Region

IDLIB, Syria — US forces attacked extremist leaders in Syria Saturday, the Pentagon said, in what a battlefield monitor called a missile strike that left at least 40 dead.

The US Defence Department said the attack targeted leaders of Al Qaeda in Syria, north of Idlib. It did not say what kind of weapon was used or give any details.

The missiles targeted leaders of extremist groups and allied factions near Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian government air strikes on the Idlib region had stopped on Saturday, after the regime agreed to a Russia-backed ceasefire following four months of deadly bombardment, the monitor said.

But "a missile attack targeted a meeting held by the leaders of Hurras Al Deen, Ansar Al Tawhid and other allied groups inside a training camp" near Idlib city, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the observatory. 

The attack killed at least 40 extremist leaders, the Britain based monitor said.

The US Central Command said in a statement that the attack targeted leaders of Al Qaeda in Syria (AQ-S) "responsible for attacks threatening US citizens, our partners and innocent civilians. Additionally, the removal of this facility will further degrade their ability to conduct future attacks and destabilise the region".

An AFP correspondent saw clouds of black smoke rising over the area after blasts rocked the extremist stronghold.

Ambulances rushed to the site of the attack, which was closed off to journalists, he said. 

It was not immediately clear if the missiles were launched from war planes or positions on the ground, the monitor said.

CENTCOM declined to say what kind of weaponry was used.

The truce that came into effect on Saturday is the second such agreement between the Syrian regime and extremists since an August 1 ceasefire deal covering the Idlib region broke down only days after going into effect. 

Russia-backed regime forces have been pressing an offensive against the major opposition stronghold in Idlib since April. 

But Russia and Damascus are not the only players with a history of strike activity in the area. 

On July 1 the United States said it had carried out a strike on Hurras Al Deen in northwestern Syria, in its first such operation there in two years.

Al Qaeda-linked Hurras Al Deen was established in February 2018 and has some 1,800 fighters, including non-Syrians, according to the observatory.

The group and its ally Ansar Al Tawhid both operate in the Idlib region and are members of a joint extremist operation room that also includes Al Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS).

Most of Idlib province and parts of neighbouring Aleppo and Latakia provinces are controlled by HTS.

Syrian state news agency SANA on Saturday said the government agreed to the Idlib ceasefire deal, which Russia said aimed “to stabilise the situation” in the anti-government bastion.

But the army “reserves the right to respond to violations” by extremists, SANA added, citing a Syrian military source.

The Idlib region is home to some three million people, nearly half of whom have been displaced from other parts of Syria.

The Idlib region is supposed to be protected from a massive government offensive by a Turkish-Russian deal struck in September 2018 that was never fully implemented as extremists refused to withdraw from a planned demilitarised cordon.

Turkey backs rebels in northwestern Syria.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces control around 60 per cent of territory, has vowed to reclaim the rest of the country, including Idlib. 

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 370,000 people and driven millions from their homes since it started in 2011.

ADEN — Southern Yemeni separatists said they arrested dozens of government loyalists in Aden on Saturday after President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s forces withdrew from the port city following air strikes by the United Arab Emirates.

The outbreak of hostilities between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and the UAE-backed separatists is the latest twist in a multi-faceted war in Yemen pitting several factions and armies against each other.

The separatists and Hadi’s government are nominal allies in a Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement in a broader regional conflict.

On Thursday, UAE warplanes bombed Yemeni government forces in Aden, shifting the balance of power in a month-long battle between the separatists and Hadi for control of the city and southern Yemeni provinces. Hadi’s forces withdrew from Aden after the air strikes, which killed at least 45 soldiers.

After the pull-out, forces of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) raided homes and businesses, arrested “scores” of pro-government activists, politicians and clerics, accusing them of “terrorism”, STC officials and witnesses said.

On Saturday, an edgy calm returned to Aden but separatist fighters were patrolling the streets and seen carrying out more arrests across the city, four residents told Reuters.

Hadi’s government said the arrests were “politically motivated”. An STC security source denied this, saying dozens of “terrorists and outlaws” had been rounded up.

Though a key part of the anti-Houthi coalition, the UAE has been hostile to Hadi as his government includes Islamists seen as close to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Gulf state has sought to neutralise cross the Middle East and North Africa.

Abu Dhabi has armed and trained tens of thousands of separatists who seek to restore the South Yemen republic which merged with the north in 1990.

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed six separatist fighters on the outskirts of Aden on Friday in an attack claimed by Daesh militants.

Saudi Arabia has called for a summit to end the conflict over Aden, which has thwarted UN efforts to end a war that has driven Yemen to the brink of famine and is seen as a proxy struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia for regional dominance.

The Saudi-led, Sunni Muslim coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the Houthis, who ousted Hadi’s government from power in the capital Sanaa in northern Yemen. The conflict has been largely stalemated on the ground since then.

