Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced that drug smuggling attempts continue across the Syrian border, according to the Arab World News Agency.
Speaking at the virtual ministerial meeting to Launch the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drugs in Washington, Safadi said that Jordan confiscated over 65 million Captagon pills during the past two years.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the virtual Ministerial-level meeting to provide the foundation to combine efforts and prevent the production and trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs, identify emerging drug trends and use patterns, and respond to their public health impacts.
Safadi said that forming the coalition is essential in addressing the escalating threat of industrial drugs.
He called for cooperation in providing border protection technology and exchanging intelligence information in confronting the drug threat, which requires a joint international effort.
Last month, the Jordanian Armed Forces announced that it had shot down a drone carrying narcotics from Syrian territory.
Combating drug smuggling and dumping in the Jordanian market topped Jordan’s priorities in recent talks in Amman, with the participation of the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq.
In a statement after the meeting, Syria agreed to help prevent drug trafficking, work to identify drug traffickers and cooperate with Jordan and Iraq to end trafficking.
Last May, according to press reports, Jordan launched an air strike targeting the most prominent strongholds of drug smuggling and manufacturing in southern Syria, killing a Syrian drug smuggler.
Iran poses an unacceptable threat to the security of the partners in the Middle East and global trade, said British Minister of State for the Middle East Lord Tariq Ahmad.
According to the Arab News Agency, Ahmad tweeted that the UK would continue to work with the US and other members of the International Maritime Security Construct to “deter Iranian aggression and protect freedom of navigation.”
The US forces prevented two attempted commercial tanker seizures by the Iranian Navy earlier this week after the Iranians had opened fire in one of the incidents near the coast of Oman. Both of these incidents occurred in international waters.
The statement said that the US Navy received a distress call from Bahamian-flagged oil tanker Richmond Voyager while the ship was more than 20 miles off Muscat, Oman, and transiting international waters toward the Arabian Sea.
Another Iranian naval vessel had closed within one mile of Richmond Voyager while hailing the commercial tanker to stop.
An Iranian defense source denied the US Navy accusations.
In May, the US Fifth Fleet said the United States was working with allies and regional partners to increase the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling the Strait of Hormuz with partners following an uptick in Iranian merchant vessel seizures.
The increased force presence supports multinational efforts under the International Maritime Security Construct and bilaterally with partner nations to deter threats to commercial shipping and reassure regional mariners.
Ankara on Friday revealed that more than one million Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country, but Turkish authorities continue to deport Syrians who have not submitted all their documents for residency permits.
On Friday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement that more than one million Syrians have voluntarily returned to the cleared areas in northern Syria, including more than 470,000 who have returned to the Idlib region alone.
On the other hand, Syrian activists revealed that Turkish authorities deported on Thursday six Syrian families through the Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) border crossing north of Hasakah Governorate in northeast Syria.
The deportations of Syrians from Türkiye increased after the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 28. Since, Ankara authorities have become strict about residency conditions.
About 450 Syrians have been forcibly deported from Türkiye to Syria through Bab Al-Salama crossing in the last two weeks.
Separately, the Defense Ministry said Türkiye has carried out 320 operations and “neutralized” a total of 794 “terrorists” since Jan. 1.
Turkish forces are constantly launching operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, and are also targeting Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) sites in northern Syria, considered by Ankara as a proxy for the PKK and as the main Kurdish armed group in Syria.
The UN Security Council is to vote Monday on extending aid deliveries from Türkiye to Syria’s opposition-held northwest, with a resolution sponsored by Brazil and Switzerland calling for a 12-month extension and a rival Russia resolution limiting a renewal to just six months.
The delivery of aid to the area has increased significantly following the devastation caused by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that ravaged southern Türkiye and northwestern Syria on Feb. 8.
Syrian President Bashar Assad opened two additional crossing points from Türkiye to increase the flow of assistance to quake victims, and he extended their operation for three months in May until mid-August. But those crossings are not mentioned in either resolution.
The rival resolutions obtained Friday by The Associated Press virtually ensure that aid deliveries will continue through the main Bab al-Hawa crossing for at least six months.
Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom have been forced from their homes during the 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly a half million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. Hundreds of thousands of people in Idlib live in tent settlements and rely on aid that comes through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
The earthquake caused more than 4,500 deaths in northwest Syria and about 855,000 had their homes damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on June 29 that the conflict in Syria has pushed 90% of its people into poverty and that millions face cuts in food aid in July because of a funding shortfall.
