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A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 10 March 2018
Turkey's war on Kurds unsettles fronts in northern Syria

By PHILIP ISSA Afrin, in the Kurdish heart
Associated Press and mindset, is an insepa-
BEIRUT (AP) — Turkey's war rable part of Rojava, Syrian
on a Syrian Kurdish militia Kurdistan," said Civiroglu.
that is closely aligned with Ahmed, a native of Afrin,
the United States is forcing said the Kurds have been
the group to give up posi- "astonished" by the "global
tions against Islamic State silence" in the face of the
militants in the Syrian desert Turkish campaign.
to defend against the ad- Turkish President Recep
vancing Turkish troops. Tayyip Erdogan's goals are
Ankara's go-it-alone cam- unclear: the Kurds control
paign against the Kurdish a wide swath of northern
People's Protection Units, Syria, and his ambitions
known as the YPG, in a re- may be tempered by the
gion called Afrin is reshap- possibility of reigniting a full-
ing military alignments in blown Kurdish insurgency
northern Syria and forcing inside his own country.
the U.S. to pause its mop-up But his campaign has
operations against pockets strained the relationship
of the Islamic State group. between the Kurds and
But the U.S. is not support- Washington, something
ing the defense of Afrin, that Erdogan can point to
and the Kurds are looking This photo shows a convoy of militiamen loyal to the Syrian government on their way to aid the as a success after three
to Damascus for help, de- Kurds against Turkish forces, in the northern city of Afrin, Syria. Turkey’s shattering war on a Syrian years of growing affinity
Kurdish militia that is closely aligned with the United States is forcing the group to give up positions
spite the Syrian govern- against Islamic State militants in the Syrian desert to defend against advancing Turkish troops. between the two over An-
ment's pariah status in the (SANA via AP) kara's strenuous objections,
international community. said Nicholas Danforth, a
Washington and many forces to defend Afrin. the Kurdish self-administra- frontation with NATO mem- Turkey analyst at the Wash-
Western nations hold Presi- The move gives Assad par- tion unit of northern Syria, ber Turkey, but White House ington-based Bipartisan
dent Bashar Assad's gov- ticular leverage over the which the Kurds call Ro- officials may have underes- Policy Center.
ernment chiefly responsible Kurdish self-administration java. timated the Kurds' determi- Turkey considers the YPG to
for the civil war that has at a time when global pow- "We are ready for dialogue nation to defend Afrin, says be a "terrorist organization"
engulfed the country for ers are jostling for influence with the regime and to re- Mutlu Civiroglu, a Kurdish and an extension of the
nearly seven years and still in Syria. solve our issues with them," analyst in Washington. outlawed Kurdistan Work-
shows little sign of abating. "Afrin is in need of whoever she said. "So many major political ers' Party or PKK, which has
To date, Damascus is the can defend it," said Ilham The U.S. is naturally hesitant and military leaders of the fought for Kurdish autono-
only major player to send Ahmed, a senior official in to enter into a military con- Kurds are from Afrin, and my in Turkey.q

Aid delivered to Syria's Ghouta amid renewed violence

By ZEINA KARAM managed to reach areas via the Wafideen safe cor-
BASSEM MROUE controlled by the govern- ridor designated by the
BEIRUT (AP) — An aid con- ment — the first to leave government. The channel
voy crossed into the em- the rebel-held district since has been reporting since
battled rebel-held suburbs a new wave of violence last week that rebels have
of Damascus Friday, deliv- broke out last month. prevented civilians from
ering desperately needed State TV showed 13 beard- leaving. It added that in-
aid despite heavy fighting ed men it said had earlier surgents targeted the Wafi-
that broke out "extremely handed themselves over to deen corridor on Friday
close" to the convoy and authorities boarding a bus. afternoon with bullets and
renewed airstrikes by the It added that they were mortar shells. The govern-
Syrian government. searched by troops be- ment and its Russian back-
The International Com- fore being taken to where ers, determined to wrest
mittee of the Red Cross journalists and paramedics eastern Ghouta from rebel
said the close-range fight- were gathering near the control after seven years
ing came despite security This photo shows trucks convoy of the Syrian Red Crescent bus. of war, recently intensified
guarantees from the par- which carry humanitarian aid to be distributed in Douma, east- In the report, Russian troops the shelling and bombard-
ties involved in the con- ern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria, Friday March 9, 2018. were seen aboard the bus. ment to clear the way for
flict that humanitarian aid Relief workers used a brief lull in Damascus' embattled rebel- Russia, a main backer of its troops to advance on
held suburbs to try and deliver remaining aid left over from a
could enter the town of mission earlier in the week but were interrupted by renewed vio- President Bashar Assad had the ground. Around 900
Douma, in eastern Ghouta. lence shorty after their team entered eastern Ghouta on Friday. offered a safe passage to people have been killed in
"We were taken aback by (Syrian Red Crescent via AP) opposition fighters who sur- the past three weeks of re-
the fighting that broke out render in eastern Ghouta. lentless bombardment.
despite guarantees from Mardini. Mardini said. "Aid workers State TV on Friday also re- It added that 15 of the 20
the parties involved in this "As more aid is needed in should not have to risk their ported that "dozens of ci- hospitals and clinics that
conflict that humanitar- the coming days, it is abso- lives to deliver assistance." vilians" would likely get out MSF supports have been
ians could enter Douma, in lutely critical that these as- Late Friday, Syrian state TV of eastern Ghouta, in ad- hit by bombing or shelling,
Eastern Ghouta," said ICRC surances be renewed and said a group of opposition dition to 13 gunmen who with varying degrees of
regional director Robert respected in the future," fighters and their families had turned themselves in, damage.q