KHARTOUM — Sudan's ex-president Omar Al Bashir was charged in court Saturday with illegal acquisition and use of foreign funds, offences that could land him behind bars for more than a decade. 

Bashir, who was deposed in April following months of mass protests against his rule, appeared in court in a black metal cage wearing the country's traditional white attire and turban. 

Judge Al Sadiq Abdelrahman outlined the charges at what was the third session of the trial, saying cash in multiple currencies was uncovered at his home.

Authorities had “seized 6.9 million euros, $351,770 and 5.7 million Sudanese pounds at [Bashir’s] home which he acquired and used illegally”, said Abdelrahman.

Dozens of Bashir’s relatives attended Saturday’s session, chanting “Allahu Akbar [God is Greatest]” as he entered the courtroom pointing his index finger to the sky.

‘Donations’ 

Bashir failed to specify when he received the funds, but said he accepted them as part of strategic relations with Saudi Arabia. 

He said the funds “were not used for private interests but as donations” to support individuals and entities including wheat import companies, a university and a hospital.

Sudan has in recent years played a key role in supporting the regional interests of Saudi Arabia and its allies, with Bashir overseeing a major foreign policy shift that saw Khartoum break its decades-old ties with Shiite Iran. 

His administration sided with Riyadh against Tehran in part by providing troops for the Saudi-led coalition fighting against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen’s ongoing war.

“Relations with Saudi witnessed episodes of tensions [over the years]... but they developed greatly, especially as Bin Salman rose to power,” Bashir said.

According to Judge Abdelrahman, Sudanese law punishes illegal acquisition of wealth by up to 10 years in jail while illicit use of foreign funds carries up to three years. 

Bashir’s defence lawyers insisted their client was “not guilty” and said witnesses would be brought before the court.

“We have witnesses, proof and documents that we will present to court to refute these charges,” said lawyer Ahmed Ibrahim Al Taher. 

After two and a half hours, the judge ordered that the trial be adjourned until September 7.

Bashir was escorted to and from the Khartoum courthouse by a convoy of military vehicles.

Dozens of his supporters gathered outside waving Sudanese flags. 

Afer he was deposed, Bashir was transferred to the capital’s maximum-security Kober prison, where thousands of political prisoners were held during his 30 years in power. 

Sudan has embarked on a transition to civilian rule following a power-sharing deal signed on August 17 by protest leaders and the generals who ousted Bashir.

A civilian-military ruling body is now at the helm to steer the country through a three-year transition period.

Protesters have called for Bashir to face justice not just over corruption but for his role in the country’s deadly conflicts and for stifling dissent. 

Bashir is wanted by The Hague-based International Criminal Court over his role in mass killings in the western region of Darfur.

More than 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced in the conflict which erupted in 2003, according to the United Nations. 

But the country’s military generals rejected his extradition. 

Sudan’s prosecutor general has said Bashir would also be charged over the killings during the anti-regime protests which eventually led to his ouster.

ANKARA — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday threatened to launch an operation in north-eastern Syria if Turkish troops do not control a “safe zone” that Ankara and Washington had agreed to set up.

The US-Turkey deal for a safe zone agreed earlier this month is intended to manage tensions between Turkey and US-backed Kurdish forces over the border in war-torn Syria that Ankara brands terrorists.

“We do not have too much time or patience regarding the safe zone. Within a few weeks if our soldiers do not start to actually control this area, there will be no other option left but to implement our own operation plans,” Erdogan said during a speech in Istanbul.

Erdogan previously said US President Donald Trump had promised the “safe zone” would be 32-kilometre wide.

A joint operations centre has been set up and joint patrols are expected to start soon.

Since last year, Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to launch an assault east of the Euphrates River against the YPG, which fought against the Daesh group.

Ankara says the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia is a “terrorist” offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara, the US and the European Union.

Turkey previously conducted cross-border operations in northern Syria supporting Syrian rebels in 2016 against Daesh and in early 2018 against the YPG.

TUNIS — Tunisia’s electoral commission on Saturday announced a final list of 26 presidential candidates to stand in a September 15 poll to elect a successor to late leader Beji Caid Essebsi.

“There are 26 candidates for the 2019 presidential election,” electoral commission [ISIE] head Nabil Baffoun told a press conference. 

The poll was brought forward from November following Essebsi’s death in July.

He had been elected in the wake of the 2011 revolt that overthrew former dictator Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali.

Candidates to have been given the green light include Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, interim parliamentary speaker Abdelfattah Mourou and former defence minister Abdelkrim Zbidi.

They also include media magnate Nabil Karoui, despite his arrest on August 23 for alleged money laundering.

According to Baffoun, even convicted candidates can take part as long as the verdict against them does not specifically say they are banned from running in an election.

Karoui had been charged with money laundering in early July shortly after stating his intention to stand in the polls, but has remained a leading candidate.

The final list includes only two women — former tourism minister Salma Elloumi and Abir Moussi, who heads a group formed from the remnants of Ben Ali’s ruling party.

