares to withdraw troops.
Graham, a prominent voice on foreign affairs in the US, met with Erdogan and other Turkish officials Friday for talks that were also expected to include a proposal for the creation of a “safe zone” in northeast Syria.
The visit comes days after a suicide bombing, claimed by Daesh, killed two US service members and two American civilians in the northeastern town of Manbij.
Graham has said he is concerned that US President Donald Trump’s troop withdrawal announcement had emboldened Daesh militants and created dangerous uncertainty for American allies.
The Pentagon identified three of the four Americans killed in the suicide bomb attack in Manbij — Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach, Florida, who was based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon M. Kent, 35, from upstate New York and based at Fort Meade, Maryland; and a civilian, Scott A. Wirtz, from St. Louis.
The Pentagon hasn’t identified the fourth casualty, a civilian contractor.
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Explosion in north Syria targets Al-Qaeda gunmen, kills 11
Explosion in north Syria targets Al-Qaeda gunmen, kills 11
- The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Smart news agency, an activist collective, said the blast occurred on the southern edge of the rebel-held city of Idlib
- The Observatory said 11 people were killed in the blast, including seven HTS members. Smart said 12 people were killed, many of them militants
UN chief slams ‘unlawful attacks’, says Mideast could spiral out of control
- Antonio Guterres calls for serious diplomatic negotiations
- UN’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher describes deadly alliance of 'technology and killing with impunity'
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Friday “unlawful attacks” across the Middle East and warned that the situation could spiral out of control as the conflict spreads to multiple countries.
US and Israeli forces launched a massive air campaign against Iran on February 28. Iran has retaliated with strikes against Israel and Gulf countries.
Washington said it aimed to curb nuclear and missile threats from Tehran but it has also decapitated the country’s government, and President Donald Trump is now demanding “unconditional surrender.”
“All the unlawful attacks in the Middle East and beyond are causing tremendous suffering and harm to civilians throughout the region — and pose a grave risk to the global economy, particularly to the most vulnerable people,” Guterres said.
“The situation could spiral beyond anyone’s control. It is time to stop the fighting and get to serious diplomatic negotiations.”
The UN’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Friday that “we’re seeing staggering amounts of money, reportedly a billion dollars a day, funding this war spent on destruction, while politicians continue to boast about cutting aid budgets for those in greatest need.”
“We’re seeing an increasingly deadly alliance of technology and killing with impunity,” he added.
Fletcher said “we’re seeing a sustained attack against the systems and laws meant to restrain us from our worst instincts and from reckless warfare.”
He also reflected mounting concern about the war’s other impacts, warning that “it tears through markets, supply chains, food prices, and when that happens, it’s the most vulnerable people who are hit first and hardest.”
US and Israeli forces launched a massive air campaign against Iran on February 28. Iran has retaliated with strikes against Israel and Gulf countries.
Washington said it aimed to curb nuclear and missile threats from Tehran but it has also decapitated the country’s government, and President Donald Trump is now demanding “unconditional surrender.”
“All the unlawful attacks in the Middle East and beyond are causing tremendous suffering and harm to civilians throughout the region — and pose a grave risk to the global economy, particularly to the most vulnerable people,” Guterres said.
“The situation could spiral beyond anyone’s control. It is time to stop the fighting and get to serious diplomatic negotiations.”
The UN’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Friday that “we’re seeing staggering amounts of money, reportedly a billion dollars a day, funding this war spent on destruction, while politicians continue to boast about cutting aid budgets for those in greatest need.”
“We’re seeing an increasingly deadly alliance of technology and killing with impunity,” he added.
Fletcher said “we’re seeing a sustained attack against the systems and laws meant to restrain us from our worst instincts and from reckless warfare.”
He also reflected mounting concern about the war’s other impacts, warning that “it tears through markets, supply chains, food prices, and when that happens, it’s the most vulnerable people who are hit first and hardest.”
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