DAMASCUS: Kurdish forces killed two Syrian soldiers in overnight clashes in the country’s northeast, the defense ministry said Thursday, with the Kurds saying they were targeting positions used by the Daesh group.
The ministry said in a statement carried by SANA state news agency that clashes took place after the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attacked army positions in Raqqa province.
The SDF is the de facto army of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that controls swathes of the oil-rich north and northeast.
The Kurdish-led fighters took control of several locations “resulting in the death of two army soldiers and the wounding of others,” the ministry said.
Soldiers then returned fire and retook the positions, it said, adding Damascus held the SDF responsible for the attack.
But the SDF said in a statement its forces were “engaging with several positions that members of the Daesh (IS) terrorist organization have used directly to launch drones toward positions where our troops are stationed.”
The forces played a key role in the fight against IS in Syria, ultimately leading to the jihadists’ territorial defeat in the country in 2019.
“The region has been subjected to a series of attacks this week by factions affiliated with the Damascus government, in parallel with the activity of IS members who have actually used those positions to carry out their terrorist attacks,” the SDF statement said.
It alleged “direct coordination between several Damascus government factions and IS terrorists in targeting our military positions.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor gave a higher toll of six government personnel dead.
In March, the SDF signed an agreement with Syria’s new Islamist authorities to integrate Kurdish military and civilian institutions into the central government.
However differences between the two sides have held up the deal’s implementation.
The Kurds have called for decentralization, which Damascus has rejected.
Two Syrian soldiers killed by Kurdish forces: ministry
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Two Syrian soldiers killed by Kurdish forces: ministry
- The ministry said in a statement carried by SANA state news agency that clashes took place after the US-backed SDF attacked army positions in Raqqa province
Iran FM criticizes Israel for ‘doctrine of domination’
- Doctrine allows Israel to expand its military arsenal while pressuring other countries in the region to disarm
- His remarks came a day after renewed nuclear talks with Washington in Oman
DOHA: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday criticized what he said was a “doctrine of domination” that allows Israel to expand its military arsenal while pressuring other countries in the region to disarm.
His remarks came a day after renewed nuclear talks with Washington, with previous talks collapsing when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June that triggered a 12-day war.
Araghchi was speaking at the Al Jazeera Forum conference in Qatar but made no reference to Friday’s talks with the United States.
“Israel’s expansionist project requires that neighboring countries be weakened: militarily, technologically, economically and socially,” Araghchi said.
“Under this project Israel is free to expand its military arsenal without limits ... Yet other countries are demanded to disarm. Others are pressured to reduce defensive capacity. Others are punished for scientific progress,” he added.
“This is a doctrine of domination.”
During the 12-day war Israel targeted senior Iranian military officials, nuclear scientists and sites as well as residential areas, with the US later launching its own attacks on key nuclear facilities.
Iran responded at the time with drone and missile attacks on Israel, as well as by targeting the largest US military base in the Middle East, located in Qatar.
On Friday, Araghchi led the Iranian delegation in indirect nuclear talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat.
The top Iranian diplomat later described the atmosphere as having been “very positive,” while US President Donald Trump said the talks were “very good,” with both sides agreeing to proceed with further negotiations.
The talks followed threats from Washington and its recent deployment of an aircraft carrier group to the region following Iran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests last month.
The United States has sought to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for militant groups in the region — issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks, according to media reports.
Tehran has repeatedly rejected expanding the scope of negotiations beyond the nuclear issue.
