AFP Asia Business

Syrian authorities on Saturday began transferring Kurdish fighters from the country’s second city Aleppo to areas they control in the country’s northeast, state television reported, after days of deadly clashes.The violence in Aleppo erupted after efforts to integrate the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration and military into the country’s new government stalled.Since the fighting began on Tuesday, at least 21 civilians have been killed, according to figures from both sides, while Aleppo’s governor said 155,000 people have been displaced.On Saturday evening, state television reported that Kurdish fighters “who announced their surrender… were transported by bus to the city of Tabaqa” in the Kurdish-controlled northeast.An AFP correspondent saw at least five buses on Saturday carrying fighters leaving the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud district accompanied by security forces.Their departure came as US envoy Tom Barrack on Saturday met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and afterwards issued a call for a “return to dialogue” with the Kurds in accordance with an integration agreement sealed last year.In a statement to the official SANA news agency, the military announced earlier on Saturday “a halt to all military operations in the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood”.A Syrian security source had told AFP that the last Kurdish fighters had entrenched themselves in the area of al-Razi hospital in Sheikh Maqsud, before being evacuated by authorities.On the outskirts of Sheikh Maqsud, families who were unable to flee the violence were leaving, accompanied by Syrian security forces, according to an AFP correspondent.Men were carrying their children on their backs as women and children wept, before entering buses taking them to shelters.Dozens of young men in civilian clothing were separated from the rest, with security forcing them to sit on the ground, heads down, before being taken by bus to an unknown destination, according to the correspondent.Government forces began striking the district overnight after a deadline elapsed for Kurdish fighters to withdraw during a ceasefire.- Residents waiting to return -At the entrance to the district, 60-year-old resident Imad al-Ahmad waited for permission from the security forces to return home.”I left four days ago… I took refuge at my sister’s house,” he told AFP. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to return today.”Nahed Mohammad Qassab, a 40-year-old widow also waiting to return, said she left before the fighting to attend a funeral.”My three children are still inside, at my neighbour’s house. I want to get them out,” she said. The clashes, some of the most intense since Syria’s new Islamist authorities took power, present yet another challenge as the country struggles to forge a new path after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.Both sides have blamed the other for starting the violence in Aleppo.- ‘Fierce’ resistance -Kurdish forces earlier reported coming under artillery and drone attacks, and claimed on social media to be mounting a “fierce and ongoing resistance”.The army said three soldiers had been killed by Kurdish fighters, while state television accused them of launching drones at residential areas of Aleppo.A flight suspension at Aleppo airport was extended until late Saturday.The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control swathes of the country’s oil-rich north and northeast, and were key to the 2019 territorial defeat of the Islamic State group. But Turkey, a close ally of neighbouring Syria’s new leaders, views its main component as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which agreed last year to end its four-decade armed struggle against Ankara.Turkey has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast, accused Syrian authorities of “choosing the path of war” by attacking Kurdish districts and of “seeking to put an end to the agreements that have been reached”.”We are committed to them and we are seeking to implement them,” she told AFP.The March integration agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, have stymied progress.Ahmad welcomed on X a proposal by international mediators to evacuate the Kurdish forces from Sheikh Maqsud, but on condition that the local Kurdish population is protected. Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the renewed clashes cast doubt on the government’s ability to unite the country after years of civil war.Syria’s authorities have committed to protecting minorities, but sectarian bloodshed rocked the Alawite and Druze communities last year.

