Syria’s army took control of swathes of the country’s north on Saturday, dislodging Kurdish forces from territory over which they held effective autonomy for over a decade.The government appeared to be seeking to extend its grip on parts of the country under Kurdish control a day after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a “national language” and granting the minority official recognition.The Kurds have said the move fell short of their aspirations.The army drove Kurdish forces from two Aleppo neighbourhoods last week and took control of an area east of the city on Saturday, after implementation stalled on a March deal that was supposed to see Kurdish forces integrated into the state.Later on Saturday, the Syrian army said it had “begun entering the city of Tabqa via various axes, in parallel with encircling the PKK terrorist militias inside Tabqa military airport”, according to the official SANA news agency. Authorities had earlier announced they had seized two oil fields near the city of Tabqa in Raqa province.An AFP correspondent in Deir Hafer, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Aleppo city, saw several fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leaving the town and residents returning under heavy army presence.Syria’s army said four soldiers had been killed, while Kurdish forces reported several fighters dead, as both sides traded blame for violating the withdrawal deal. Kurdish authorities ordered a curfew in the Raqa region after the army designated a swathe of territory southwest of the Euphrates River a “closed military zone” and warned it would target what it said were several military sites.- ‘Betrayed’ -SDF chief Mazloum Abdi on Friday had committed to redeploying his forces from outside Aleppo to east of the Euphrates. But the SDF said Saturday that Damascus “violated the recent agreements and betrayed our forces during the implementation of the withdrawal provisions”.It said Kurdish forces were clashing with troops in an area south of Tabqa, “which was outside the scope of the agreement”.The army meanwhile urged the SDF leadership to “immediately fulfil its announced commitments and fully withdraw to the east of the Euphrates River”.The SDF controls swathes of Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast, much of which it captured during the country’s civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade.US envoy Tom Barrack met Syrian Kurdish leader Abdi in Erbil on Saturday, the presidency of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region said in a statement.The United States for years has supported the Kurds but also backs Syria’s new authorities.The US Central Command on Saturday urged “Syrian government forces to cease any offensive actions in the areas between Aleppo and al-Tabqa”, in a post on X.France’s President Emmanuel Macron and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, called for deescalation and a ceasefire, the French presidency said.- Presidential decree -Sharaa’s announcement on Friday was the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.The decree stated that Kurds are “an essential and integral part” of Syria, where they have suffered decades of marginalisation and oppression under former rulers.It made Kurdish a “national language” and granted nationality to all Kurds, 20 percent of whom had been stripped of it under a controversial 1962 census.The Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast said the decree was “a first step” but “does not satisfy the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people”.”Rights are not protected by temporary decrees, but… through permanent constitutions that express the will of the people and all components” of society, it said in a statement.In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country’s northeast, Shebal Ali, 35, told AFP that “we want constitutional recognition of the Kurdish people’s rights”.Yara, 42, a Kurdish artist in Damascus who declined to provide her full name, said the government needed to “provide guarantees to earn the Kurds’ confidence”.Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, told AFP that the decree “offers cultural concessions while consolidating military control”.”It does not address the northeast’s calls for self-governance,” he told AFP, adding that “Sharaa is comfortable granting cultural rights, but draws the line at power-sharing”.He said Damascus appeared to be seeking “to drive a wedge between Kurdish civilians and the armed forces that have governed them for a decade”.strs-lg/jsa/amj

Israel said on Saturday it objected to the line-up of a Gaza panel that will operate under US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which oversees post-war governance in the Palestinian territory.The panel, known as the Gaza executive board, notably includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Qatari official and was announced by the White House on Friday.The Board of Peace began to take shape on Saturday as the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada were asked to join. Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, much of which was reduced to rubble during two years of relentless Israeli bombardment.The US president also named to the Board of Peace his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff — most of whom are also on the Gaza executive board. On Saturday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace, was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy.””The Prime Minister has instructed the Foreign Affairs Minister to contact the US Secretary of State on this matter.”The moves came after the Palestinian committee of technocrats tasked with governing Gaza under the oversight of the Board of Peace began held its first meeting in Cairo, attended by Kushner.