ANKARA: Turkish peacekeeping forces will continue to help boost the Lebanese army’s capability under a renewed deployment mandate in Lebanon, Turkiye’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
Turkiye’s parliament passed a bill on Tuesday to renew the military’s deployment mandates in Syria and Iraq by three more years, and its deployment mandate under the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by two years.
“Efforts will continue to improve security conditions in the region, ensure stability and assist in the capacity building of the Lebanese armed forces, with the aim of establishing and maintaining peace in Lebanon,” the ministry said in a statement.
NATO member Turkiye, which took part in mediation that led to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal in Gaza, condemned Israeli offensives in the Palestinian enclave and regional countries including Lebanon, saying that “genocidal” and “expansionist” Israeli policies remained the biggest threat to regional peace.
Separately, the Defense Ministry said in its weekly briefing that the renewed Iraq and Syria mandates aimed to preserve Turkiye’s national security against attempts to harm the territorial integrity of its two neighbors.
Turkiye has been frustrated by what it calls the stalling of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in terms of implementing a landmark integration agreement that it signed with Syria’s government in March.
Ankara views the SDF as a terrorist organization linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has been in a disarmament process that Turkiye says must apply to the SDF as well. It has warned of military action against the SDF and said Damascus should address its concerns.
In the mandate passed on Tuesday, parliament said the move was necessary because “terrorist organizations continued their presence in the region” and the SDF was “rejecting taking steps toward integrating into Syria’s central administration over its separatist and discriminatory agenda.”
Turkiye says it will help boost Lebanese army’s capacity under mandate
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Turkiye says it will help boost Lebanese army’s capacity under mandate
- Turkiye’s parliament passed a bill on Tuesday to renew the military’s deployment mandates in Syria and Iraq by three more years, and its deployment mandate under the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by two years
Flash floods kill 21 in Moroccan coastal town
RABAT: Flash-flooding caused by sudden, heavy rain killed at least 21 people in the Moroccan coastal town of Safi on Sunday, local authorities said.
Images on social media showed a torrent of muddy water sweeping cars and rubbish bins from the streets in Safi, which sits around 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of the capital Rabat.
At least 70 homes and businesses in the historic old city were flooded, authorities said.
Another 32 people were injured and taken to hospital, but most of them have been discharged.
Damage to roads cut off traffic along several routes to and from the port city on the Atlantic coast.
“It’s a black day,” resident Hamza Chdouani told AFP.
By evening, the water level had receded, leaving people to pick through a mud-sodden landscape to salvage belongings.
Another resident, Marouane Tamer, questioned why government trucks had not been dispatched to pump out the water.
As teams searched for other possible casualties, the weather service forecast more heavy rain on Tuesday across the country.
Severe weather and flooding are not uncommon in Morocco, which is struggling with a severe drought for the seventh consecutive year.
The General Directorate of Meteorology (DGM) said 2024 was Morocco’s hottest year on record, while registering an average rainfall deficit of -24.7 percent.
Moroccan autumns are typically marked by a gradual drop in temperatures, but climate change has affected weather patterns and made storms more intense because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and warmer seas can turbocharge the systems.