Campaigning began Saturday abroad and will run from September 2 to 13 in Tunisia.

Tunisia has been praised as a rare case of democratic transition after the Arab Spring uprisings. 

But it has struggled with repeated terror attacks, along with inflation and unemployment that have hit Chahed’s popularity. 

KHARTOUM — Hundreds of Sudanese took to the streets on Friday to demand answers on the whereabouts of demonstrators missing since the deadly dispersal of a protest camp in June. 

The rallies, held in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, coincided with the International Day of the Disappeared.

At least 11 people were reported missing after the violent June 3 crackdown on a sit-in outside army headquarters in Khartoum, lawyers linked to the protest movement said earlier this month. 

“We are calling for identifying the location of people missing since June 3,” protester Moataz Mowaia Mohamed told AFP. 

“We also want an independent investigation into their cases.” 

Protesters at one Khartoum rally carried pictures of the missing. 

“I will remain steadfast, how can I go back [home] when I have someone missing,” protesters chanted collectively. 

Lawyer Shawki Yacoub told AFP that other protesters may also have gone missing since the crackdown, but said their cases would need further documentation.

Demonstrators launched the protest camp outside the army complex on April 6 as part of nationwide rallies calling for the overthrow of veteran leader Omar Al Bashir. 

Days later, the generals ousted Bashir but the protesters kept up their sit-in to demand the new army rulers cede power to civilians.

At least 127 people were killed in the crackdown, according to medics linked to the protest movement. 

Official figures put the day’s death toll at 61. 

This month Sudan embarked on a transition to civilian rule following a power-sharing deal signed between protest leaders and the generals.

On August 21, the country swore in a joint civilian-military ruling body and a prime minister as part of a roadmap to guide the country through a three-year transitional period. 

ADEN — Yemen's government Thursday accused the UAE of launching air strikes against its troops in the interim capital Aden in support of separatists who say they have regained control of the southern city.

The United Arab Emirates has trained and supported secessionists who seek an independent southern Yemen, although it is a key pillar in a Saudi-led military coalition backing the Yemeni government against Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.

"The Yemeni government condemns the Emirati air strikes against government forces in the interim capital Aden and in Zinjibar, which resulted in civilian and military casualties," Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Al Hadhrami said in a tweet.

He urged Saudi Arabia "to stand by the legitimate government and stop this illegal and unjustified military escalation".

The fighting has opened a new front in a complex war that has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and sparked what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"The situation is very fragile. Families are again trapped in their homes by fighting, unable to secure food and reach medical care," said the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande.

The UN said at least 13 people were reported to have been killed and 70 wounded during clashes this week.

Doctors Without Borders said that its own teams had received at least 10 victims who were dead on arrival and 41 wounded after heavy fighting in Aden on Wednesday.

Coalition split 

The accusation by Yemen's internationally recognised government against the UAE indicates a widening rift between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, both of which have called for a ceasefire in Aden.

The deputy foreign minister did not say when the alleged air strikes took place.

But residents in Aden told AFP they heard air raids late Wednesday when forces loyal to Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi entered Aden, which separatists had captured earlier this month.

On Thursday a spokesman for the separatists’ Southern Transitional Council (STC) said the UAE-backed Security Belt Forces were in full control of Aden after renewed clashes with government forces.

Fighting also broke out in the city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, about 100 kilometres from Aden, pro-government and STC sources said Thursday, after government troops withdrew to the area.

The clashes between separatists and government forces — who for years fought on the same side against the Houthis — have raised concerns that the famine-threatened country could break apart entirely.

“The Security Belt force completely controls the city of Aden along with its entrances,” STC spokesman Haitham Nezar told AFP.

A government security source confirmed Aden was under the full control of the STC, saying government troops who entered parts of the city a day earlier “withdrew from Aden” to Abyan province.

The STC-dominated separatists brought massive reinforcements from other regions, officials from both sides said.

‘Invading forces’ 

Nezar said the Security Belt forces were now setting their sights on the nearby provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, which had been retaken by government troops earlier this week.

“Our plan is to kick out the invading forces from the south,” said Nezar, referring to government forces seen by the separatists as outsiders.

The Yemeni government has also drafted in reinforcements from the north as the two parties appear to be preparing for a major showdown for supremacy in the south of the Arabian Peninsula nation. 

STC vice president Hani Bin Breik posted pictures of himself and other southern leaders touring the city and the airport.

Bin Breik said that STC forces fighting the Houthis in the north were sent to the south for a major battle.

“We will not remain in the [battle] fronts to liberate the north from the Houthis while the north is invading us,” he said.

The STC is fighting to regain the independence of South Yemen which unified with the north in 1990.

Hadi’s government said on Wednesday it had seized back Aden from separatists who captured the strategic city on August 10 after a fierce battle that left at least 40 people dead.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the war in 2015 in support of the government after the Houthis swept south from their northern stronghold to seize the capital Sanaa and much of Yemen — the Arab world’s poorest nation.