BAGHDAD: Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in a phone call with his Jordanian counterpart on Tuesday, condemned an attack on a US military outpost on Jordanian territory near the border with Syria, state media reported.
Hussein and Ayman Safadi stressed the need to distance the two countries and the region from military threats by any side, Iraqi state media added.
Iran-aligned groups have been waging attacks against Israeli and US targets from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria since the war between their Palestinian ally Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization of hard-line Iran-backed militant groups, on Sunday claimed attacks on three bases, including one on the border between far northeastern Jordan and eastern Syria.
That attack killed three US soldiers and wounded more than 40 troops. It was the first deadly strike against US troops since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October and marks a major escalation in tensions that have engulfed the Middle East.
Iraq’s government is backed by parties and militias close to Iran, though not directly by the hard-line groups that have been firing on US forces, Western and Iraqi officials say. Baghdad has condemned the attacks while also saying regional escalation would continue as long as the Gaza war went on.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed on Monday the US would take “all necessary actions” to defend its troops after the deadly drone attack, even as President Joe Biden’s administration stressed it was not seeking a war with Iran.
Iraq foreign minister condemns attack on US military outpost in Jordan
https://arab.news/w88q5
Iraq foreign minister condemns attack on US military outpost in Jordan
- Hussein and Ayman Safadi stressed the need to distance the two countries and the region from military threats
Syrian government and SDF agree to de-escalate after Aleppo violence
- Turkiye views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement
DAMASCUS: Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed to de-escalate on Monday evening in the northern city of Aleppo, after a wave of attacks that both sides blamed on each other left at least two civilians dead and several wounded.
Syria’s state news agency SANA, citing the defense ministry, said the army’s general command issued an order to stop targeting the SDF’s fire sources. The SDF said in a statement later that it had issued instructions to stop responding to attacks by Syrian government forces following de-escalation contacts.
HIGHLIGHTS
• SDF and Syrian government forces blame each other for Aleppo violence
• Turkiye threatens military action if SDF fails integration deadline
• Aleppo schools and offices closed on Tuesday following the violence
The Syrian health ministry said two people were killed and several were wounded in shelling by the SDF on residential neighborhoods in the city. The injuries included two children and two civil defense workers. The violence erupted hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Damascus that the SDF appeared to have no intention of honoring a commitment to integrate into the state’s armed forces by an agreed year-end deadline.
Turkiye views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement.
Integrating the SDF would mend Syria’s deepest remaining fracture, but failing to do so risks an armed clash that could derail the country’s emergence from 14 years of war and potentially draw in Turkiye, which has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.
Both sides have accused the other of stalling and acting in bad faith. The SDF is reluctant to give up autonomy it won as the main US ally during the war, which left it with control of Islamic State prisons and rich oil resources.
SANA, citing the defense ministry, reported earlier that the SDF had launched a sudden attack on security forces and the army in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods of Aleppo, resulting in injuries.
The SDF denied this and said the attack was carried out by factions affiliated with the Syrian government. It said those factions were using tanks and artillery against residential neighborhoods in the city.
The defense ministry denied the SDF’s statements, saying the army was responding to sources of fire from Kurdish forces. “We’re hearing the sounds of artillery and mortar shells, and there is a heavy army presence in most areas of Aleppo,” an eyewitness in Aleppo told Reuters earlier on Monday. Another eyewitness said the sound of strikes had been very strong and described the situation as “terrifying.”
Aleppo’s governor announced a temporary suspension of attendance in all public and private schools and universities on Tuesday, as well as government offices within the city center.
