Tag: conflict

Trump orders full withdrawal of US troops from Syria

by Thomas WATKINS Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States will withdraw all of its troops from Syria, a US official said Wednesday, after President Donald Trump claimed America has “defeated ISIS” in the war-ravaged country. The stunning move will have extraordinary geopolitical ramifications — and plunges into uncertainty the fate of US-backed Kurdish fighters who have been tackling Islamic State jihadists, hundreds of whom remain in Syria. “We have defeated […]

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US-backed forces expel IS from east Syria hub

  by Rouba EL HUSSEINI Agence France Prese BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Kurdish-led forces seized the Islamic State’s main hub of Hajin Friday, a milestone in a massive and costly US-backed operation to eradicate the jihadists from eastern Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces secured Hajin, the largest settlement in what is the last pocket of territory controlled by IS, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “After a week of heavy fighting and air strikes, […]

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‘Peace is possible’ in Yemen: US State Department

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday praised UN-brokered talks aiming to end Yemen’s devastating conflict, saying “peace is possible.” “The work ahead will not be easy, but we have seen what many considered improbable begin to take shape,” he said in a statement released hours after Yemen’s warring parties agreed to a ceasefire in the vital port of Hodeida on the final day of peace talks. “The United […]

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Thousands flee bombs and hunger in eastern Syria

by Delil Souleiman Agence France Presse AL-HOL, Syria (AFP) — Faraj was born in the pouring rain on a nondescript stretch of desert road in eastern Syria as his family fled escalating fighting over the Islamic State group’s last bastion. His family was part of a group of around 200 civilians who managed to escape from a pocket of territory in Deir Ezzor province that is still held by the jihadists. “I had to resist […]

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SWS: 84 percent of Filipinos reject gov’t “inaction” in West PHL Sea issue

(Eagle News)–Eighty-four percent of Filipinos reject the government’s policy of “doing nothing about China’s intrusion in the West Philippine Sea,” the Social Weather Stations said. The SWS said its survey conducted from Sept. 15 to 23,  in particular, found 84% believe it is not right for the government to “leave China alone with its infrastructures and military presence in the claimed territories,” three points more than the 81% in June 2018. At the same time, the SWS […]

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Fighting in flashpoint Yemen city despite peace push: military sources

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Fierce fighting broke out in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida late Monday, between rebels and pro-government forces, despite progress in peace talks and appeals for calm, pro-government military officials said. The fighting, the worst since forces loyal to Yemen’s government halted an offensive on the lifeline port last week, was concentrated on the eastern part of the city where rebels fired artillery, the loyalist sources said. Pro-government forces […]

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Deadly clash erupts during Israel operation in Gaza

by Sakher Abou El Oun Agence France Presse GAZA CITY, Palestinian (AFP) — An exchange of fire erupted during an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing six Palestinians and an Israeli soldier, officials said, while potentially dashing hopes that a recent agreement would restore calm. As tensions rose following the clash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would cut short his trip to Paris, where he had been attending […]

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US calls for Yemen ceasefire

by Olivia HAMPTON Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States called Tuesday for a ceasefire and peace talks in Yemen, as the Saudi-led military coalition sent more than 10,000 new troops toward a vital rebel-held port city ahead of a new assault. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said the US had been watching the conflict “for long enough,” adding that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are in a US-backed […]

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Saudi offers Yemen fuel aid as economy sags

ADEN, Yemen (AFP) — A Saudi oil tanker carrying the first batch of petroleum products worth $60 million arrived at Yemen’s Aden port Monday, to help power electricity stations and prop up the war-torn country’s sagging economy, officials said. The aid, meant to ease crippling power cuts, marks the latest economic assistance offered by the kingdom as Yemen –- already on the brink of famine — reels from an economic downturn that has left many […]

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Iran fires missiles at Syria ‘terrorists’ after deadly attack

by Kay Armin Serjoie Agence France-Presse TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday they launched a missile strike against a “terrorist” headquarters in Syria in retaliation for an attack that killed 24 people in the Iranian city of Ahvaz. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had vowed a “crushing” response to last month’s assault — claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group — on a military parade commemorating the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. “The headquarters of those […]

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At least 12 dead in Mali attack: sources

BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — At least 12 Tuareg civilians died Tuesday in an attack in eastern Mali, a region hit by chronic unrest between local tribes and jihadist militants, sources said. About 200 people, many of them civilians from the Fulani and Tuareg tribes, have been killed in the area this year. Militants claiming allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) have been clashing with local groups backing a French security force and the Malian army. […]

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In abandoned villa, Syrian children study on the ground

ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — In rebel-held northern Syria, displaced children sit or lie on the ground of an unfinished villa, bending over their notebooks to apply themselves as they write the day’s lesson. Four teachers instruct around 100 children — girls and boys aged six to 12 — at the makeshift school in an opposition-held area in the west of the northern province of Aleppo. Between the bare walls of the villa abandoned mid-construction, children […]

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