BEIRUT // Heavy clashes and a regime barrel bomb attack shook the Syrian city of Aleppo on Thursday, a day after rebels tried to seize an intelligence headquarters in a forceful rejection of UN ceasefire efforts.
The fresh violence came during a visit to Aleppo by a delegation sent by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, who is seeking to “freeze” fighting in the devastated northern city.
The attack on the air force intelligence offices killed at least 34 people – 20 members of regime security forces and 14 rebels. It was the worst unrest in Aleppo since the opposition rejected the peace plan on earlier this week.
Samir Nashar, a member of the opposition National Coalition who is in contact with groups who attacked the regime building, said the assault “sends a clear message to the regime and to de Mistura” that the rebels reject his initiative.
“De Mistura is at an impasse and is facing a dead end,” Mr Nashar said.
The attack was followed on Thursday by heavy clashes between Syrian regime forces and rebels near the intelligence offices on Aleppo’s western edge, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A Syrian military source said the army had launched an attack “against [rebel] gunmen positions, killing and wounding many of them” in the area.
Regime forces also struck rebel-held territory in the east of the city, the Observatory said, killing at least 18 civilians in a single barrel bomb attack.
This followed rebel shelling on regime neighbourhoods on Wednesday that killed nine civilians, including three children and two women.
Fighting in Aleppo erupted in mid-2012, and control of the city – once Syria’s commercial hub – has since been divided between rebels on the eastern side and the regime in the west.
Mr de Mistura has made the plan for a temporary ceasefire in Aleppo the centrepiece of his efforts to bring any kind of halt to the conflict in Syria, where more than 220,000 people have been killed since it erupted in March 2011.
He held talks in Damascus on Saturday to try to finalise a deal and then sent the delegation to Aleppo to meet the opposition.
But Mr Nashar said rebels had no intention of holding talks with delegation members.
“De Mistura’s initiative does not address even the minimum of rebel demands,” Mr Nashar said.
The rebels have refused to consider the proposal unless it forms the basis for a “comprehensive solution” to the conflict through the departure of president Bashar Al Assad.
Mr Nashar said opposition forces are “suspicious” of the UN envoy’s intentions and see his efforts as “trying to find an opportunity for the regime to breathe in the north”.
Mr de Mistura has particularly angered opposition groups by describing Mr Assad as “part of the solution” to the Syrian conflict.
Speaking in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, US secretary of state John Kerry said military pressure may be needed to oust Mr Al Assad.
“He’s lost any semblance of legitimacy ... Ultimately a combination of diplomacy and pressure will be needed to bring about a political transition. Military pressure particularly may be necessary given president Assad’s reluctance to negotiate seriously,” Mr Kerry said.
Rebels have also demanded the regime cease barrel bomb attacks.
Rights groups have criticised the bombs – crude devices made of barrels packed with explosives and usually dropped from helicopters – as indiscriminate, citing the large number of civilians killed by them.
Mr Assad has denied the army uses the makeshift bombs.
Elsewhere in Syria, seven civilians were killed in a regime airstrike near a school in the northern province of Idlib, the Observatory said.
Syria’s conflict began as a popular uprising but evolved into a multi-front civil war that has divided the country into a patchwork of fiefdoms controlled by different factions, including the extremist ISIL group.
* Agence France-Presse
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PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
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
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
EU Russia
The EU imports 90 per cent of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40 per cent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Killing of Qassem Suleimani