The Syrian Democratic Forces fighters have withdrawn from several parts of eastern Syria, sources in the area said on Tuesday, as they come under military pressure from forces allied with authorities in Damascus and Turkey.
In the past 24 hours, SDF fighters have withdrawn from four Euphrates River towns in the Raqqa and Deir Ezzor governorates, a group official told The National. The aim, he said, is to support defensive lines in majority Kurdish areas further east, as well as around the strategic Tishreen dam in the north.
“The situation on the ground is changing every minute. The Turks are escalating, so the SDF is focusing on preserving the Kurdish areas, and preventing a breakthrough at Tishreen,” the official said.
Hayat Tahrir Al Sham forces have replaced the SDF in the four towns: Maadan, Thiban, Basira, and Zir, according to the official.
A Telegram group linked to the HTS said anti-SDF fighters had entered the four areas and showed purported videos of the towns after their capture.
Fighting has intensified in the east since the fall of the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad last month. HTS has taken over the seat of power in Damascus, but large parts of the east remain under the SDF's control, an amalgamation of mostly Kurdish militias created by Washington in 2015.
A stalemate has prevailed around the Tishrin Dam since Turkish proxies, supported by Turkish drones, mounted an attack two weeks ago.
The officials said the SDF has been enforcing areas east of the Euphrates to make it difficult to reach the north-eastern regions of Hasakah and Qamishli. The two areas have a larger concentration of Kurds than the rest of the east.
Before the 2011 revolt against the Assad regime and the ensuing refugee flows out of the country, Kurds comprised about 10 per cent of Syria's 22 million population.
The SDF and its forerunners were aligned with Mr Al Assad during the civil war and maintained channels of communication with Iran and Russia.
These Kurdish groups, which later became the SDF, helped the Assad regime crush a peaceful protest movement in 2011, and later capture rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo city along with other areas.
Their remaining ally since the government was overthrown has been the US. The SDF has been the ground component in the US's fight against ISIS in Syria.
However, US-backed Kurdish territorial acquisitions have contributed to ethnic violence with Arabs, who comprise the overwhelming majority of the population of the country.
At least several hundred people were killed in the east since the fall of the Assad regime. The death toll was made up of SDF and anti-SDF fighters as well civilians killed in a crackdown last month by the SDF on an Arab uprising in the area.
The uprising coincided with an HTS advance into parts of Deir Ezzor governorate that were held by the SDF, but the clashes between the two sides have since seized as they engaged in talks.
The tribal area, especially in the Euphrates Valley, is the source of most of Syria's oil and gas. Output was 200,000 barrels a day before 2011 but has fallen by 75 per cent since. The area also contains the bulk of the US military presence in Syria.
SDF chief Mazloum Abdi said this week that he had met with Mr Ahmed Al Shara, the head of HTS and the country's new de facto leader. Both sides have indicated that the integration of the SDF into a new unified Syrian military has been a major point of contention. The SDF wants to remain independent while the new military chiefs in Damascus want all groups to integrate into Syria's security framework.
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Rating: 4/5
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Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
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FIXTURES
Nov 04-05: v Western Australia XI, Perth
Nov 08-11: v Cricket Australia XI, Adelaide
Nov 15-18 v Cricket Australia XI, Townsville (d/n)
Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, Brisbane
Dec 02-06: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, Adelaide (d/n)
Dec 09-10: v Cricket Australia XI, Perth
Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth
Dec 26-30 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Melbourne
Jan 04-08: 5TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Sydney
Note: d/n = day/night
SERIES INFO
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi Sunshine Series
All matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Test series
1st Test: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets
2nd Test: Wednesday, 10 March – Sunday, 14 March
Play starts at 9.30am
T20 series
1st T20I: Wednesday, 17 March
2nd T20I: Friday, 19 March
3rd T20I: Saturday, 20 March
TV
Supporters in the UAE can watch the matches on the Rabbithole channel on YouTube
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
Specs
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The biog
Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents
Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
SPECS
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