CANADA'S  EPSTEIN

Canadian fashion mogul lured women and girls to bedroom suite at his Toronto HQ, prosecution alleges

Associated Press
Tue, September 26, 2023


- A sign is displayed above the storefront of Peter Nygard's Times Square headquarters, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in New York. Former Canadian fashion mogul Nygard pleaded not guilty Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, to all charges against him in his Toronto sexual assault case, as jury selection for his trial got underway.

 (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

TORONTO (AP) — Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard leveraged his wealth, assets and status over several years to lure young women and girls to a top-floor bedroom suite at his company’s Toronto headquarters where he forced himself on them, prosecutors alleged Tuesday as arguments at his sexual assault trial got underway.

Nygard invited all five complainants in the case — whose identities are protected by a publication ban — to visit his custom-built office building under pretenses ranging from tours to job interviews, with all the encounters ending in the bedroom suite, the prosecution said. There, he sexually assaulted them at different times, sometimes trapping or intoxicating them, the prosecution alleged in opening arguments.

“Five women, it took them years to come forward. 1 Niagara St., a custom-design office building with huge letters on the front: Nygard. The Toronto headquarters of a fashion empire,” assistant prosecution attorney Ana Serban said.

“But within these walls, behind all the trappings of success and power, there is a bedroom suite with a giant bed, a stone jacuzzi, a bar and doors — doors with no handle, doors with automatic, keypad-operated locks controlled by Peter Nygard.”

Nygard has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in alleged incidents dating back to the ’80s, ’90s and mid-2000s.

The 82-year-old appeared in court sporting a suit with no tie, tinted glasses and with his long white hair tied back.

Nygard also is set to be extradited to the United States to faces sex-related charges there, but only once his criminal cases Canada are completed. Nygard was first arrested in Winnipeg in 2020 under the Extradition Act after being charged with nine sex-related counts in New York.

The first complainant in Toronto, the prosecution said, will testify she met Nygard in her 20s while on a flight to the Bahamas, where he allegedly flattered her, offered her a job and a stay at his property in the Caribbean country, which she declined. After recognizing him on TV later, the woman called him and was invited to 1 Niagara St. for a job interview, court heard.

“It ends in his top-floor bedroom suite. She grows uncomfortable, she tries to leave. He tackles her onto the bed, puts his full body into it, pins her down on her back and tries to undress her, rips her clothing,” Serban, the assistant prosecution lawyer, alleged. “She’s terrified.”

Nygard then allegedly penetrated the complainant with his fingers and ripped her blouse with his teeth, only stopping when his next appointment was announced on the intercom, Serban said.

Nygard founded the now-defunct Nygard International brand in Winnipeg in 1967.


Fashion mogul Peter Nygård allegedly used firm’s head office to assault women

Leyland Cecco in Toronto

THE GUARDIAN
Tue, September 26, 2023


Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images


Fashion mogul Peter Nygård used his power and status to lure five women separately into a private bedroom suite attached to his company headquarters where he sexually assaulted them, a court in Toronto has heard.

In opening arguments on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Nygård, 82, met the women in social settings and invited them to the headquarters of his clothing empire in Toronto. All of the “tours” ended in his bedroom suite. The room had a bed, televisions and a jacuzzi. Prosectors say the doors didn’t have handles and the locks were controlled by Nygård.

Nygård has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. All complainants’ names are covered by a publication ban by the Canadian courts. Most of the women were in their 20s at the time of the alleged incidents, which occurred over a 25-year period, beginning in the 1980s. One of the women was 16 years old at the time of her alleged attack.

In one case, Nygård, who was in his 40s, met a woman in her 20s on a flight to the Bahamas, where he owned a sprawling estate, said Ana Serban, a crown lawyer. Nygård later invited her for a job interview at his Toronto office. When they ended up in the bedroom, she tried to leave.

He “tackles the woman onto the bed, puts his whole body into it, pins her down on her back and tries to undress her” against her will, said Serban. “She’s terrified.”

