Tag: InternationalNews

{As US says Ankara-backed rebels and Kurdish forces agree to brief halt in fighting, Turkey insists operation will go on.}

US officials said Turkish-backed Syrian rebels and Kurdish forces had agreed to a temporary pause in fighting in northern Syria, as Turkey insisted it planned to continue military operations in the region until all threats to its security were removed.

“In the last several hours, we have received assurance that all parties involved are going to stop shooting at each other and focus on the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant [ISIL] threat,” Colonel John Thomas, spokesman for the US Central Command, said on Tuesday.

“It’s a loose agreement for at least the next couple of days and we are hoping that will solidify,” he told AFP news agency.

Thomas said the Turkish and Syrian Democratic Forces, made up largely of Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), had opened communications with the US and between each other “with the goal of limiting hostilities”.

Thomas called the reported agreement between the two groups “encouraging”.

The White House also lauded the apparent halt in fighting between anti-ISIL forces in Syria.

“The United States welcomes the overnight calm between the Turkish military and other counter-ISIL forces in Syria,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday.

“It continues to encourage these moves as a way to prevent further hostilities and loss of life between all counter-ISIL forces operating in the area.”

YPG representative to the global anti-ISIL coalition, Polat Can, also confirmed that they had reached a truce with Turkish-backed rebels.

“We have reached a temporary ceasefire between the Jarablus Military Council and the occupying Turkish army in the Jarablus area under the supervision of the global coalition,” he said on Twitter.

‘Unacceptable comments’

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Tanju Bilgic, the official spokesman for Turkey’s foreign ministry, did not confirm or deny the reported ceasefire.

In a later statement, Bilgic said Turkey’s Euphrates Shield “operation … will continue, with utmost respect to the territorial integrity of Syria, until the calamity of terror is not disturbing Turkish citizens”.

The foreign ministry statement also said that comments from the US about the target and scope of the week-long Turkish military operation in Syria were “unacceptable”, adding that Ankara expected a US pledge that the YPG would remain east of the Euphrates to be fulfilled “as soon as possible”.

Separately, Turkish military sources told Reuters news agency that the country’s army had not agreed to any ceasefire with Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

A senior Turkish military official also told the Sabah daily: “We are not aware of such an agreement. If the US announced such a thing that means they are trying to present terrorist organisations as formal parties as if we deal with them.”

“These conflicting reports could be a further indication of mounting tension between Turkey and the US about how to deal with northern Syria,” Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkish side of the Syria-Turkey border, said.

“We’ve been talking to [Free Syrian Army] factions operating on the ground,” he said. “They are basically saying that as far as they are concerned there is no truce.”

“They told me that they have been shelling some areas under YPG control north of Manbij,” he added. “Their strategy basically is to continue the fight until they push YPG across the Euphrates River.”

In a separate statement late on Tuesday, the Turkish military said that three of its soldiers were wounded and a tank was slightly damaged in a rocket attack in western Jarablus, without mentioning which group was behind the strike.

The wounded soldiers were immediately rushed to a hospital and ISIL targets in Syria’s Kulliyah region were destroyed with “precision”, the statement added.

The US has long been trying to avert an escalation in violence between Turkish-backed FSA forces operating in and around the Syrian border town of Jarablus and YPG fighters in the same region.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter called on Turkey on Monday to stay focused on fighting ISIL and not target the YPG. He said a continued Turkish push would complicate the fight against ISIL.

Both sides are backed by the US in their fight against ISIL, but Turkey, a key NATO ally, views the YPG as a threat because of its close links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has been fighting Turkish forces for the past three decades.

Turkish forces last week launched a two-pronged operation inside Syria against ISIL (also known as ISIS) fighters and the YPG, shelling more than a dozen targets.

Over the weekend, clashes between Turkish-backed FSA fighters and the YPG killed at least 25 Kurdish fighters, according to Ankara. Turkey was also accused of targeting Kurdish civilians in air strikes, claims which it denied.

On Monday, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels said they were advancing towards Manbij, a city on the west bank of the Euphrates River, captured earlier this month by Kurdish forces.

Also on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the YPG “needs to cross east of the Euphrates as soon as possible. So long as they don’t, they will be a target”.

“The Turkish government clearly says that it will stop this military operation if the YPG crosses the Euphrates River,” Al Jazeera’s Alelbarra said. “So, there is still a way forward to solve this crisis diplomatically.

“However, if the YPG stays in Manbij, we are likely to see the FSA continue fighting until they capture the city. ”

{Pentagon calls for end to clashes between Turkish military and a US-backed Kurdish-led alliance in northern Syria.}

The US defence secretary has called on Turkey and Kurdish forces in northern Syria to stay focused on fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and not to target each other.

