A journalists’ association says two reporters working for Kurdish media outlets have been killed in clashes between Syrian Kurdish militia and Turkish-backed fighters in northern Syria. Fighting in parts of Syria continues despite the fall of President Bashar Assad.
Elsewhere in Syria, the transition following the government’s fall has been smooth so far, although it’s been less than two weeks since Assad was ousted by a lightning rebel advance on the capital Damascus.
The country is home to diverse sects, and there is ongoing fear and uncertainty among minority groups, including Christians, regarding their rights and safety under the main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, once an affiliate of al-Qaida.
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Here’s the latest:
KURDISH JOURNALISTS KILLED IN NORTHERN SYRIA
ANKARA, Turkey – A journalists’ association says two journalists working for Kurdish media outlets were killed in northern Syria while covering fighting between Turkish-backed fighters and Syrian Kurdish militia.
Turkey-based Dicle-Firat Journalists Association said Friday Nazim Dastan and Cihan Bilgin were killed Thursday after their vehicle was reportedly targeted by a Turkish drone on a road near the Tishrin Dam.
Tishrin Dam, located some 90 kilometers east of Aleppo, has been the scene of clashes between the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, and the Turkey-backed opposition forces.
There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials.
Bianet, a news website dedicated to human rights issues, said Bilgin was a reporter for the Kurdish Hawar News Agency, while Dastan worked as a freelance journalist for the Firat News Agency, which is associated with the militant group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey considers the SDF as a terrorist organization because its main component is a group aligned to the PKK. The group has been engaged in an armed struggle against the Turkish state since the 1980s in pursuit of its objective to secure autonomy for Kurds in the country.
GENEVA – The head of the U.N. migration agency says that large-scale returns of Syrians to their homeland at this stage would “overwhelm” the country.
Syria’s civil war has displaced millions of people since 2011. The fall of Bashar Assad’s government earlier this month has fueled talk in some of the countries where they went of the refugees’ return.
Amy Pope, the director-general of the International Organization for Migration, told reporters Friday after returning from a visit to Syria that her agency’s message to countries in Europe and elsewhere is that “this is not the moment to talk about large-scale returns.”
Pope said that communities “are just not ready to absorb the people who are displaced and would come back.” She argued that if “overwhelming numbers” of people return, “it will overwhelm the country and it could risk more disruptive impact on a very fragile peace process.”
Pope said it’s right to support individuals on a case-by-case basis who want to go home or know that their place of origin is safe, but that efforts now need to focus on the humanitarian situation, recovery and rebuilding.
STOCKHOLM – The Swedish government says it is ending its “core support” for the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians.
The government said Friday that 800 million kronor ($72.4 million) being allocated for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the region next year will go through the channels of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the government’s support for other agencies such as the World Food Program, the U.N. Children’s Fund, the U.N. Population Fund and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In October, Israel’s parliament approved legislation banning UNRWA’s activities in the Palestinian territories, a measure that was to take effect in 90 days.
Sweden’s minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade, Benjamin Dousa, posted on X that the Israeli decision will make much of UNRWA’s work difficult or impossible.
He said that Swedish aid must arrive and not get stuck in a bank account en route, and that the Israeli parliament’s decision forces it to pass on support to other organizations. Dousa added that UNRWA is undergoing a crisis of confidence.
Sweden provided 451 million kronor to UNRWA this year.