The Syrian army said on Saturday that it was halting military operations in an Aleppo neighbourhood following days of clashes, but Kurdish forces there maintained they were still under attack, with an AFP correspondent nearby reporting sporadic gunfire.The violence in Syria’s second city erupted after efforts to integrate the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration and military into the country’s new government stalled.Since the fighting began on Tuesday, at least 21 civilians have been killed, according to figures from both sides, while Aleppo’s governor said 155,000 people have been displaced. In a statement to the official SANA news agency, the military announced “a halt to all military operations in the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood” from 3:00 pm (1200 GMT) Saturday, adding that Kurdish forces there would be “transferred” to the Kurdish-controlled city of Tabaqa in northeastern Syria.But the Kurdish forces said their fighters were still repelling a “fierce attack”, and called the army statement “a blatant attempt to mislead public opinion”.Government forces began striking the district overnight after a deadline elapsed for Kurdish fighters to withdraw during a ceasefire.Syria’s army said earlier on Saturday that it had completed a “security sweep” of Sheikh Maqsud, while urging residents to stay in their homes due to the continued presence of Kurdish fighters.The Kurdish forces, however, said claims that the government now controlled the vast majority of the neighbourhood were “false and misleading”.- Residents waiting to return -At the entrance to the district, 60-year-old resident Imad al-Ahmad waited for permission from the security forces to return home. “I left four days ago… I took refuge at my sister’s house,” he told AFP. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to return today.” Nahed Mohammad Qassab, a 40-year-old widow also waiting to return, said she left before the fighting to attend a funeral. “My three children are still inside, at my neighbour’s house. I want to get them out,” she said. The clashes, some of the most intense since Syria’s new Islamist authorities took power, present yet another challenge as the country struggles to forge a new path after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.Both sides have blamed the other for starting the violence in Aleppo.- ‘Fierce’ resistance -Kurdish forces earlier reported coming under artillery and drone attacks, and claimed on social media to be mounting a “fierce and ongoing resistance”.The army said three soldiers had been killed by Kurdish fighters, while state television accused them of launching drones at residential areas of Aleppo.A flight suspension at Aleppo airport was extended until late Saturday.The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control swathes of the country’s oil-rich north and northeast, and were key to the 2019 territorial defeat of the Islamic State group. But Turkey, a close ally of neighbouring Syria’s new leaders, views its main component as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which agreed last year to end its four-decade armed struggle against Ankara.Turkey has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast, accused Syrian authorities of “choosing the path of war” by attacking Kurdish districts and of “seeking to put an end to the agreements that have been reached”.”We are committed to them and we are seeking to implement them,” she told AFP.The March integration agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, have stymied progress.US envoy Tom Barrack said Saturday he had discussed the situation with Jordan’s foreign minister, with both parties expressing a desire for “consolidating the ceasefire, ensuring the peaceful withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from Aleppo, and guaranteeing” civilians’ safety.They also called for the implementation of the integration agreement.Ahmad welcomed on X a proposal by international mediators to evacuate the Kurdish forces from Sheikh Maqsud, but on condition that the local Kurdish population is protected. Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the renewed clashes cast doubt on the government’s ability to sew the country back together after 14 years of civil war.Syria’s authorities have committed to protecting minorities, but sectarian bloodshed rocked the Alawite and Druze communities last year.

Major Iranian cities were gripped overnight by new mass rallies denouncing the Islamic republic, as activists on Saturday expressed fear authorities were intensifying their suppression of the demonstrations under cover of an internet blackout.The two weeks of protests have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed defiance and blamed the United States.Following the movement’s largest protests yet on Thursday, new demonstrations took place late Friday, according to images verified by AFP and other videos published on social media.This was despite an internet shutdown imposed by the authorities, with monitor Netblocks saying early Saturday that “metrics show the nationwide internet blackout remains in place at 36 hours”.The blackout has sparked fears among activists that authorities are now violently cracking down on the protests, with less chance the proof will reach the outside world.Amnesty International said it was analysing “distressing reports that security forces have intensified their unlawful use of lethal force against protesters” since Thursday in an escalation “that has led to further deaths and injuries”.Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi warned on Friday that security forces could be preparing to commit a “massacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout”, and said she had already received reports of hundreds of people being treated for eye injuries at a single Tehran hospital.Rights groups have accused security forces of deliberately targeting protesters’ eyes with birdshot in previous protest waves in Iran.Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has said at least 51 people have been killed in the crackdown so far, but warned the actual toll could be higher.Iranian authorities are using the “most blatant tools of repression”, prize-winning filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi said, pointing to the internet blackout.”Experience has shown that resorting to such measures is intended to conceal the violence inflicted during the suppression of protests,” they added.