Author: Steven Sahiounie

Heavy fighting has been reported as US-backed Syrian Kurdish militants hold off a Turkish incursion into northeastern Syria, regaining control of several villages lost during the fighting. Overnight counter-attacks by Kurdish forces led to the retaking of two of the 11 villages, which had previously fallen to Turkish forces, according to reports. “There is heavy fighting between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turks on different fronts, mostly from Tal Abyad to Ras al-Ain,” the so-called Syria Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday. Kurdish media also reported that Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain had been hit worst by the fighting.…

The Turkish military is currently conducting an anti-terror military operation in northern Syria — a third one in three years — with a stated goal of clearing the way for the return of millions of Syrian refugees and stamping out the security threat near its southern border. Ankara expects its NATO allies to express solidarity on the ongoing operation in Syria, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Friday during a press conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The NATO chief, for his part, called on Turkey to show “restraint” in the operation, now in its third day. Turkey launched the offensive,…

Two separate explosions, possibly caused by missile attacks, in an Iranian oil tanker operated by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) have hit the vessel near the Saudi port city of Jeddah. The incident took place some 60 miles from Jeddah early Friday, according to informed sources. The explosions have reportedly hit the vessel’s hull, causing heavy damages to the vessel’s two main tanks, which has resulted in an oil spill in the Red Sea. The spill is currently stopped, according to officials. Technical experts are currently investigating the cause of the explosion. They believe it was a “terrorist attack”, unnamed sourced told the Iranian…

The Turkish military kicked off its ‘Operation Peace Spring’ in northern Syria on Wednesday, saying the campaign was aimed at clearing the border area of Kurdish militants and Daesh (ISIS)* fighters and at establishing a security zone along Syria’s border with Turkey. Turkey was forced to launch its military operation in northern Syria thanks to continued US arms deliveries to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said. “First, the US told us: wait, we will withdraw our forces. We waited, and they did not remove them. Then we agreed on joint patrols, which turned out…

Iran plans to increase oil production in four oilfields shared with Iraq by nearly 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) until March 2020, according to a report by the official IRNA agency. A deputy director of the National Iranian Oil Company told the IRNA on Thursday that output in Yadavaran, Azar, Aban and Paydar Gharb oilfields will increase at the end of the current Iranian calendar year thanks to intensive work by Iranian and foreign companies at the fields located along the Iranian-Iraqi border. Reza Dehqan said that the largest boost to output would take place in Azar oilfield where production…

A counter-terrorism analyst at the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has been arrested for allegedly leaking top secret information to two journalists, according to the US Justice Department. Henry Kyle Frese, 30, of Alexandria, Virginia, was detained on Wednesday when he arrived at work for revealing classified information about a foreign country’s weapons system, John Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, told reporters. “Our investigators and prosecutors nationwide will continue to devote themselves to media leak cases in order to protect our nation from the threat posed by the rare intelligence community official who breaks his…

By Tony Cartalucci When the West’s leading media organizations attempt to convince audiences they know nothing about where Mohammed Aly – a Spanish-based Egyptian protest leader – came from, the first thing one can be sure of is they are being lied to. Protests have begun to spread again in Egypt after nearly a decade of frustration in Washington over its inability to coerce Cairo into serving its regional and global designs. Protesters have allegedly been stirred up by economic turmoil still plaguing Egypt, however familiar US-backed organizations used in the past to destabilize Egypt are turning up at the center of protest venues…

By Elijah J. Magnier Notwithstanding President Donald Trump’s announcement of the deal with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tactically withdraw US forces from specific locations in occupied north-east Syria- and in consequence to leave the Syrian Kurds to their fate- the departure of US forces from Syria is highly implausible. These US forces have established several military bases and airports, offering logistic and operational support to US forces in Iraq and to the Israeli Air Force. Abandoning the occupation of north-east Syria would result in giving up a strategic location in the Middle East, a move that the US administration is not…

Steven Sahiounie, Middle East observer Turkish President Erdogan began a military invasion in northeastern Syria on Wednesday, named “Operation Peace Spring”.   The perceived threat to Turkey lies in the autonomous state of ‘Rojava’, also known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES). In July 2016, NES Assembly co-chair Hediya Yousef stated that a federal system is the ideal form of governance for Syria. Pres. Erdogan will not tolerate an autonomous state on his border, as this could influence and inspire Turkey’s fifteen million Kurds to fight to achieve a similar state. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)…

Egypt’s government sentenced 42 people to death in September amid calls for an end to executions ordered after “unfair” trials, a report says. The London-based al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper reported on Wednesday that the figure was according to data provided by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, an independent human rights organization. The death sentences were related to 13 different cases. The sentencing papers of 21 other defendants in five cases were referred to the grand mufti, Egypt’s top Muslim religious authority, who reviews all death sentences. The daily noted that Egyptian rights groups, including El Shehab for Human Rights, have launched a…