Nygård is alleged to have given her a new blouse and skirt to replace those he tore during the attack.

“She runs out of the building,” Serban said. “This was supposed to be a job interview at an office building.”

Born in Finland, Nygård grew up in Manitoba, eventually running his own namesake clothing companies and becoming one of Canada’s wealthiest people.

In 2020, US authorities charged him with racketeering and sex trafficking, alleging decades of crimes with dozens of victims in the United States, the Bahamas and Canada.

Fifty-seven women – including 18 Canadians – have joined that lawsuit, which alleges that Nygård used violence, intimidation, bribery and company employees to lure victims and avoid accountability for decades. Nygård has denied all allegations.

Nygård also faces sex-related charges in Manitoba and Quebec, and is set to be extradited to the US to face sex-related charges there once his criminal cases in Canada are completed.

UAW Leader Has No Desire at All to Talk to Trump in Michigan

William Vaillancourt
Tue, September 26, 2023

The United Auto Workers union’s president derided GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump as being out of touch with the striking workers, claiming in a CNN interview Tuesday that the former president “serves the billionaire class and that’s what’s wrong with this country.”

On the same day that Joe Biden became the first sitting president to join a picket line on behalf of the United Auto Workers, Shawn Fain, who has not yet given an endorsement in the 2024 race, said that he has no desire to discuss the strike with Trump.

“I see no point in meeting with him because I don’t think the man has any bit of care about what our workers stand for, what the working class stands for,” he told The Situation Room anchor Wolf Blitzer. “He serves the billionaire class and that’s what’s wrong with this country.”

After Blitzer commented that his remark “effectively sounds like an endorsement for Biden,” Fain pushed back.

“It’s not an endorsement for anyone. It’s just flat-out how I view the former president.”

Trump is expected to skip Wednesday's primary debate and instead speak at a non-union automotive parts manufacturer in Michigan—a move that Fain called a “pathetic irony.”

“All you have to do is look at his track record. His track record speaks for itself.”

Meanwhile, Biden, whose appearance outside a General Motors facility in Michigan was at the invitation of Fain, told onlookers that they “should be doing just as well” as the auto companies, The New York Times reported.

“You’ve heard me say many times: Wall Street didn’t build this country,” Biden said. “The middle class built this country. And unions built the middle class. That’s a fact. Let’s keep going. You deserve what you’ve earned, and you’ve earned a hell of a lot more than you get paid now.”

The UAW gave its support to Biden 2020, but this time around has taken issue with the administration’s goal of having two out of three new passenger cars be electric by 2032. (Electric cars currently comprise 5.8 percent of cars on the road, and they’re getting more popular by the year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

Biden said Tuesday that he’s “not worried about” what it would take for the union to endorse him again. Fain, for his part, said on CNN that endorsements will come “at the appropriate time.”

Big Three CEOs Make 300 Times What Their Workers Make, Most Other Big Companies Aren't As Bad

Andy Kalmowitz
Tue, September 26, 2023

Even before the United Auto Workers union went on strike on September 15th, UAW President Shawn Fain put the pay and raises of the Big Three CEOs in the limelight. He has alleged (rightly so) that wage gains for the CEOs’ rank-and-file employees have not kept pace.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Jim Farley and Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares all reportedly made between $21 and $29 million last year. That works out to about 300 times as much as their employees. That may sound like a lot – and it is – even when compared to the pay of other large company CEOs. According to The Wall Street Journal, the media CEO pay package for S&P 500 companies was about $14.5 million in 2022.

In part, the ratios reflect the size of the three automakers, which each reported revenue of around $150 billion in their most recent fiscal years, said Robin Ferracone, CEO of Farient Advisors, an executive compensation and governance consulting firm.

“Size matters,” she said. “The size of the company is indicative of the scope of the job, so if you have a very large company, those CEOs tend to get paid more.” By revenue, the automakers are more than twice as big as the biggest airlines, she noted.

