Explore Business Standard
Turkish drone strikes in northeastern Syria on Friday evening killed four US-backed fighters and wounded 11 civilians, the Kurdish-led force said. The strikes on areas held by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces came a day after Turkiye's president said his government won't hesitate to act against Kurdish-led groups in northern Syria if they proceed with plans to hold local elections. It accuses the groups of having links to outlawed Kurdish militants in Turkiye. The SDF said drone strikes hit its positions eight times as well as civilian homes and vehicles in and near the northern city of Qamishli. Such Turkish strikes are not uncommon in northeastern Syria. The Kurdish Red Crescent said that as its paramedics were trying to reach the attacked areas, a Turkish strike hit one of its ambulances, putting it out of service. It said the attack occurred near the town of Amouda, west of Qamishli. There was no immediate comment from Turkiye. The Kurdish-led autonomous
A US drone strike hit a car in the Iraqi capital Wednesday night, killing three members of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, including a high-ranking commander, officials said. The strike came on a main thoroughfare in the Mashtal neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. A crowd gathered as emergency response teams picked through the wreckage. A U.S. official familiar with the matter said that a senior Kataib Hezbollah commander was targeted in a U.S. strike on Wednesday in Iraq. The official was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity. Two officials with Iran-backed militias in Iraq said that one of the three killed was Wissam Mohammed Abu Bakr al-Saadi, the commander in charge of Kataib Hezbollah's operations in Syria. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to journalists. The strike came amid roiling tensions in the region and days after the U.S. military launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria
Russian officials accused Ukraine of targeting six Russian regions with drones early Wednesday in what appears to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine 18 months ago. Drones hit an airport in the western Pskov region and started a massive fire there, the local governor and media reported. According to the Defense Ministry, more drones were also shot down over the regions of Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan, Kaluga and the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital. The strike in Pskov hit an airport in the region's namesake capital and damaged four Il-78 transport aircraft, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials. Pskov regional Governor Mikhail Vedernikov ordered all flights to and from the Pskov airport canceled Wednesday, citing the need to assess the damage during daylight. Footage and images posted on social media overnight showed smoke billowing over the city of Pskov and a large blaze. Vedernikov said there we