Orientul Mijlociu

In the early hours of Nov. 7, three quadcopter drones armed with explosives detonated inside the grounds of the official residence of Iraq’s prime minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, injuring seven members of his security detail.

Al-Kadhimi, who escaped with only light injuries, promptly released a statement appealing for calm. The question as to who was behind the attack, however, remained unanswered and open to speculation.

Al-Hasakah province: SOHR sources have reported a new assassination in al-Hawl camp in the far south-eastern region of al-Hasakah countryside, as gunmen of ISIS cells shot a female Iraqi refugee from Mosul dead in the camp’s fifth section.

It is worth noting that the number of murders committed in al-Hawl camp since the end of the first phase of the large-scale security campaign has reached 33, which indicates to alarming escalation of killings in the camp.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to consolidate security lines on Turkey’s southern border with Syria, his latest hint of a potential offensive against American-backed Kurdish forces there.

“Turkey will defend its rights in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, will build the Istanbul Canal, and will merge its security lines across border,” Erdogan said Saturday in the western province of Canakkale.

Regional realignment is storming ahead in the run-up to November 29, the date set for the resumption of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the global powers in Vienna. This is being driven by sudden, major regional developments. This includes the alleged actions by Iran’s proxies in Iraq, such as an assassination attempt against Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi as well as Hezbollah’s activities in Lebanon.

On 7 November, outgoing Iraqi prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt, casting a shadow over the country’s recent elections. While the attack remains unclaimed, pro-Iranian Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) groups are suspected of being involved following their party’s (the Fatah Alliance) rejection of the election results. The attack occurred only days after large demonstrations, held by Fatah supporters, turned violent last week in Baghdad. The protestors are claiming election fraud after the party lost a significant chunk of its parliamentary seats in the October 10 elections.

More than 900 pro-Turkish Syrian fighters have returned to Syria after the end of fighting in the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh, a British-based Syrian war monitor said Wednesday.

A November 9 truce ended more than a month of fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the ethnic Armenian enclave that broke away from Baku’s control in a war in the 1990s.

Al-Hasakah province: SOHR activists reported that militants of ISIS cells, stationed in al-Hawl camp in al southeast al-Hasakah countryside have attacked in the early hours of Friday a reception department inside the camp and shoot fire randomly on the people which caused death of two young men from Iraqi al-Nabar neighborhood and also wounded a third person.

Idlib province: SOHR activists have reported new assassination took place in the past few hours in Idlib city against an Iranian jihadist by unknow gunmen in al-Sheikh Thols neighborhood in middle of Idlib city while he was leaving his house for praying al-Fajr.

Later, HTS security forces have cordoned off the scene of crime and told the body to unknown place.