About 54 people were killed and some 70 injured when a suspected ISIS suicide bomber blew himself up at a Kurdish wedding celebration in Gaziantep province, Turkey.
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“We confirm we are prepared to defend the country against any plans for a direct or indirect occupation”, a statement from the SDF said.
Syrian state media says a cease-fire between government and Kurdish forces in Hasakeh has gone into effect, six days after fierce clashes erupted between the two sides over control of the northern Syrian city. Almost 50,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
A senior rebel official said Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were preparing to launch an attack to seize Jarablus from Islamic State, a move that would deny control to advancing Syrian Kurdish fighters. The army also responded to the fire on Kilis.
But this could potentially put them on collision course with the militia of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) which Ankara vehemently opposes and who also have designs on Jarablus after seizing the strategic Manbij area in northern Syria from IS.
Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said in emailed comments on Tuesday that Russian Federation and the Syrian government will announce “the first 48-hour humanitarian break in hostilities” in Aleppo as soon as they receive an official request from the United Nations envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.
The Jarablus Military Council, in a statement issued after al-Jader’s death, accused Turkish security agents of being behind the slaying.
As funerals for those killed began on Sunday, so did reminders of how divided and tense Turkey is at the moment. While others have criticised Turkey’s contribution to the Syrian war, allowing extremist rebels to cross its territory on their way to fight in Syria, to further its goal of toppling the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Ankara has always called for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad as the key to ending the conflict, putting Turkey at odds with his main supporters Iran and Russian Federation. “It’s the cross-border settlement of scores by two actors fighting in Syria”. The statement Sunday added that Vice President Joe Biden will visit Ankara Wednesday to reaffirm the USA commitment to work together with Turkey against “scourge of terrorism”.
The developments put the U.S.’s only clear proxy in Syria, the SDF, and its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, Turkey, on track for a confrontation over Jarablus, though the SDF official, Nasser Haj Mansour, would not comment on whether the SDF would send fighters to the town.
It has lately been building a 240-kilometre (150-mile) concrete wall in order to tighten security.
Saturday’s attack in the southeastern city of Gaziantep is the deadliest in Turkey this year. On Sunday the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the attack had been carried out by a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 and initial evidence pointed to Islamic State.
Yet the Prime Minister Binali Yildirim of Turkey says the identity of the bomber – initially regarded as a kid – hasn’t yet been confirmed.
Ozcan said the group chose a wedding party and sent a child to carry out the attack to increase the “shock” effect.
The pro-Kurdish political party HDP condemned the attack on the wedding, which it said was attended by many of its party members.
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He noted that any future humanitarian truce in Aleppo should not be exploited by armed groups to enhance their supply resources or rearrange their ranks, expressing hope that those who support the “opposition groups” would be able to guarantee the latter’s commitment to next agreements and their terms. “It was in the middle of this song that the bomb went off”, Hurriyet quoted her as saying.
