Orientul Mijlociu

An Islamic State attack has triggered a crescendo of acts of violence against and displacement of Sunnis in Iraq’s Diyala province, which borders Iran and has long suffered the presence of cells operating in its dense orchards and parts of the Hamrin Mountains.

An Islamic State (IS) attack against members of a prominent Shiite-majority tribe in Iraq’s eastern region of Diyala in late October was followed by retaliatory violence against local Sunnis, sparking fears of a return to the years of massive sectarian bloodshed.

Factions pulling out of the recently formed Syrian Liberation Front raise questions about the future of Turkish-backed rebel groups.

Sources close to Sultan Soleman Shah Brigade, one of the largest factions of the Syrian Liberation Front, said that the brigade has effectively withdrawn from the front to join the Thaeeroun Movement of Azm Operations Room.

The terrorist group PKK’s leadership in Qandil restricted the authority of the notorious ringleader of its Syrian wing YPG, Ferhat Abdi Şahin, over a leadership dispute, Habertürk daily reported. Şahin, also known as Mazloum Kobani and Şahin Cilo, is currently on Turkey’s most-wanted list for orchestrating terrorist attacks in Turkey.

The report said that PKK leaders took the decision a year ago, as they were concerned about Şahin’s “fame” and purported international relations network. It added that the decision came as a shock for the YPG and Şahin and held a meeting with United States officers to discuss the issue.

Clashes erupted between forces of the Syrian government and mercenaries of “Tahrer al-Sham” in the western countryside of Aleppo as western countryside of Hama witnessed mutual targeting by heavy weapons amid hovering by reconnaissance aircraft.

Clashes took place in Basraton, west of Aleppo, after the midnight, causing human losses, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Right, the SOHR.

Any Turkish action in areas under Kurdish forces’ control would likely draw a reaction from Russia, the US, or both, analysts say.

For months now Turkey’s leadership has promised to carry out a new military operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. But Ankara has found itself having to tiptoe around the presence of US and Russian forces there, confronting a Gordian knot that is likely to dampen its ambitions and delay any large scale offensive, analysts say.

An SDC claimed that the Turkish threats against northeast Syria were taken into consideration, calling on Syrians to unite in the face of aggression, according to North Press.

The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) takes Turkish threats against northeast Syria into consideration, SDC official spokesman, Amjad Othman, said on Monday.

Deir Ezzor province: SDF-held areas in Deir Ezzor province experience worries among the population in light of the escalated media coverage by the Turkish side and its proxies over an anticipated military operation on east Euphrates region.

SOHR activists in the “de-escalation zone” have reported renewed heavy bombardment, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, on the frontlines of Miznaz and Kafrnouran in western Aleppo between opposition factions on one hand and the regime forces and their proxy faction on the other.

Meanwhile, regime factions have bombarded positions in Sfouhen, al-Futirah, Bayanin, and Fulayfil in the southern countryside of Idlib, amid flights by reconnaissance drones over Idlib.