ISTANBUL: Turkey’s president has renewed a pledge for a cross-border military operation into northeastern Syria.
In a speech Sunday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “We’ve entered Afrin, Jarablus, Al-Bab. Now we will enter the east of the Euphrates.”
Talks between US and Turkish officials have stalled over creating a safe zone in Syria east of the Euphrates River. The aim is to address Turkey’s security concerns about Syrian Kurdish militias in the region.
Turkey views these Kurdish militias — who battled the Daesh group alongside US forces — as terrorists, allied with a Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey.
Erdogan added: “We have shared this with the US and Russia.”
Turkey conducted two operations into northern Syria in 2016 and 2018 to clear the areas of IS extremists and US-backed Syrian Kurdish militias.
Turkey warns of cross-border operation into eastern Syria
Turkey warns of cross-border operation into eastern Syria
Yemen humanitarian crisis to worsen in 2026 amid funding cuts, says UN
- Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations in a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies
GENEVA: The UN warned on Monday that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is worsening and that gains made to tackle malnutrition and health would go into reverse due to funding cuts.
“The context is very concerning... We are expecting things to be much worse in 2026,” Julien Harneis, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, told reporters in Geneva.
Some 21 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year, an increase from 19.5 million the previous year, according to the UN The situation has been aggravated by economic collapse and disruption of essential services including health and education, and political uncertainty, Harneis said.
Funding Yemen traditionally received from Western countries was now being cut back, Herneis said, pointing to hopes for more help from Gulf countries.
The US slashed its aid spending this year, and leading Western donors also pared back help as they pivoted to raise defense spending, triggering a funding crunch for the UN
Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations in a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies. The country has also been a source of heightened tensions in recent months between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Children are dying and it’s going to get worse,” Harneis said. Food insecurity is projected to worsen across the country, with higher rates of malnutrition anticipated, he stated.
“For 10 years, the UN and humanitarian organizations were able to improve mortality and improve morbidity...this year, that’s not going to be the case.”
He said Yemen’s humanitarian crisis threatened the region with diseases like measles and polio that could cross borders.
In 2025 680 million dollars was afforded to the UN in Yemen, about 28 percent of the intended target, Harneis said.