- ‘Seize city centres’ -In Tehran’s Saadatabad district, people banged pots and chanted anti-government slogans including “death to Khamenei” as cars honked in support, a video verified by AFP showed.Other images disseminated on social media and by Persian-language television channels outside Iran showed similarly large protests elsewhere in the capital, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad, Tabriz in the north and the holy city of Qom.In the western city of Hamedan, a man was shown waving a shah-era Iranian flag featuring the lion and the sun amid fires and people dancing.In the Pounak district of northern Iran, people were shown dancing round a fire in the middle of a highway, while in the Vakilabad district of Mashhad, a city home to one of the holiest shrines in Shiite Islam, people marched down an avenue chanting “death to Khamenei”. It was not possible to immediately verify the videos.Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah, hailed the “magnificent” turnout on Friday and urged Iranians to stage more targeted protests on Saturday and Sunday.”Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centres,” Pahlavi said in a video message on social media.- ‘Big trouble’ -Pahlavi, whose father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted by the 1979 revolution and died in 1980, added he was also “preparing to return to my homeland” at a time that he believed was “very near”.Authorities say several members of the security forces have been killed, and Khamenei in a defiant speech on Friday lashed out at “vandals” and accused the United States of instigating the protests.State TV on Saturday broadcast images of funerals for several members of the security forces killed in the protests, including a large gathering in the southern city of Shiraz.Iran’s army said in a statement that it would “vigorously protect and safeguard national interests” against an “enemy seeking to disrupt order and peace”.National security council chief Ali Larijani said in comments broadcast late Friday that “we are in the middle of a war”, with “these incidents being directed from outside”.US President Donald Trump again refused on Friday to rule out new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June.”Iran’s in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” Trump said.

Syria’s army said it had completed a “security sweep” on Saturday of a neighbourhood in Aleppo where it clashed with Kurdish forces, who denied losing control of the area after defying calls to surrender.Government forces began striking the Sheikh Maqsud district overnight after a deadline elapsed for Kurdish fighters to withdraw during a ceasefire.AFP correspondents in Aleppo reported that gunfire in the area — the city’s last district still in Kurdish hands — continued into the morning.The army announced Saturday the “completion of a full security sweep of the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood”, while urging residents to stay in their homes due to the continued presence of Kurdish forces.A military source previously told the official SANA news agency that “a number of SDF members” — a reference to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces — had been arrested during the operation. But Kurdish forces later said claims that the government now controlled the vast majority of Sheikh Maqsud were “false and misleading”.They reported street clashes with “government militias”, and characterised the artillery fire as “systematic criminal conduct aimed at spreading terror”.In a statement posted by the defence ministry, Syria’s army called on “armed elements” to “surrender themselves and their weapons immediately”.The violence in Syria’s second city erupted after efforts to integrate the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration and military into the country’s new government stalled.Since the fighting began on Tuesday, at least 21 civilians have been killed, according to figures from both sides, and tens of thousands have fled Aleppo. The clashes, some of the most intense since Syria’s new Islamist authorities took power, present yet another challenge as the country struggles to reunify after ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.Both sides blamed the other for starting the violence in Aleppo.Early Friday, Syrian authorities announced a window for the Kurdish fighters to leave, but they refused.In response, Syria’s army warned it would renew strikes on military targets in Sheikh Maqsud and urged civilians to get out ahead of the district’s takeover by security forces.An AFP correspondent saw residents flee with belongings.- ‘Fierce’ resistance -Kurdish forces reported coming under artillery and drone attacks, and claimed on social media to be mounting a “fierce and ongoing resistance”.The army said three soldiers had been killed by Kurdish fighters, while state television accused them of launching drones at residential areas of Aleppo.A flight suspension at Aleppo airport was extended until late Saturday.The SDF controls swathes of Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast, and was key to the 2019 defeat of the Islamic State group. But Turkey, a close ally of neighbouring Syria’s new leaders, views its main component as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which agreed last year to end its four-decade armed struggle against Ankara.Turkey has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast, accused Syrian authorities of “choosing the path of war” by attacking Kurdish districts and of “seeking to put an end to the agreements that have been reached”.”We are committed to them and we are seeking to implement them,” she told AFP.- US mediation -The March integration agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, have stymied progress.Ahmad said “the United States is playing a mediating role… we hope they will apply pressure to reach an agreement”.US envoy Tom Barrack said Saturday morning he had discussed the situation with Jordan’s foreign minister, with both parties expressing a desire for “consolidating the ceasefire, ensuring the peaceful withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from Aleppo, and guaranteeing” civilians’ safety.They also called for the implementation of the integration agreement.Turkey, which borders Syria, has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric expressed alarm over the impact of the fighting on civilians and called on all parties “to swiftly return to negotiations”.Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the renewed clashes cast doubt on the government’s ability to sew the country back together after 14 years of civil war. “If the fighting escalates, international actors will wonder about Damascus’s capacity to govern Syria’s heterogeneous society,” he added.Syria’s authorities have committed to protecting minorities, but sectarian bloodshed rocked the Alawite and Druze communities last year.

