Tag Archives: Syria

CNN reports: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today announced $100 million in disaster relief aid for Turkey and Syria as the countries grapple with the aftermath of a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 46,000 people. The top US diplomat, who took a helicopter tour Sunday of some of the hardest-hit areas alongside Turkish foreign minister …

The Guardian reports: A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake has hit Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, terrifying those left in a region devastated by powerful twin earthquakes two weeks earlier. The quake, less powerful than the initial 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes which tore a path of destruction through southern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February, albeit threatened yet more …

Politico Europe reports: The death toll from a massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria is likely to “double or more” from its current level of 33,000, United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths told Sky News. “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble, but I’m sure it will double or more,” said …

The Associated Press reports: Turkey has for years tempted fate by not enforcing modern construction codes while allowing — and in some cases, encouraging — a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas, experts say. The lax enforcement, which experts in geology and engineering have long warned about, is gaining renewed scrutiny in the aftermath of this week’s devastating earthquakes, which …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited southern Turkey on Wednesday to see first-hand the destruction wrought by a massive earthquake as anger grew among local people over what they said was a slow government response to the rescue and relief effort. The combined confirmed death toll from Monday’s quake, which struck a swathe of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, …

The Associated Press reports: Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to more than 5,000. Countries around the world dispatched teams to assist in the rescue efforts, …

Via press release from the White House: Jill and I were deeply saddened by the news of the devastating earthquakes that have thus far claimed thousands of lives in Turkiye and Syria. My Administration has been working closely with our NATO Ally Turkiye, and I authorized an immediate U.S. response. At my direction, senior American officials reached out immediately to …

Reuters reports: More than 1,500 people were killed and thousands injured on Monday when a huge earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria, pulversing apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war. The magnitude 7.8 quake, which hit in the early darkness of a winter morning, was the worst to strike Turkey this …

From the Justice Department: A global building materials manufacturer and its subsidiary pleaded guilty today to a one-count criminal information charging them with conspiring to provide material support and resources in Northern Syria from 2013 to 2014 to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the al-Nusrah Front (ANF), both U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations. Immediately following the defendants’ …

Via press release from the White House: Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader …

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration conducted an airstrike in Syria on Thursday that officials believe killed a number of alleged Iranian-linked fighters, signaling its intent to use targeted military action to push back against violence tied to Tehran. The attack on a border-crossing station in eastern Syria, the first lethal operation ordered by the Biden administration against Iran’s …

The Daily Beast reports: Back in 2018, when Bob Woodward first reported that President Donald Trump had ordered the assassination of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Trump baulked at the mere suggestion. “No, that was never even contemplated, nor would it be contemplated and it should not have been written about in the book,” he said at the time. Well, on …

The Independent reports: Turkey will block NATO’s plan for the defence of Baltic countries unless the alliance recognises a Kurdish group as “terrorists”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned. A NATO meeting on Tuesday, marking the alliance’s 70th anniversary, was set to be a tense affair with Turkey at odds with other members over its purchase of Russian missiles and …

The New York Times reports: United States troops have resumed large-scale counter terrorism missions against the Islamic State in northern Syria, military officials say, nearly two months after President Trump’s abrupt order to withdraw American troops opened the way for a bloody Turkish cross-border offensive. The new operations show that despite Mr. Trump’s earlier demand for a complete withdrawal of …

Axios reports: An Oval Office meeting yesterday with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took a dark turn when Erdoğan pulled out his iPad and made the group watch a propaganda video that depicted Kurds as terrorists, according to three sources familiar with the meeting. Why it matters: The meeting hosted by President Trump included five Republican U.S. senators who’ve been …

USA Today reports: The Pentagon is preparing to send tanks and armored vehicles to Syrian oil fields, according to a U.S. official – a stunning reversal of President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the war-torn country after he declared victory over ISIS. The deployment of heavy armor to Syria would represent a significant escalation in the fight, requiring …

ABC News reports: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul joined ABC News’ “Powerhouse Politics” podcast, saying the Kurds are acting like ‘ingrates’ in disrespecting U.S. troops. With President Donald Trump facing an eruption of dissatisfaction inside his own party over his military policy regarding Syria, Paul has emerged as a fierce defender of the idea that the U.S. has the right to …

The Hill reports: President Trump is set to deliver remarks on Syria Wednesday morning. Trump withdrew U.S. troops from northern Syria earlier this month in a move that sparked fierce bipartisan pushback from lawmakers who worried the it would be seen as a betrayal to Kurdish allies in the region. Turkey launched a military operation targeting the Kurds shortly after …

NBC News reports: In the days after President Donald Trump paved the way for Turkey to invade Syria, several of his closest allies went to the White House — twice — to try to change his mind, according to four people familiar with the meetings. Retired Gen. Jack Keane, a Fox News analyst, first walked the president through a map …

The New York Times reports: American forces and their Kurdish-led partners in Syria had been conducting as many as a dozen counterterrorism missions a day against Islamic State militants, officials said. That has stopped. Those same partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, had also been quietly releasing some Islamic State prisoners and incorporating them into their ranks, in part as a …