Monday’s statement by Ash Carter came after Turkish forces launched a two-pronged operation last week against ISIL, also known as ISIS, and Kurdish forces from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) inside Syria.

“We have called upon Turkey … to stay focused on the fight against ISIL and not to engage Syrian Defence Forces (SDF), and we have had a number of contacts over the last several days,” Carter said.

“We have called on both sides to not fight with one another, to continue to focus the fight on ISIL … That is the basis of our cooperation with both of them – specifically not to engage.”

The SDF is a group of fighters formed to fight against ISIL and is led by the YPG.

Turkey considers Syria’s YPG – which maintains close ties to PKK fighters battling Turkish forces in the country’s southeast – a “terrorist” group.

It said on Monday it would continue to target the YPG if it failed to retreat east of the Euphrates River.

Carter said chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Joseph Dunford, had spoken with his Turkish counterpart on Sunday over the issue.

The US-led coalition has been backing the YPG with training and equipment to fight ISIL, while at the same time the US has also supported Syrian opposition groups fighting with the Turks in northern Syria.

Ankara regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, an outlawed armed group that has been waging war against the Turkish state for over 40 years.

Turkey said it killed 25 Kurdish “terrorists” in strikes on YPG positions on Sunday – meaning the two US-backed partner forces were fighting each other.

Peter Cook, Pentagon press secretary, condemned the fighting the south of the Syrian town of Jarablus, where Turkish armed troops had fought with the SDF.

“We want to make clear that we find these clashes unacceptable and they are a source of deep concern,” Cook said on on Monday, seconding Carter’s call.

“This is an already crowded battle space. Accordingly, we are calling on all armed actors to stand down immediately and take appropriate measures to de-conflict.”

In his remarks, Carter said: “The YPG elements of [the SDF] will withdraw, and is withdrawing, east of the Euphrates.

“That will naturally separate them from Turkish forces that are heading down in the Jarablus area.”

Turkish forces backed by allied Syrian rebels seized the town of Jarablus from ISIL last week, but also clashed with local fighters affiliated with the SDF.

In an interview published on Monday in Turkish daily Hurriyet, Hulusi Akar, Turkish chief of staff, was quoted as saying that Kurdish forces around Jarablus have been attacking Turkish soldiers there.

“They have to withdraw to the east of Jarablus, Otherwise, we will do what is necessary,” he told Hurriyet.

{Deputy prime minister confirms suicide bomber died while at least three people injured in the Bishkek blast.}

A minivan driven by a suicide bomber exploded after ramming into a gate at the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, authorities said.

Local medics said the driver was killed while two embassy staff and a woman were injured in the blast.

“As a result of the explosion, only the suicide bomber terrorist died. Security guards were injured,” Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Jenish Razakov said.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from Bishkek, said a large security operation was underway following the attack.

“This is reported as the first suicide bombing in the country,” he said.

“The minivan exploded before getting anywhere near the main part of the embassy. There is a lot of concern about the attack. The deputy prime minister visited the scene but hasn’t pointed his fingers in any direction as to who carried out the attack.”

Local residents told AFP news agency that the blast had blown in their windows and caused their houses to shake.

Employees from the Chinese and nearby American embassy were evacuated, the Kyrgyz emergency service said.

{Gathering of new recruits at army training camp in northern part of Aden was targeted in suicide car bombing.}

The death toll in a suicide car bomb attack on an army training camp in Yemen’s port city of Aden has risen to 70, according to medical sources.

The incident took place at a camp in northern Aden on Monday when the attacker drove his vehicle into a gathering of new recruits at the camp.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsibility for the attack later on Monday.

Khidra Lasour, the director-general of Yemen’s health ministry in Aden, told Reuters news agency that at least 67 people were wounded.

“It’s a massacre. This is the highest death toll in any attack that happened in Aden before,” Hakim Almasmari, editor-in-chief of Yemen Post newspaper, told Al Jazeera.

{{Scattered debris}}

Witnesses said the suicide bomber entered the compound behind a truck that had brought breakfast for the recruits, who had queued for the meal.

Officials said some recruits were buried when a roof collapsed after the blast. Debris was scattered around the complex and nearby buildings were damaged as well.

Aden, the temporary base of Yemen’s Arab Gulf-backed government, has seen a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces.

Yemeni authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers in Aden over the past two months as part of operations to retake neighbouring southern provinces from fighters.