Major Iranian cities were gripped overnight by new mass rallies denouncing the Islamic republic, as the son of the ousted shah urged protesters on Saturday to plan to seize city centres.The two weeks of protests have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed defiance and blamed the United States.Following the movement’s largest protests yet on Thursday, new demonstrations took place late Friday, according to images verified by AFP and other videos published on social media.This was despite an internet shutdown imposed by the authorities, with monitor Netblocks saying early Saturday that “metrics show the nationwide internet blackout remains in place at 36 hours”.In Tehran’s Saadatabad district, people banged pots and chanted anti-government slogans including “death to Khamenei” as cars honked in support, a video verified by AFP showed.Other images disseminated on social media and by Persian-language television channels based outside Iran showed similar large protests elsewhere in the capital, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad, Tabriz in the north and the holy city of Qom.In the western city of Hamedan, a man was shown waving a shah-era Iranian flag featuring the lion and the sun amid fires and people dancing.In the Pounak district of northern Iran, people were shown dancing round a fire in the middle of a highway, while in the Vakilabad district of Mashhad, a city home to one of the holiest shrines in Shiite Islam, people marched down an avenue chanting “death to Khamenei”. It was not possible to immediately verify the videos.- ‘Big trouble’ -Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah, hailed the “magnificent” turnout on Friday and urged Iranians to stage more targeted protests this Saturday and Sunday.”Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centres,” Pahlavi said in a video message on social media.Pahlavi, whose father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted by the 1979 revolution and died in 1980, added he was also “preparing to return to my homeland” at a time that he believed was “very near”.Activists have expressed concern that the internet shutdown could mask repression by authorities, and the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has said at least 51 people have been killed in the crackdown so far.Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi warned on Friday that security forces could be preparing to commit a “massacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout”.Authorities say several members of the security forces have been killed, and Khamenei in a defiant speech on Friday lashed out at “vandals” and vowed the Islamic republic would “not back down”.He blamed the US for stoking the unrest in comments echoed by several other Iranian officials.US President Donald Trump again refused on Friday to rule out new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June.”Iran’s in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” Trump said.Asked about his message to Iran’s leaders, Trump said: “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”

Syria’s army said it had completed a “security sweep” on Saturday of a neighbourhood in Aleppo where it clashed with Kurdish forces, though shelling could still be heard following calls for fighters to surrender themselves and their weapons.Government forces began striking the Sheikh Maqsud district overnight after the Kurdish fighters defied a deadline to withdraw during a temporary ceasefire.In the morning, the army announced the “completion of a full security sweep of the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood”, while urging residents to stay in their homes due to the continued presence of Kurdish forces.AFP correspondents in Aleppo said shelling in the area continued even after the announcement.A military source previously told the official SANA news agency that “a number of SDF members” — a reference to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces — had been arrested during the operation. In a statement posted by the Ministry of Defence, Syria’s army said “the only remaining option for the armed elements in the Sheikh Maqsud area of Aleppo is to surrender themselves and their weapons immediately”.The violence in Syria’s second city erupted after efforts to integrate the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration and military into the country’s new government stalled.Since the start of the fighting on Tuesday, at least 21 civilians have been killed, according to figures from both sides, and tens of thousands have fled Aleppo. The clashes, some of the most intense since Syria’s new Islamist authorities took power, present yet another challenge as the country struggles to reunify after ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.Both sides blamed the other for starting the violence in Aleppo.Early Friday, Syrian authorities announced a window for the Kurdish fighters to leave, but they refused to “surrender” and vowed to defend their districts.In response, Syria’s army warned it would renew strikes on military targets in Sheikh Maqsud and urged civilians to get out ahead of the district’s takeover by security forces.An AFP correspondent saw residents laden with belongings fleeing before the two-hour humanitarian corridor closed.- ‘Fierce’ resistance -Kurdish forces reported coming under artillery and drone attacks, and claimed in a post on social media to be mounting a “fierce and ongoing resistance”.The army said three soldiers had been killed by Kurdish fighters, while state television accused them of launching drones at residential areas of Aleppo.A flight suspension at Aleppo airport was extended until late Saturday.The SDF controls swathes of Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast, and was key to the defeat of the Islamic State group in 2019. But Turkey — a close ally of Syria’s new leaders — views its main component as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which agreed last year to end its four-decade armed struggle against Ankara.Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast, accused Syrian authorities of “choosing the path of war” by attacking Kurdish districts and of “seeking to put an end to the agreements that have been reached”.”We are committed to them and we are seeking to implement them,” she told AFP.- US mediation -The March integration agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, have stymied progress.Ahmad said that “the United States is playing a mediating role… we hope they will apply pressure to reach an agreement”.A diplomatic source told AFP that US envoy Tom Barrack was headed to Damascus.Barrack said in a statement Saturday morning that he had discussed the situation with Jordan’s foreign minister, with both parties expressing a desire for “consolidating the ceasefire, ensuring the peaceful withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from Aleppo, and guaranteeing” civilians’ safety.They also called for the implementation of the integration agreement.Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometre (550-mile) border with Syria, has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed the situation in a call with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said he was determined to “end the illegal armed presence” in Aleppo, according to his office.UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric expressed alarm over the impact of the fighting on civilians and called on all parties “to swiftly return to negotiations to ensure the full implementation of the 10 March agreement”. Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the renewed clashes cast doubt on the government’s ability to gain the trust of minority factions and sew the country back together after 14 years of civil war. “If the fighting escalates, international actors will wonder about Damascus’s capacity to govern Syria’s heterogeneous society,” he added.Syria’s authorities have committed to protecting minorities, but sectarian bloodshed rocked the Alawite and Druze communities last year.

Syria’s army said its operation in a Kurdish neighbourhood of Aleppo was nearing completion early Saturday and urged fighters from the minority to surrender themselves and their weapons.Government forces began striking the Sheikh Maqsud district overnight after the Kurdish fighters defied a deadline to withdraw during a temporary ceasefire.A military source told the official SANA news agency that the combing operation in Sheikh Maqsud was “more than 90 percent” complete, and that “a number of SDF members” had been arrested. In a statement posted by the Ministry of Defence, Syria’s army said “the only remaining option for the armed elements in the Sheikh Maqsud area of Aleppo is to surrender themselves and their weapons immediately”.The violence in Syria’s second city erupted after efforts to integrate the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration and military into the country’s new government stalled.Since the start of the fighting on Tuesday, at least 21 civilians have been killed, according to figures from both sides, and tens of thousands have fled Aleppo. The clashes, some of the most intense since Syria’s new Islamist authorities took power, present yet another challenge as the country struggles to reunify after ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.Both sides blame the other for starting the violence.Early Friday, Syrian authorities announced a six-hour window for the Kurdish fighters to leave, but they instead refused to “surrender” and vowed to defend their districts.In response, Syria’s army warned it would renew strikes on military targets in Sheikh Maqsud and urged civilians to get out ahead of the district’s takeover by security forces.An AFP correspondent saw residents laden with belongings fleeing before the two-hour humanitarian corridor closed.- ‘Fierce’ resistance -Kurdish forces reported coming under artillery and drone attacks and claimed in a post on social media to be mounting a “fierce and ongoing resistance”.The army said three soldiers had been killed by Kurdish forces, while state television accused them of launching drones on residential areas of Aleppo.A flight suspension at Aleppo airport was extended until late Saturday.The SDF controls swathes of Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast, and was key to the defeat of the Islamic State group in 2019. But Ankara views its main component as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which agreed last year to end its four-decade armed struggle against Turkey.Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast, accused Syria’s authorities of “choosing the path of war” by attacking Kurdish districts and of “seeking to put an end to the agreements that have been reached”.”We are committed to them and we are seeking to implement them,” she told AFP.- US pressure? -The March integration agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, have stymied progress.Ahmad said that “the United States is playing a mediating role… we hope they will apply pressure to reach an agreement”.A diplomatic source told AFP that US envoy Tom Barrack was headed to Damascus.Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometre (550-mile) border with Syria, has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed the situation in a call with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said he was determined to “end the illegal armed presence” in the city, a Syrian presidency statement said.UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric expressed alarm over the impact of the fighting on civilians and called on all parties “to swiftly return to negotiations to ensure the full implementation of the 10 March agreement”. Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the renewed clashes cast doubt on the government’s ability to gain the trust of minority factions and sow the country back together after 14 years of civil war. “If the fighting escalates, international actors will wonder about Damascus’s capacity to govern Syria’s heterogeneous society,” he added.Syria’s authorities have committed to protecting minorities, but sectarian bloodshed rocked the Alawite and Druze communities last year.burs-str-lb/tc

