WASHINGTON: The United States is determined to prevent the Daesh group from reestablishing safe havens in Syria, as well as the fragmentation of the country, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday.
“Daesh will try to use this period to reestablish its capabilities, to create safe havens. As our precision strikes over the weekend demonstrate, we are determined not to let that happen,” Blinken said at an event at the State Department.
In a tacit differentiation with President-elect Donald Trump, who has insisted that the United States has little at stake in the long-troubled nation, Blinken said that Washington had a series of interests in Syria — including keeping it together.
“We have a clear interest in doing what we can to avoid the fragmentation of Syria, mass migrations from Syria and, of course, the export of terrorism and extremism,” he said.
Blinken said that the United States also has a “clear interest in ensuring that whatever weapons of mass destruction or components are left in Syria do not fall into the wrong hands.”
US seeks to stop Daesh resurgence, Syria fragmentation: Blinken
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US seeks to stop Daesh resurgence, Syria fragmentation: Blinken
- Antony Blinken: ‘Daesh will try to use this period to reestablish its capabilities, to create safe havens’
- Blinken: ‘We have a clear interest in doing what we can to avoid the fragmentation of Syria’
Siege on Syria’s Kobani ‘must be lifted immediately’: Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM party
- The situation in Kobani had escalated from a crisis into a “deadly catastrophe,” DEM said
- “Both the military and humanitarian siege on Kobani must be lifted as soon as possible,” said Hatimogullari
ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM party on Saturday called for the blockade on the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani in northern Syria to be lifted immediately, warning of a “humanitarian tragedy.”
The situation in Kobani had escalated from a crisis into a “deadly catastrophe,” DEM said after sending a delegation to visit northeastern Syria which over the past week has been targeted by a major Syrian military offensive.
The Kurdish-held city, which is also known as Ain Al-Arab, is surrounded by the Turkish border to its north and government forces on all sides.
It lies around 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the Kurds’ stronghold in Syria’s far northeast.
“Both the military and humanitarian siege on Kobani must be lifted as soon as possible,” said DEM co-chair Tulay Hatimogullari.
Kurdish forces have withdrawn from areas near Kobani over the past week following pressure from the Syrian military as President Ahmed Al-Sharaa seeks to extend his control across the country.
As the military offensive advanced, residents of surrounding villages flooded into Kobani, where they were now stranded, Hatimogullari said.
“Electricity has been cut off, the Internet is cut off, water is cut off. This is a great humanitarian tragedy,” she told a news conference.
“Guarantor countries.. must urgently carry out their responsibilities to lift the siege on northern and eastern Syria,” she said referring to the US and western allies who for years have thrown their support behind the Kurdish-dominated SDF forces which have been forced out of the area.