The outlet says that pay ratios – mandated for disclosure by the SEC in 2018 – are the function of two numbers: CEO pay divided by the pay of the median employee. It takes into account salary, bonuses and equity awards among other factors.

In industries that primarily employ highly skilled and well-compensated workers, such as utilities or pharmaceuticals, pay ratios tend to be relatively low. In industries with many low-wage workers, such as retail and fast food, ratios often are correspondingly high.

Last year, Farley reportedly made 21 percent more than his predecessor did in 2019 at Ford. Meanwhile, Barra made about 34 percent more than she did just four years ago at GM.

Under the current UAW contract – negotiated in 2019 – WSJ says full-time unionized factory workers start off at about $18 per hour and can earn up to $32 per hour. Since 2019, base wages have risen six percent. In that time, vehicle prices are up about 23 percent and overall consumer prices rose 19 percent, the outlet says. Accounting for inflation, auto workers’ wages have fallen about 5.4 percent between 2019 and July of this year.

Ford’s Farley last year earned around $21 million, or 281 times the company’s median employee earnings, compared with the multiple of 157 that his predecessor Jim Hackett earned in 2019 when the auto workers signed their last contract. Last year, employee median pay was $74,691.

At General Motors, Barra made $29 million last year. That was 362 times the median employee earnings of $80,034, and up from a comparable multiple of 203 times in 2019.

At Stellantis, the global parent of Chrysler, Dodge and other brands, Tavares last year made around $25 million, or 365 times the average employee pay of $68,712 at current exchange rates.

In 2019, the CEO earned 232 times the pay of the average employee.

You can read the whole story in The Wall Street Journal here.

Biden vetoes two Republican-led bills to undo protections for the prairie bird and northern bat


MATTHEW DALY
Wed, September 27, 2023 
  

 A lesser prairie chicken is seen amid the bird's annual mating ritual near Milnesand, N.M., on April 8, 2021. President Joe Biden has vetoed two Republican-sponsored bills intended to undo federal protections for two endangered species that have seen their populations plummet over the years: the lesser prairie chicken and northern long-eared bat.(Adrian Hedden/Carlsbad Current Argus via AP, File)

 This undated photo provided by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources shows a northern long-eared bat. President Joe Biden has vetoed two Republican-sponsored bills intended to undo federal protections for two endangered species that have seen their populations plummet over the years: the lesser prairie chicken and northern long-eared bat. 

 (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources via AP, File)


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has vetoed Republican-sponsored bills intended to undo federal protections for two endangered species that have seen their populations plummet over the years: the lesser prairie chicken and northern long-eared bat.

The two GOP measures would overturn “science-based rulemaking" that offers important protections for the once-abundant species and would undermine the Endangered Species Act, Biden said.

“The lesser prairie-chicken serves as an indicator for healthy grasslands and prairies, making the species an important measure of the overall health of America’s grasslands,'' the White House wrote late Tuesday in a veto statement about the prairie bird. It's a member of the grouse family found in parts of the Midwest and Southwest, including the oil-rich Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas. The bird’s range also extends into parts of Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Environmentalists have long sought stronger federal protections for the prairie bird, which they consider severely at risk due to oil and gas development, livestock grazing and farming, along with roads and power lines. The crow-size, terrestrial birds are known for spring courtship rituals that include flamboyant dances by the males as they make a cacophony of clucking, cackling and booming sounds.

The long-eared bat is one of 12 bat types decimated by a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome. The disease has spread across nearly 80% of the bat's historic range in the eastern and north-central United States and has caused estimated population declines of at least 97%.

“Bats are critical to healthy, functioning ecosystems and contribute at least $3 billion annually to the United States agriculture economy through pest control and pollination,'' Biden said in a separate veto statement. He said the GOP bill "would undermine America’s proud wildlife conservation traditions and risk extinction of the species.''