Iranians took to the streets in new protests Friday to press the biggest movement against the Islamic republic in more than three years, as authorities sustained an internet blackout as part of a crackdown that has left dozens dead.On Friday, US President Donald Trump said it looked like Iran’s leaders were “in big trouble” and repeated an earlier threat of military strikes if peaceful protesters are killed.”It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” Trump said.Protests have taken place across Iran for 13 days in a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, with growing calls for the end of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, which ousted the pro-Western shah.In Tehran’s northern Sa’adat Abad district, people banged pots and chanted slogans deriding supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as cars honked in support, a video verified by AFP showed.Other social media images showed similar protests elsewhere in Tehran, while videos published by Persian language television channels based outside Iran showed large numbers taking part in new protests in the eastern city of Mashhad, Tabriz in the north and the holy city of Qom.These protests followed giant demonstrations on Thursday that were the biggest in Iran since the 2022-2023 protest movement sparked by the custody death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the dress rules for women.The rallies came as internet monitor NetBlocks said authorities imposed a “nationwide internet shutdown” for the last 24 hours that was violating the rights of Iranians and “masking regime violence”.Amnesty International said the “blanket internet shutdown” aims to “hide the true extent of the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law they are carrying out to crush” the protests.Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, raising a previous toll of 45 issued the day earlier, said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, have been killed by security forces and hundreds more injured.In a joint statement Friday, the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada and the European Union issued a strong condemnation and called on Iran to “immediately end the use of excessive and lethal force by its security forces”.”Too many lives — over 40 to date — have already been lost.”- ‘Stained with blood’ -In his first comments on the escalating protests since January 3, Khamenei on Friday called the demonstrators “vandals” and “saboteurs”.Khamenei, in a speech broadcast on state TV, said US President Donald Trump’s hands “are stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians”, in apparent reference to Israel’s June war against the Islamic republic, which the US supported and joined with strikes of its own.He predicted the “arrogant” US leader would be “overthrown” like the imperial dynasty that ruled Iran up to the 1979 revolution.”Everyone knows the Islamic republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people, it will not back down in the face of saboteurs.”Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on a visit to Lebanon on Friday accused Washington and Israel of “directly intervening” to try to “transform the peaceful protests into divisive and violent ones”, which a US State Department spokesperson called “delusional”.- ‘Red line’ -The son of the shah of Iran ousted by the 1979 Islamic Revolution, US-based Reza Pahlavi, urged Trump to intervene to help the protesters, adding “the people will be on the streets again in an hour”.But judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei warned that punishment of “rioters” would be “decisive, the maximum and without any legal leniency”.The intelligence branch of the Revolutionary Guards, the security force entrusted with ensuring the preservation of the Islamic republic, said the “continuation of this situation is unacceptable” and protecting the revolution was its “red line”.Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, who lives in exile, warned security forces could be preparing to commit a “massacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout”.The leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Germany on Friday issued a joint statement condemning what they described as the “killing of protestors” in Iran, urging the authorities to “exercise restraint”.Meanwhile, Iranian state television on Friday broadcast images of thousands of people attending counter-protests and brandishing slogans in favour of the authorities in some Iranian cities.The Haalvsh rights group, which focuses on the Baluch Sunni minority in the southeast, said security forces fired on protesters in Zahedan, the main city of Sistan-Baluchistan province, after Friday prayers, causing an unspecified number of casualties.Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint statement that since the start of the protests on December 28, security forces “have unlawfully used rifles, shotguns loaded with metal pellets, water cannon, tear gas and beatings to disperse, intimidate and punish largely peaceful protesters”.