He said the $5.4 billion UN humanitarian appeal for Syria — the world’s largest — is only 12% funded, meaning that emergency food aid for millions of Syrians could be cut by 40% this month. On Friday, he said the UN World Food Program needs $200 million to avoid the food cuts.
The Security Council initially authorized aid deliveries in 2014 from Türkiye, Iraq and Jordan through four crossing points into opposition-held areas in Syria. But over the years, Syria’s close ally Russia, backed by China, has reduced the authorized crossings to just Bab al-Hawa from Türkiye — and the mandate from a year to six months. The current six-month term expires Monday.
Gunmen from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were accused of attacking a remote town on Friday before going on a shooting and looting rampage that witnesses said “terrorized” its people.
For nearly three months, the RSF commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has fought the regular army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in a war that has claimed the lives of at least 3,000 people and displaced millions.
The RSF was “looting banks and public buildings” in Bara, 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, a witness in the town said, AFP reported.
“We’re being terrorized: they shoot and loot, and the army and police are nowhere to be seen,” said another resident, Abdelmohsen Ibrahim.
“Even if the army tries to come from El-Obeid, the RSF are in control of the El-Obeid-Bara road.”
El-Obeid, 350 kilometres south of Khartoum, is a strategic logistical and commercial hub, with an airport and huge warehouses for the storage of foodstuffs.
The fighting since April 15 has been centred on the capital Khartoum as well as North Kordofan and the vast western region of Darfur, where the United Nations has warned of possible “crimes against humanity”.
Residents on Friday reported continued armed clashes in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman across the Nile.
Witnesses also reported “air strikes in the area of the state broadcaster’s headquarters in Omdurman and anti-aircraft fire to repel” the raids.
Another witness reported an air strike on an RSF base in northern Khartoum.
Many civilians have accused the RSF of carrying out acts of violence against them, while also charging that the armed forces have done little to protect them.
Since the war erupted, the RSF has established bases in residential areas while the army has struggled to take advantage of its air superiority.
The RSF has been accused of forcing civilians out of their homes, seizing their vehicles, robbing them and raping women as they flee to neighbouring countries.
The current conflict has seen myriad successive truces agreed and systematically violated, amid mediation from international and African actors.
The east African regional bloc IGAD on Friday announced that a meeting of heads of state tasked with resolving Sudan’s crisis would be held in the Ethiopian capital Monday, the bloc’s spokesman Nour Mahmoud Sheikh al-Jumaa said.
An IGAD official told AFP on condition of anonymity that both Burhan and Daglo had been invited to the summit.
“They may attend or send high-level representatives,” the official said.
The bloc had previously announced the expansion of the mechanism to resolve Sudan’s crisis to include Ethiopia, alongside Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan.
As part of that arrangement, Kenya was announced as the chair of the quartet, drawing objections from Sudan’s foreign ministry which alleged that Nairobi had “adopted the positions of the RSF militia, sheltered its people and offered them various forms of support”.
One person was killed and several others were wounded Friday when a man opened fire at worshipers as they made their way out of the Akasha mosque in the eastern Lebanese town of Bar Elias.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the armed man opened fire at a group of people as they were leaving the mosque, killing one of them.
It added that as troops tried to detain the gunman, he opened fire at the force whose members fired back and wounded him. The gunman was being held in a hospital.
A Lebanese security source said the shooter was hit by three bullets.
Initial reports indicate the suspect suffers from psychological problems. Other reports said the attack was sparked by a personal dispute.
The man killed in the attack was identified as Lebanese citizen Ali Shibli, a school teacher.
Bekaa Governor Judge Kamal Abou Jaoude called on the security services, along with the municipal police and employees, to maintain public order in the town, and to provide the required assistance to support security forces when necessary.
The Governor also urged Bar Elias residents to “show the highest levels of awareness and responsibility.”
Iraq has opened an investigation into the suspected kidnapping of an Israeli-Russian academic after her disappearance in Baghdad, a government spokesman said.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University and fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, has been missing in Iraq for more than three months.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah of holding her, but the pro-Iran armed faction has implied it was not involved in her disappearance.
Kataeb Hezbollah is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), former paramilitaries that were integrated into Iraqi security forces in recent years.