The two bills approved by Congress were backed mostly by Republicans and represent rare congressional involvement in matters usually left to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Endangered Species Act tasks the executive agencies with deciding which animals and plants to list as endangered or threatened and how to rebuild their populations.

Republicans say protections for the lesser prairie chicken interfere with U.S. oil and gas production and jeopardize thousands of American jobs.

Designation of the bird as an endangered species “is another attack on low-cost energy for the American taxpayers,'' said Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. “It's an attack on jobs in America and it’s making us more dependent″ on hostile countries in the Middle East and South America, he said.

Republicans and the logging industry also criticized the endangered listing for the long-eared bat, contending it would hamper logging and other land uses that aren’t responsible for the bat’s sharp decline. The bat is found in 37 eastern and north-central states, plus Washington, D.C., and much of Canada.

The American Loggers Council, an industry group, said in a statement that changing the bat's status from “threatened” to endangered would “do nothing to reduce the mortality of the bat, but will contribute to the declining numbers of loggers in the U.S. and threaten the forest products industry.''

Citing criteria used by the Fish and Wildlife Service, “the American logger should be considered for listing as threatened or endangered and afforded the same protection,″ the group said.

Environmental groups hailed Biden's actions.

Veto of the lesser-prairie chicken measure puts the bird "on a more certain path to recovery,” said Michael Parr, president of American Bird Conservancy. “Present-day populations are thought to average a mere 32,000 birds. Every coordinated effort is needed to ensure a safer future for this iconic species.”

Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, said conservationists are grateful for Biden's actions “but remain greatly troubled that his veto is the only thing standing between grossly misguided, anti-wildlife members of Congress and the future of wildlife. The American public, regardless of party affiliation, overwhelmingly supports the Endangered Species Act and believes it should be fully funded to protect species from extinction. Congress needs to wake up to this fact and cease their continual attacks.''

West Virginia's Joe Manchin was the only Democratic senator to back repeal of protections for the lesser prairie chicken, while Manchin and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., voted with unanimous Republicans to remove protections for the long-eared bat.

THE ROAD RUNNER IS A PRAIRIE CHICKEN BY ANY OTHER NAME

As mental health worsens among Afghanistan's women, the UN is asked to declare 'gender apartheid'

Updated Tue, September 26, 2023 

Afghan women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. The mental health of Afghan women, who have suffered under harsh measures imposed by the Taliban since taking power two years ago, has deteriorated across the country, according to a joint report from three U.N. agencies released Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.

 (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File) 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N.’s most powerful body must support governments seeking to legally declare the intensifying crackdown by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on women and girls “gender apartheid,” the head of the U.N. agency promoting gender equality said Tuesday.

Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, told the Security Council that more than 50 increasingly dire Taliban edicts are being enforced with more severity including by male family members. That is exacerbating mental health issues and suicidal thoughts especially among young women and is shrinking women’s decision-making even in their own homes.

“They tell us that they are prisoners living in darkness, confined to their homes without hope or future," she said.

Under international law, apartheid is defined as a system of legalized racial segregation that originated in South Africa. But a growing consensus among international experts, officials and activists says apartheid can also apply to gender in cases like that of Afghanistan, where women and girls face systematic discrimination.

“We ask you to lend your full support to an intergovernmental process to explicitly codify gender apartheid in international law,” Bahous urged the 15-member council including its five permanent members: the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

There is no existing international law to respond to "mass, state-sponsored gender oppression,” Bahous said. But she said the Taliban’s “systemic and planned assault on women’s rights … must be named, defined and proscribed in our global norms so that we can respond appropriately.”

The Taliban took power in August 2021 during the final weeks of the U.S. and NATO forces’ pullout from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. As they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban gradually reimposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, barring girls from school beyond the sixth grade and women from almost all jobs, public spaces, gyms and recently closing beauty salons.

The Security Council meeting on U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ latest report on Afghanistan took place on the final day of the annual meeting of world leaders at the 193-member U.N. General Assembly.

