Tag Archives: Militia
A Mostly Non-Christian Militia Won 2 Of Iraqi Christians' Parliamentary Seats. Now Christians Want Trump To Intervene.
Turkey or Kurdish YPG militia? Pick a side, Turkish minister tells France
By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) – Turkey warned France on Thursday that it needed to choose who it wanted as an ally to fight Islamic State in Syria, and urged it to do what is necessary to ensure Kurdish militias leave the northern Manbij region. Relations between Ankara and Paris have been tense in recent weeks, with France increasingly criticizing the two-month-old Turkish military operation against the Kurdish YPG in northern Syria, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization That came to a head on March 30 after President Emmanuel Macron met a Syrian delegation including the YPG and its political arm, the PYD, and gave assurances of French support to help them stabilize northern Syria against Islamic State.
Stakes rise in Turkey's Afrin assault as pro-Assad militia arrive
By Ellen Francis and Ece Toksabay BEIRUT/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey warned on Wednesday that pro-Damascus forces would face “serious consequences” for entering Syria’s Afrin region to help Kurdish fighters repel a Turkish offensive. The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said Turkish planes bombed a town in Afrin on Wednesday.
Turkey steps up assault on Kurdish militia in Syria
Turkey on Monday intensified its offensive against Kurdish militia targets in Syria as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be no stepping back in a campaign that has stoked concern among Ankara’s allies and neighbours. The Turkish military on Saturday launched operation “Olive Branch”, its second major incursion into Syrian territory during the seven-year civil war. The operation, where Turkish war planes and artillery are backing a major ground incursion launched with Ankara-backed Syrian rebels and Turkish tanks, aims to oust the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia from its enclave of Afrin.
Turkish jets pound Kurdish militia in new Syria offensive
Turkey on Saturday launched a new air and ground operation to oust a Kurdish militia from their northern Syrian enclave, defying US warnings that the action risked further destabilising the area after almost seven years of civil war. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had repeatedly vowed that Turkey would root out the “nests of terror” in Syria of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia which Turkey deems a terror organisation. Turkey’s army said operation “Olive Branch” began at 1400 GMT and was aimed at the YPG and Islamic State (IS) jihadists.
Turkish army launches new strikes on Kurdish militia in Syria
The Turkish army said it launched new strikes Saturday against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in northern Syria, amid mounting expectations of a cross-border ground operation. The army said it hit in “legitimate self defence” camps and refuges used by the YPG in response to fire coming from the Afrin region controlled by the militia group, which Turkey deems to be a terror organisation. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened over the last days to launch a ground operation, also including pro-Ankara Syrian rebels, to oust the YPG from Afrin and the area.
Turkish troops shell Afrin to oust US-backed Kurdish militia
Turkey on Friday started fresh shelling of the Syrian town of Afrin in a move to oust a US-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers “terrorists” and vowed to press on with a full-scale operation against them. The Turkish government has repeatedly warned it will strike Syrian towns controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, including Afrin, after the US said it was training a 30,000-strong border force there. “The Afrin operation will take place,” Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television.
Erdogan says Turkey must clear Syria's Afrin of YPG militia
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey needed to clear the Afrin region of northwest Syria of Kurdish YPG militia fighters, who have been in the forefront of the battle there against Islamic State insurgents. Erdogan, speaking in Ankara to officials from the ruling AK Party, also expressed disappointment with the United States, which backs the YPG. Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union.
Investigators likely slain by Congolese militia: UN probe
Two UN investigators killed in March likely died at the hands of Congolese militia members, a UN inquiry found, adding that further investigation will be required to “fully ascertain the identity” of those involved. Michael Sharp, an American, and Zaida Catalan, a Swedish-Chilean dual national, were found murdered in March in the Democratic Republic of Congo while on a UN mission investigating violence and mass graves in the country’s restive Kasai province. “A group of Congolese, likely militia members from the Kasai Central province, was responsible,” read the board’s executive summary, obtained Wednesday by AFP.
Militia force armed with assault rifles marches through US town ahead of white nationalist rally