Asked about her disappearance on television late Thursday, government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said “the Iraqi government is indeed conducting an official investigation”.
“Given the level of the case, its intricacies, there will be no official statement regarding this matter until the Iraqi government completes its official investigation and reaches conclusions,” he said.
“After that, there will be statements or announcements on official stances,” he told Al-Ahd station, which is close to the PMF.
Tsurkov had arrived in Baghdad “at the beginning of December 2022”, a Western diplomat in Iraq said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
The academic has not been active on Twitter, where she has almost 80,000 followers and describes herself as “passionate about human rights”, since March 21.
An Iraqi intelligence source said Tsurkov was kidnapped in Baghdad “at the beginning of Ramadan”, the Muslim fasting month which this year commenced on March 23.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu’s office said Tsurkov “is still alive and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being”.
She had travelled to Iraq “on her Russian passport at her own initiative pursuant to work on her doctorate and academic research on behalf of Princeton University in the US”, it added.
On her personal website, Tsurkov said she wanted to “understand and convey” the views and experiences of people in the Middle East.
In a statement on Thursday evening, Kataeb Hezbollah said it was doing everything it could to uncover the fate of “Zionist hostage or hostages” in the country.
Russian fighter jets flew dangerously close to several US drone aircraft over Syria again Thursday, setting off flares and forcing the MQ-9 Reapers to take evasive maneuvers, the Air Force said.
It was the second time in 24 hours that Russia has harassed US drones there.
“We urge Russian forces in Syria to cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, head of US Air Forces Central Command, said in a statement.
Col. Michael Andrews, Air Forces Central Command spokesman, said “the Russian harassment, including close fly-bys, by one SU-34 and one SU-35 and deploying flares directly into the MQ-9, lasted almost an hour. So it wasn’t a quick fly-by, but much more of a sustained and unprofessional interaction.”
US Air Forces Central released videos of the two separate incidents that took place Wednesday and Thursday. In the first incident, which took place about 10:40 a.m. local time Wednesday in Northwest Syria, Russian SU-35 fighters closed in on a Reaper, and one of the Russian pilots moved their aircraft in front of a drone and engaged the SU-35’s afterburner, which greatly increases its speed and air pressure.
The jet blast from the afterburner can potentially damage the Reaper’s electronics, and Grynkewich said it reduced the drone operator’s ability to safely operate the aircraft.
Later a number of the so-called parachute flares moved into the drone’s flight path. The flares are attached to parachutes.
In the second incident, which took place over Northwest Syria around 9:30 a.m. Thursday local time, “Russian aircraft dropped flares in front of the drones and flew dangerously close, endangering the safety of all aircraft involved,” Grynkewich said.
The drones were not armed with weapons and are commonly used for reconnaissance missions.
Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of US Central Command, said in a statement that Russia’s violation of ongoing efforts to clear the airspace over Syria “increases the risk of escalation or miscalculation.”
The French military also said that two of its fighter jets on patrol over the Iraq-Syria border area were forced to maneuver “to control the risk of accident” involving a Russian Sukhoi SU-35 warplane on Thursday.
The Russian aircraft had engaged in “non-professional interaction” with two of France’s Rafale planes deployed to the region as part of “Operation Chammal”, which seeks to contain ISIS group in Iraq and Syria, the French military said.
Israeli security forces on Friday killed two Palestinians who carried out a shooting attack against police this week, Israel’s military said.
Israeli forces raided the occupied West Bank town of Nablus, the military said, and “both terrorists were killed following an exchange of fire.”
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli troops had cordoned off a house where the two had holed up and that they had been “executed”.
The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a major faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization, claimed the two men as members and said they had carried out the attack on Israeli police.
Palestinian health officials reported a casualty in a separate incident near the city of Ramallah, when violence erupted at an anti-settlement protest. Palestinian residents said Jewish settlers arrived and a stone-throwing clash ensued. Israeli soldiers at the scene opened fire, they said.
One Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire, but the exact circumstances were unclear, according to Palestinian officials. An Israeli army spokesperson was checking the report.
Most countries view Israel’s settlements on occupied land as illegal. Israel disputes this.
Friday’s violence followed a two-day Israeli operation earlier this week in the densely populated Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, which has been a flashpoint in a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has convulsed the West Bank for more than a year.
The Israeli military said it had targeted infrastructure and weapons depots of Palestinian armed factions in Jenin in the operation.
