ANKARA: The US and Turkey launched a second round of joint patrols in northeastern Syria on Tuesday as part of plans to create a “safe” buffer zone, the Turkish defense ministry said.
Four Turkish armored vehicles crossed the border to join US forces in Syria, state news agency Anadolu said, for patrols around the town of Tal Abyad.
The ministry said drones were also deployed.
Washington and Ankara reached a deal last month to establish a safe zone between the Turkish border and Syrian areas east of the Euphrates river controlled by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The first joint patrols were conducted on September 8.
The United States views the YPG as a close ally in the fight against the Daesh group.
But Ankara says the YPG is a terrorist militia linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.
The PKK is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara, the US and the European Union.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to launch a cross-border offensive against the YPG.
He said at the weekend that plans for a unilateral operation had been completed in case there was not adequate progress in establishing the buffer zone by the end of September.
The Turkish military, supporting Syrian opposition fighters, has conducted two offensives in northern Syria against Daesh and the YPG in 2016 and 2018.
US, Turkey stage joint patrols in northeast Syria
US, Turkey stage joint patrols in northeast Syria
- Washington and Ankara reached a deal last month to establish a safe zone between the Turkish border and Syrian areas east of the Euphrates river
- Four Turkish armored vehicles crossed the border to join US forces in Syria
Child injured as Israeli settlers assault Palestinians
- Local authorities decry ongoing efforts to restrict Palestinian livelihoods and displace Bedouin communities
HEBRON: Israeli settlers assaulted a child and attempted to run over several others in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, on Sunday evening.
In Khirbet Rajoum Ali, settlers attacked 12-year-old Salah Ismail Al-Hadra, causing bruises and other injuries.
He was taken to Yatta Governmental Hospital.
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Israeli settlers also chased shepherds in Rajum Ulei, drove livestock into crops, and conducted provocative patrols near homes.
In Khirbet Al-Halawa, settlers chased children tending sheep, assaulted several, and tried to run them over with vehicles.
Masafer Yatta has seen a sharp rise in settler attacks, often under Israeli military protection.
Separately, settlers assaulted farmers plowing land in Khirbet Salama, Kharsa (south of Hebron), injuring locals identified as Ayman Izzat Awda and Diaa Awda.
In Jabal Al-Baba Bedouin community (Al-Eizariya, south of occupied Jerusalem), Israeli forces shot at shepherds grazing sheep in Wadi Al-Hawd.
One was wounded, and another arrested.
Authorities described it as part of ongoing efforts to restrict Palestinian livelihoods and displace Bedouin communities.
Settlers also attacked farmers in Mahfuriya (south of Aqraba, Nablus) while they worked their land, and damaged windows at the home of one person, identified as Munther Shreida, in Al-Shajra, Duma.
In Masafer Yatta, settlers in military-style uniforms detained and abused six residents near Khirbet Al-Fukhit before releasing them.
Settlers also chased shepherds in Rajum Ulei, drove livestock into crops, and conducted provocative patrols near homes.
Late on Saturday, settlers attempted to steal sheep from shepherd Imad Houshiyeh’s herd in Khirbet Al-Markaz but were stopped by local residents.