Earlier this month, Yemen government forces entered Abyan’s provincial capital Zinjibar.

Troops retook other towns across Abyan but have been met by fierce resistance in a key al-Qaeda stronghold, Al-Mahfid, a town which lies further east, security sources said.

{{Fighters still at large}}

The fighters are still present in areas surrounding the recaptured towns and control large parts of the neighbouring Shabwa province, the sources say.

The Arab coalition which backs the Yemeni government against Iran-backed rebels has also been providing troops with air cover throughout the war against the fighters.

The coalition assembled by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in March last year and has helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces.

But authorities have been struggling to secure these provinces.

More than 6,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Yemen since March 2015 and more than 80 percent of the population has been left in need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.

{Suspended Brazilian president rejects allegations at impeachment trial and accuses her rivals of staging a coup.}

Brazil’s suspended president Dilma Rousseff has appeared before the Senate to testify at her impeachment trial, denying allegations of breaking budget rules and saying the future of the country was at stake.

“My government made mistakes, but never betrayed voters,” she said on Monday. “I did not commit the crimes that I am accused of in an arbitrary and unjust manner.”

Rousseff is accused of having taken illegal state loans to patch budget holes.

The suspended president reiterated her claim that the trial was a “coup d’etat” aimed at removing her from office and destroying her Workers’ Party.

“There is no justification for removing me from power,” she said.

“I am innocent. I am an honest person and I have never committed a crime.”

She later made a reference to her imprisonment and torture by the military dictatorship in the 1970s for belonging to a far-left group.

“I was very strong then, and at almost 70, I am still strong now,” Rousseff said.

She explained that she previously refused to resign, because she was committed to democracy and the rule of law.

“This has been a very dramatic beginning to the trial as many Brazilians expected,” said Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, reporting from the capital, Brasilia.

“But Rousseff did not say one thing that everyone was expecting to hear; she did not say what would have happened, what would be different, if she were to be reinstated.”

Earlier on Monday, Rousseff, 68, was greeted by cheering supporters as she arrived at the Senate to testify for the first time in her defence, just hours before senators were to start voting on her fate.

“Dilma, warrior of the Brazilian homeland,” the crowd of supporters shouted.

Momentum to push her out is also fuelled by deep anger at Brazil’s historic recession, political paralysis and a vast corruption scandal centred on state oil giant Petrobras.

Rousseff came to the senate accompanied by heavyweight allies, including her presidential predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and a dozen former cabinet members.

A small crowd of loyalists gathered from early morning outside the Senate and supporters shouted “Dilma come back!” from cars as they drove past the building’s entrance.

Closing arguments will begin after her testimony on Monday, followed by voting, possibly extending into Wednesday.

Opponents say they will easily reach the necessary two-thirds majority, 54 of 81 senators, to remove her from office.

In that case, Rousseff’s former vice president turned political enemy, Michel Temer, will be confirmed as president until elections in 2018.

Temer, from the centre-right PMDB party, has already been acting president since May. He is hardly more popular than Rousseff, according to opinion polls.

Temer faces harsh questioning over his legitimacy as an unelected president and was loudly booed at the recent Olympic opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

The impeachment case rests on narrow charges that Rousseff took unauthorised state loans to bridge budget shortfalls during her 2014 election to a second term.

Allies have spent the Senate trial arguing that these loans were nothing more than stop-gap measures frequently employed by previous governments.

Opponents, however, have broadened the accusation to paint Rousseff’s loans as part of her disastrous mismanagement, contributing to once-booming Brazil’s slide into recession.

Brazil’s economy shrank by 3.8 percent in 2015 and is forecast to drop a further 3.3 percent this year, the worst performance since the 1930s.

Inflation stands at about nine percent and unemployment at 11 percent.

Rousseff’s side says that decline was caused by forces far beyond the president’s control, notably a worldwide slump in commodity prices, which hit exports hard.

{Social media users express outrage after web video appears to show restaurant owner calling all Muslims “terrorists”.}

Social media users have expressed anger after a video posted online appeared to show two Muslim women in France being told to leave a restaurant by a man, reportedly the eatery’s boss, who called all Muslims “terrorists”.

“Terrorists are Muslims, and all Muslims are terrorists. This sentence says it all, analyse it,” the man said in the video released on Sunday.

The incident reportedly took place the night before at the Le Cenacle restaurant in Tremblay-en-France, an area on the suburbs of the capital Paris.

“People like you, I don’t want them here,” he continued, “you are imposing yourself here […] get out.”

The women, one of whom appeared in the video wearing a headscarf, said they would leave.

