Syrian fighters supported by Turkish air power on Thursday clashed with the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces militia at a new front on the Euphrates.
The violence marks an expansion of a conflict n eastern Syria in which hundreds have been killed since the fall of Bashar Al Assad on December 8.
A spill over from the Syrian civil war, the Arab-Kurdish conflict, has indirectly pitted Turkey and the US against each other, with Washington the only major power left backing Syria's armed Kurds. But the US, diplomats say, has been encouraging the SDF to talk to the new rulers in Damascus, led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), a group formerly linked with Al Qaeda.
A Telegram group affiliated with the attacking forces said fighting broke out in Deir Hafer, an area near an artificial lake, formerly called Assad lake, in Aleppo province.
The forces comprise the Syrian National Army (SNA) and Arab militiamen who defected from the SDF after the fall of the Assad regime. The SNA is a Turkish proxy set up by Ankara in northern Syria in 2015. A video circulated by SNA supporters on social media purportedly showed Turkish drone attacks on Kurdish positions in Deir Hafer overnight.
An SDF statement said "international powers should play their role" by "putting pressure on the Turkish occupation [forces] to stop their attacks".
The group remains committed to "participating in the political process to build a new Syria", it added.
In the past three weeks, fighting in the east has been mainly around the Tishreen Dam in the north, where the SDF on Wednesday said 20 civilians had been killed by Turkish drone attacks on the area. There was no independent confirmation of the death toll.
The tribal east, 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.
At least several hundred people have been 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 by the SDF on an Arab uprising last month.
In Damascus, the Syrian News Agency reported that Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra on Thursday met representatives of Arab tribes, many of whom are from the east, in a show of support for the new HTS-dominated order.
Mr Abu Qasra said talks were continuing with the SDF on bringing "state institutions" into the east, as well as control of energy resources and the border with Iraq.
The Kurdish "file" is being dealt with deftly but "we are ready for all probabilities", said Mr Aby Qasra, who is also an HTS commander..
His forces, considered the most lethal faction in the country along with the SDF, have not participated in any significant way in the latest clashes in the east, but they took control over several areas in the eastern Raqqa and Deir Ezzor governorates after the SDF pulled out in recent weeks.
A western diplomat said US officials were engaged with Turkish authorities in talks in Ankara about the future of east Syria, with the US pressuring the SDF to "put forth a wide vision of the Kurdish role in a future Syria".
The SDF has been the ground component in the US fight in Syria against ISIS, which still maintains a presence in the east. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 people who the SDF says are linked to ISIS are imprisoned in the east.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, meanwhile, Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani revealed the country's HTS-led interim government has been in contact with the new Trump administration in the US, without revealing details. Talking to Damascus would help the US achieve security and stability in the region, he said.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Community Shield info
Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)
Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
Referee Bobby Madley
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
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SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
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Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Scoreline
Australia 2-1 Thailand
Australia: Juric 69', Leckie 86'
Thailand: Pokklaw 82'
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
The five pillars of Islam
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final, first leg:
Liverpool 5
Salah (35', 45 1'), Mane (56'), Firmino (61', 68')
Roma 2
Dzeko (81'), Perotti (85' pen)
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Scoreline
Arsenal 0 Manchester City 3
- Agüero 18'
- Kompany 58'
- Silva 65'
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
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PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
1 Man City 26 20 3 3 63 17 63
2 Liverpool 25 17 6 2 64 20 57
3 Chelsea 25 14 8 3 49 18 50
4 Man Utd 26 13 7 6 44 34 46
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5 West Ham 26 12 6 8 45 34 42
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6 Arsenal 23 13 3 7 36 26 42
7 Wolves 24 12 4 8 23 18 40
8 Tottenham 23 12 4 8 31 31 39
Our legal columnist
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Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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The five pillars of Islam
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