Twelve Palestinians, most confirmed as militant fighters, were killed and around 100 wounded in the incursion that began with late-night drone strikes, followed by a sweep involving more than 1,000 troops.
The raid damaged homes, left a trail of wrecked streets and burned-out cars and prompted the evacuation of thousands of people from the refugee camp. Israel says all the Palestinians killed were combatants. One Israeli soldier was killed.
The Jenin operation was the most intense in two decades, said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that provides public services in Gaza and the West Bank.
UNRWA said it had set up a temporary healthcare facility because a part of its health center was destroyed, and appealed for foreign aid to help rebuild damaged buildings.
The Israeli army during its operation had said it struck a militant command center in Jenin that was situated next to an UNRWA school and medical center.
After a seven-year hiatus, Sudan is moving towards restoring its diplomatic relations with Iran.
On the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement meetings in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sudan’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Sadeq Ali met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to urgently discuss the restoration of severed relations between the two countries.
Sudan abruptly severed its diplomatic ties with Iran in January 2016, during the tenure of former President Omar al-Bashir.
At that time, it was stated that the decision to cut ties with Iran was in response to the brutal attack on the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad.
However, Bashir had already laid the groundwork for this decision in 2014 when he ordered the closure of Hussainiyas and the Iranian Cultural Center in Khartoum.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement on Thursday that Sadeq Ali had met with Amir-Abdollahian.
According to the statement, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the prompt restoration of relations between the two nations and the significance of returning these relations to their previous state.
This restoration would allow both countries to capitalize on cooperative opportunities across diverse fields.
For his part, Sadeq Ali expressed appreciation for the humanitarian aid provided by the Iranian Red Crescent and extended congratulations on the reinstatement of Iran’s relations with Saudi Arabia.
The Foreign Ministry statement mentioned that Sadeq Ali discussed with his Iranian counterpart the developments in Sudan and informed him about the Sudanese army’s ability to “swiftly resolve the rebellion.”
He emphasized that the delay in resolving the situation was due to the presence of rebels within government facilities and civilian homes. Sadeq Ali also conveyed that the Sudanese army is not inclined to adopt a scorched-earth policy.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry quoted the top Iranian diplomat expressing regret over the situation in Sudan.
Amir-Abdollahian stated that his government considers the ongoing events “an internal matter” and emphasized that the solution should come from the Sudanese themselves, without any external interference.
Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of the executive committee of the PLO and the central committee of the Fatah movement, has said that President Mahmoud Abbas will invite the general secretaries of the factions to attend an emergency meeting in Cairo.
The Palestinian leadership chose Egypt as a location for the meeting to bring all factions together, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat in remarks published Friday that all Palestinian factions will be invited, saying Abbas would attend the meeting as “the president of the Palestinian people.”
Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziyad Abu Amr had previously confirmed Egypt’s approval to host a meeting of the secretaries-general of the Palestinian factions.
He added that the meeting was aimed at “agreeing on a comprehensive national vision and uniting the Palestinian ranks.”
The Palestinian official also stressed “the importance of the role played by the brotherly Arab Republic of Egypt in defending the rights of the Palestinian people.”
The Palestinian factions, including Hamas, did not immediately comment on the invitation, which would be sent in light of differences that emerged in the West Bank between the Fatah and Hamas movements, after mourners attacked members of the Fatah Central Committee in the Jenin cemetery on Wednesday.
Videos spread on social media showed mourners interrupting a speech by Abbas’ deputy, Mahmoud Al-Aloul, before the situation became tense and some chanted for the expulsion of Palestinian officials.
Israeli newspapers headlined that the Palestinians in Jenin had expelled Abbas’ deputy. Fatah accused Hamas of being behind the incident, which caused widespread tension and controversy that spread to social media, before gunmen from Fatah in Nablus, in the northern West Bank, forced the owners of Hamas shops to close their businesses.
Al-Ahmad told Voice of Palestine radio on Thursday that the leadership of the Hamas movement has launched a campaign to stop the meeting from taking place. He described the incident at the Jenin camp as being “consistent with [Hamas’] approach of betrayal and shedding Palestinian blood.”
On Thursday, the Fatah Central Committee issued a statement, saying that it would “not allow those with external agendas to tamper with the unity of our people, and will not hesitate to cut off the roots of sedition.”
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