Reports in France said that the man apologised on Sunday to a group of young people and members of the local Muslim community who had gathered outside Le Cenacle to ask him to explain his comments.

The restaurateur reportedly said one of his friends had died in the attack on the Bataclan concert hall in November 2015.

In a message on Twitter, Laurence Rossignol, the French minister for families, children and women’s rights, said she had ordered an investigation and called for sanctions against the “intolerable behaviour” of the restaurant’s boss.

The man’s comments follow a fierce debate in recent months about Muslim integration and France’s interpretation of secular values, emerging after a string of attacks around the country.

Several French towns have recently taken the decision to ban a full-body swimsuit worn by some Muslim women, known as the burkini, in public, causing more uproar.

France’s highest administrative court on Friday suspended the ban in the Mediterranean town of Villeneuve-Loubet, pending a definitive ruling.

President Francois Hollande also came out last week to warn against “stigmatisation” of Muslims, along with other politicians.

The footage of the incident at the restaurant has been shared widely on social media, garnering many reactions of concern for increasing Islamphobia in the country.

Another social media user, Peter Allen, said: “If you think mainstream racism is all a stunt in France, watch what happened to 2 women in Paris restaurant on Sat.”

In response to the incident, the Committee against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) said it would bring “psychological and legal assistance” to both women.

“What kills me in the scandalous video #Cenacle is the indifference of other clients,” the committee’s director, Marwan Muhammed, said on Twitter.

{Turkish leader says pursuit of armed groups will be unrelenting as cross-border operation kills dozens in Syria’s north.}

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed that Turkey will show the same determination in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and Syrian Kurdish fighters, on the fifth day of a cross-border operation that has already left dozens dead in northern Syria.

Speaking on Sunday in Gaziantep in southeast Turkey, where 54 people were killed in a suicide attack at a Kurdish wedding last week, Erdogan said: “We can not tolerate any terror organisation within or close to our borders.

“That’s why we are in [Syria’s] Jarablus. And, if necessary, we will not flinch from taking on similar responsibilities in other areas.”

On Sunday, Turkey intensified its “Euphrates Shield” military offensive in northern Syria, with Turkish warplanes and artillery pounding areas held by pro-Kurdish forces close to Jarablus, the town taken from ISIL by Ankara-backed Syrian rebels earlier this week.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 40 civilians were killed in separate Turkish strikes near the village of al-Amarneh and in Jeb al-Kussa, outside Jarablus – the first reports of significant civilian casualties since the start of Turkey’s operation on Wednesday.

The group, which monitors Syria’s war, also said at least four Kurdish fighters had been killed and 15 wounded in the bombardments south of Jarablus.

But Turkey denied the reports of civilian deaths, saying its raids had killed 25 Kurdish “terrorists”, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

In a statement, the Turkish armed forces said the air campaign was carried out against “terrorist groups” which had attacked Turkish soldiers supporting a Free Syrian Army (FSA) operation in Jarablus.

At the Gaziantep rally, Erdogan told thousands of flag-waving supporters that “operations against terrorist organisations will continue until the end”.

“We will make any kind of contribution to the work to clear Daesh from Syria,” he said said using an Arabic acronym for ISIL, also known as ISIS.

“For the issue of the PYD (Democratic Union Party) terror group in Syria, we have just the same determination,” he added, referring to the main pro-Kurdish party and its military arm in northern Syria.

Turkey has long accused the YPG of being linked to the outlawed PKK in the southeast of the country. The YPG is the military arm of the Syrian Kurdish PYD political party.

Turkey has ordered the YPG, a well-trained force that has been the US-led coalition’s most effective ground partner in the war against ISIL, to withdraw to the east bank of the Euphrates River, which crosses the Syria-Turkey border at Jarablus.

“For president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, PKK, YPG, ISIL are just different facades of the same group,” said Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Gaziantep on Turkey’s border with Syria.

“And he says his country will definitely use whatever it has to defeat these groups.”

He said the Turkish army had been “shelling and launching air strikes” in areas controlled by the YPG.

“These are areas that Turkey has asked the YPG to pull out of. The YPG insists those areas are part of their own territory, and there’s no way it will pull out. That will likely increase tension.”

During his Gaziantep speech, Erdogan also said that Turkey’s cross-border offensive into Syria was giving people who fled ISIL-controlled areas a chance to return home, including to Jarablus.

“Jarablus has been freed,” said Erdogan. “The original inhabitants of Jarablus are now in the process of going back.

“Anyone who wants to go back to Jarablus, will be given any support they need from us.”