BEIRUT: At least 24 fighters, mostly from Turkish-backed groups, were killed in clashes with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northern Manbij district, a war monitor said on Thursday.
The violence killed 23 Turkish-backed fighters and one member of the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based war monitor said the latest bout of fighting was sparked by attacks by the Ankara-backed fighters on two towns south of Manbij.
Swathes of northern Syria are controlled by a Kurdish-led administration whose de facto army, the US-backed SDF, spearheaded the fight that helped oust the Daesh group from its last territory in Syria in 2019.
Turkiye accuses the main component of the SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which both Washington and Ankara blacklist as a terrorist group.
Fighting has raged around the Arab-majority city of Manbij, controlled by the Manbij Military Council, a group of local fighters operating under the SDF.
According to the Observatory, “clashes continued south and east of Manbij, while Turkish forces bombarded the area with drones and heavy artillery.”
The SDF said it repelled attacks by Turkiye-backed groups south and east of Manbij.
“This morning, with the support of five Turkish drones, tanks and modern armored vehicles, the mercenary groups launched violent attacks” on several villages in the Manbij area, the SDF said in a statement.
“Our fighters succeeded in repelling all the attacks, killing dozens of mercenaries and destroying six armored vehicles, including a tank.”
Turkiye has mounted multiple operations against the SDF since 2016, and Ankara-backed groups have captured several Kurdish-held towns in northern Syria in recent weeks.
The fighting has continued since rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad on December 8.
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24 killed as pro-Ankara factions clash with Syria’s Kurdish-led SDF
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24 killed as pro-Ankara factions clash with Syria’s Kurdish-led SDF
- The latest bout of fighting was sparked by attacks by the Turkiye-backed fighters on two towns south of Manbij, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
- Swathes of northern Syria are controlled by the US-backed SDF, which spearheaded the fight that helped oust the Daesh group from its last territory in Syria in 2019
Turkiye arrests two on charges of spying for Israel
- Security sources said Mehmet Budak Derya and Veysel Kerimoglu had been arrested in Istanbul
- They had long been on the radar of Turkiye’s MIT intelligence agency
ISTANBUL: Turkish intelligence has arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Israel’s Mossad and providing information that helped the spy agency target its enemies, state news agency Anadolu reported Friday.
Security sources said Mehmet Budak Derya and Veysel Kerimoglu had been arrested in Istanbul, saying they had long been on the radar of Turkiye’s MIT intelligence agency.
Derya, a mining engineer, allegedly first caught the attention of Mossad in 2005 when he opened a marble quarry near the southern coastal city of Mersin and began trading overseas, first contacting him via an individual called Ali Ahmed Yassin in 2012, the sources said.
Investigators said Yassin, who ran an Israeli shell company, invited Derya for a business meeting in Europe in 2013 which is where he allegedly first met Mossad agents, they said.
During the meeting, they discussed the marble trade and suggested he hire a Turkish citizen of Palestinian origin called Veysel Kerimoglu, they said.
The men became friends and allegedly began sharing information with Mossad, who paid Kerimoglu’s salary, they said.
Through Kerimoglu, Derya is alleged to have increased his Middle Eastern activities, building social and commercial ties with Palestinians opposed to Israel’s policies and allegedly sharing information about them with Mossad.
The men are also alleged to have sent through technical information and photos of premises they were looking to acquire, notably in Gaza.
In early 2016, Kerimoglu is alleged to have suggested to Derya to begin supplying drone parts, with the businessman making contact with Mohamed Zouari who was killed in Tunisia later that year, allegedly by Mossad, investigators said.
Zouari — an engineer who specialized in drone development for the Palestinian Hamas movement — was gunned down in his car in the eastern city of Sfax in December 2016.
Late last year, a Tunisian a court convicted 18 people in absentia over his murder.
Derya is alleged to have used an encrypted communication system to send technical data to his handlers, and underwent two lie detector tests in 2016 and 2024.
He was arrested while trying to set up a company that would have overseen three Asian shell companies whose aim was allegedly to hide the origins of various products that would have been supplied to buyers on Mossad’s radar.
The plan was allegedly discussed in detail at their last meeting in January.
Both suspects are currently being questioned by police, they said.
Security sources said Mehmet Budak Derya and Veysel Kerimoglu had been arrested in Istanbul, saying they had long been on the radar of Turkiye’s MIT intelligence agency.
Derya, a mining engineer, allegedly first caught the attention of Mossad in 2005 when he opened a marble quarry near the southern coastal city of Mersin and began trading overseas, first contacting him via an individual called Ali Ahmed Yassin in 2012, the sources said.
Investigators said Yassin, who ran an Israeli shell company, invited Derya for a business meeting in Europe in 2013 which is where he allegedly first met Mossad agents, they said.
During the meeting, they discussed the marble trade and suggested he hire a Turkish citizen of Palestinian origin called Veysel Kerimoglu, they said.
The men became friends and allegedly began sharing information with Mossad, who paid Kerimoglu’s salary, they said.
Through Kerimoglu, Derya is alleged to have increased his Middle Eastern activities, building social and commercial ties with Palestinians opposed to Israel’s policies and allegedly sharing information about them with Mossad.
The men are also alleged to have sent through technical information and photos of premises they were looking to acquire, notably in Gaza.
In early 2016, Kerimoglu is alleged to have suggested to Derya to begin supplying drone parts, with the businessman making contact with Mohamed Zouari who was killed in Tunisia later that year, allegedly by Mossad, investigators said.
Zouari — an engineer who specialized in drone development for the Palestinian Hamas movement — was gunned down in his car in the eastern city of Sfax in December 2016.
Late last year, a Tunisian a court convicted 18 people in absentia over his murder.
Derya is alleged to have used an encrypted communication system to send technical data to his handlers, and underwent two lie detector tests in 2016 and 2024.
He was arrested while trying to set up a company that would have overseen three Asian shell companies whose aim was allegedly to hide the origins of various products that would have been supplied to buyers on Mossad’s radar.
The plan was allegedly discussed in detail at their last meeting in January.
Both suspects are currently being questioned by police, they said.
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