One killed, seven injured in forest fires in Syria
One person was killed and seven others injured on Friday in forest fires raging across the northern countryside of the northwestern province of Latakia since Thursday, according to Syrian state TV.
The Syrian army on Monday entered the city of Tabqa in the northern countryside of Raqqa province, as part of its move to enter Kurdish-held areas to counter the ongoing Turkish assault in the region.
According to the state-run news agency, the army entered Tabqa and its namesake military airbase as well as the town of Ayn Issa, Xinhua news agency reported.
These areas are all under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
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The development comes after a deal was reached on Sunday between the Syrian government and the Kurdish forces under the mediation of Russia to counter Turkey’s military progress.
The Syrian army started to deploy troops toward Kurdish-controlled areas near the Turkish border after the deal.
Earlier on Friday, more than 50 people, including civilians, have been killed as the Turkish offensive in Syria, which was launched by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed at pushing the Kurdish forces away from its border.
On Wednesday, tens of thousands of people have fled homes in the area, as international calls to halt the offensive launched by Erdogan increased.
Turkey wanted to create a “safe zone” running for 480 km along the Syrian side of the border but says it will not advance deeper than a planned 32 km limit.
Meanwhile, a refugee crisis is developing. Some 64,000 people have already reportedly fled their homes, the BBC quoted International Rescue Committee aid organisation as saying.
On Sunday, Kurdish officials said nearly 800 relatives of foreign IS members had escaped from Ayn Issa, a camp in the north.
French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency defence cabinet meeting on Sunday to discuss options regarding the Turkish offensive in northeastern Syria, the French presidency said in a statement.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to resettle up to two million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey within the zone. Many of them are not Kurds and critics have warned this could lead to the ethnic cleansing of the local Kurdish population.
(With IANS inputs)
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