- Worldwide invites – In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, while in Turkey, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had been asked to become a “founding member” of the board.Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo was “studying” a request for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to join.Sharing an image of the invitation letter, Argentine President Javier Milei wrote on X that it would be “an honor” to participate in the initiative.In a statement sent to AFP, Blair said: “I thank President Trump for his leadership in establishing the Board of Peace and am honored to be appointed to its Executive Board.”Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice to everybody”.Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the “Middle East Quartet” — the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia — after leaving Downing Street in 2007.The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding and capital mobilization”.The other members of the board so far are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire US financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the US National Security Council.On Saturday, the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad criticised the composition of the Board of Peace, saying it served Israel’s interests.The board “came in accordance with Israeli criteria and to serve the interests of the occupation”, the group said in a statement.- Israeli strikes -Washington has said the Gaza plan had gone on to a second phase — from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive.On Friday, Trump named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas.Jeffers, from special operations in US Central Command, in late 2024 was put in charge of monitoring a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has continued periodic strikes aimed at Hezbollah militants.Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath was earlier tapped to head the governing committee.Trump, a real estate developer, has previously mused about turning devastated Gaza into a Riviera-style area of resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly displace the population.burs-mib/amj/jsa

Thousands of people rallied in France on Saturday in a show of support for demonstrators in Iran risking their lives to demand an end to theocratic rule.The protests in Iran over past weeks are the largest since the “Woman, Life, Freedom” street movement in 2022-2023, sparked by the death in custody of an Iranian Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly not following a required dress code. “Woman, Life, Freedom,” chanted marchers in the French capital, some holding portraits of deceased Iranian protesters.”Death to Khamenei,” cried some, in reference to 86-year-old supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Galia, a 36-year-old woman who did not give her surname to protect her family, said she felt hopeful — despite “the repression, the torture, the fear, the upcoming executions” in Iran.”Each time, I tell myself, ‘this is it, people will be free.’ Maybe not now, but the time will come,” she said among the crowd, which also included French protesters.- ‘Repression can’t prevail’ -In Iran, internet connectivity rose “very” slightly on Saturday, more than a week into an internet shutdown, the Netblock monitor said.Activists said the blackout has acted as a cover for the killing of protesters.Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) says it has verified that Iranian security forces have killed 3,428 protesters, but warns the actual toll could be several times higher.Other estimates place the death toll at more than 5,000 — and possibly as high as 20,000, IHR said.The opposition Iran International channel based outside the country has said at least 12,000 people were killed during the protests, citing senior government and security sources. In Paris, Amir — a 23-year-old Iranian student who did not want to give his surname — said he wanted freedom.”The fall of the regime is unavoidable, we can’t live like this,” he said.”Repression can’t prevail, eventually freedom will win.”But Nasser Razi, a member of the National Council of Resistance in Iran opposition group, said patience was needed.”This regime will not fall in one or two days. It’s a process,” he said.- Connection ‘coming back’ -In the eastern city of Strasbourg, Ali Rastegar, a 43-year-old Franco-Iranian, said he was at a rally to send a “message of support” to people back home.”They’re protesting and being shot at. It’s unacceptable,” he said.In the western city of Rennes, organiser Zahra Bodin said marchers wanted “to shout as loud as our compatriots” in Iran.In Lyon, a city in the southeast, protesters included many who were loyal to Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s late shah.A 30-year-old Iranian, who wished to remain anonymous, was taking part.”We’re here to encourage the protesters” in Iran, he said, despite the difficulty in communicating with loved ones.He said recently connection had been “coming back”.”They can call us for a minute, but everything’s being recorded over there. When they want to tell us what’s been happening, they’re cut off.”A young man in his twenties said he had been told you could “smell blood on the roads” of the central city of Isfahan.Suddenly his phone rang.”It’s my family,” he said, and walked away to take the call.burs-mra/ah/jh