ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Wednesday to launch a new military operation in northern Syria if Kurdish militants are not cleared from areas along its border with Syria.
In an address to his ruling party’s legislators in parliament, the Turkish leader also said a Russian airstrike that targeted Turkey-backed Syrian rebels in Idlib earlier this week was an indication that Moscow was not looking for a lasting peace in the region.
“If all of the terrorists aren’t removed ... as it has been promised to us, I repeat once again that we have a legitimate reason to intervene at any moment we feel the need to,” Erdogan said.
His comments came days after a suspected Kurdish militant — whom officials said had infiltrated into Turkey from Syria — blew himself up in a town in the border province of Hatay, following a police chase. Security officials killed a second militant.
In his first remarks on Monday’s airstrike that killed dozens of fighters, Erdogan said: “Russia’s attack targeting the Syrian National Army forces’ training center is a sign that a lasting peace and calm is not wanted in the region.”
The strike was the deadliest in Idlib since a Turkish-Russian-brokered truce there came into effect in March. It occurred as relations between Russia and Turkey show increasing signs of strain over Ankara’s military involvement in Syria, the Caucasus Mountains and in Libya, where Moscow also has interests. In Syria, Russia is a main supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.
Turkey has carried out three major forays into Syria since 2016 to drive away Kurdish militants or the Islamic State group from the border area.
Last year, it sent troops into northeastern Syria to expel Syrian Kurdish fighters it considers to be terrorists from the area and to create a “safe-zone” where it hoped to resettle refugees. Turkey halted the offensive following separate deals with the United States and Russia that promised the withdrawal of the Kurdish fighters.
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Turkey threatens new military operation into Syria
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Turkey threatens new military operation into Syria
- Erdogan condemned Russia for launching an air strike that killed dozens of pro-Ankara rebels in Syria
Sudan army breaks RSF siege on southern city Dilling
- Army says its forces 'succeeded in opening the Dilling road after carrying out a successful military operation'
- Victory comes as the military attempts to stem a sweeping paramilitary advance across the wider Kordofan region
KHARTOUM: The Sudanese army said on Monday it had broken a long-running siege of Dilling, a city in the country’s south, where paramilitary forces had choked off access for more than a year and a half.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands of people.
The war has also left 11 million people displaced and triggered what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.
In its statement, the army said its forces “succeeded in opening the Dilling road after carrying out a successful military operation,” claiming they had inflicted “heavy losses” on the RSF.
If confirmed, the advance would secure the army’s hold over both the northern and southern approaches to Dilling, located in South Kordofan state.
The city lies halfway between Kadugli — the besieged state capital — and El-Obeid, the capital of neighboring North Kordofan, which the RSF has sought to encircle.
Videos shared on social media showed army forces, said to be in Dilling, celebrating atop pick-up trucks as people ululated and cheered alongside them.
AFP could not independently verify the army’s claim or the footage, and the RSF has not yet commented.
- Sweeping offensive -
The push around Dilling comes as the army attempts to stem a sweeping paramilitary advance across the wider Kordofan region.
Since seizing the army’s last stronghold in western Darfur last October, the RSF has shifted its focus eastward, aided by its local allies, namely the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu.
Since then, the paramilitary group has tightened its grip on West Kordofan, taken Heglig — home to Sudan’s largest oil field — and intensified its siege of Kadugli.
A UN-backed assessment last year already confirmed famine in Kadugli, which has been under RSF siege for more than a year and a half.
The assessment said conditions in Dilling were likely similar, but security issues and a lack of access have prevented a formal declaration.
The UN has repeatedly cautioned that atrocities similar to those reported during the RSF offensive in El-Fasher — including mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and widespread looting — could spread into Kordofan.
More than 65,000 people have fled the Kordofan region since October, according to the latest UN figures.
Those escaping, particularly from South Kordofan, face “long and uncertain journeys” lasting up to 30 days and sleep “wherever they can,” according to Mercy Corps, one of the few aid groups operating there.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands of people.
The war has also left 11 million people displaced and triggered what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.
In its statement, the army said its forces “succeeded in opening the Dilling road after carrying out a successful military operation,” claiming they had inflicted “heavy losses” on the RSF.
If confirmed, the advance would secure the army’s hold over both the northern and southern approaches to Dilling, located in South Kordofan state.
The city lies halfway between Kadugli — the besieged state capital — and El-Obeid, the capital of neighboring North Kordofan, which the RSF has sought to encircle.
Videos shared on social media showed army forces, said to be in Dilling, celebrating atop pick-up trucks as people ululated and cheered alongside them.
AFP could not independently verify the army’s claim or the footage, and the RSF has not yet commented.
- Sweeping offensive -
The push around Dilling comes as the army attempts to stem a sweeping paramilitary advance across the wider Kordofan region.
Since seizing the army’s last stronghold in western Darfur last October, the RSF has shifted its focus eastward, aided by its local allies, namely the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu.
Since then, the paramilitary group has tightened its grip on West Kordofan, taken Heglig — home to Sudan’s largest oil field — and intensified its siege of Kadugli.
A UN-backed assessment last year already confirmed famine in Kadugli, which has been under RSF siege for more than a year and a half.
The assessment said conditions in Dilling were likely similar, but security issues and a lack of access have prevented a formal declaration.
The UN has repeatedly cautioned that atrocities similar to those reported during the RSF offensive in El-Fasher — including mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and widespread looting — could spread into Kordofan.
More than 65,000 people have fled the Kordofan region since October, according to the latest UN figures.
Those escaping, particularly from South Kordofan, face “long and uncertain journeys” lasting up to 30 days and sleep “wherever they can,” according to Mercy Corps, one of the few aid groups operating there.
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