No country has recognized the Taliban, and the assembly’s credentials committee hasn’t either, primarily over its effort to relegate women to their homes and failure to form an inclusive government. This has left U.N. recognition with the now-ousted previous government led by Ashraf Ghani. For the third year, its representative did not speak at the high-level gathering.

Bahous said that over the past year, UN Women collaborated with the U,N. political mission in Afghanistan known as UNAMA and the U.N. International Office for Migration to interview over 500 Afghan women.

Among their key findings, she said:

— 46% think the Taliban should not be recognized under any circumstances;

—50% think the Taliban should only be recognized after it restores women’s and girls' rights to education, employment, and participation in government.

The women interviewed said the dramatic shrinking of their influence on decision-making, not just at the national or provincial level but also in their communities and homes, is driven by increased poverty, decreasing financial contribution and “the Taliban’s imposition of hyper-patriarchal gender norms,” Bahous said.

In a grim sign of women’s growing isolation, she said, only 22% of the women interviewed reported meeting with women outside their immediate family at least once a week, and a majority reported worsened relations with other members of their family and community.

Bahous said the restrictions on women have led to an increase in child marriage and child labor, and an increase in mental health issues.

“As the percentage of women employed continues to drop, 90% of young women respondents report bad or very bad mental health, and suicide and suicidal ideation is everywhere,” she said.

Roza Otunbayeva, the U.N. special envoy for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, welcomed the recent visit of a group of Islamic scholars from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s member nations to Afghanistan to focus on girls’ education, women’s rights and the need for inclusive governance.

The scholars stressed that these requirements are “integral to Islamic governance around the world,” she said. “We urge that these visits continue. They are part of a vital conversation between the de facto authorities and the international community helpfully mediated by the Islamic world.”

Otunbayeva told reporters afterward that compared to the last visit of Islamic scholars, this time they left Afghanistan “quite satisfied.”

“We’ll see what will be resolved” at the upcoming International Conference on Women in Islam, she said. That converence, co-sponsored by the OIC and Saudi Arabia, will take place in Jeddah in November.

The U.N. envoy was asked whether any change in the Taliban’s hardline policies on women and government functioning is possible as long as its leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, makes the final decisions.

"He's the producer of decisions," Otunbayeva replied. She said she heard from a Cabinet member that more than 90% of its members support allowing girls to study, but as soon as such views get to the southern city of Kandahar, where Akhundzada is based, they are blocked.

“So, far he is unreachable,” Otunbayeva said. She said she tried to bring the entire ambassadorial corps to Kandahar for meetings with the provincial governor and others, but the meeting was canceled.

The U.N. envoy said the mission is in constant contact with Taliban officials in the capital, Kabul, “even as we continue to disagree profoundly and express these disagreements.”

Tecently, Otunbayeva said, provincial councils composed of religious clerics and tribal elders have been created in each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, aiming to provide accountability and listening to local grievances, but they also report to the Taliban leader.

It’s too early to judge their performance, but Otunbayeva noted that the councils for the predominantly Shiite provinces of Bamiyan and Daikundi have no Shiite members.

She appealed to donors to support the $3.2 billion humanitarian appeal for the country, which has received just $872 million, about 28% of the needed funding.

Many programs have been forced to close just as winter is approaching and people are most in need, Otunbayeva said. “This means that 15.2 million Afghans now facing acute food insecurity could be pushed towards famine in the coming months.”

___

Edith M. Lederer, chief U.N. correspondent for The Associated Press, has been covering international affairs for more than 50 years.

Taliban weighs using U.S. mass surveillance plan, met with China's Huawei

Mon, September 25, 2023 

Humanitarian aid sent by China to Afghanistan is distributed in Kabul

By Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Charlotte Greenfield

KABUL (Reuters) -The Taliban are creating a large-scale camera surveillance network for Afghan cities that could involve repurposing a plan crafted by the Americans before their 2021 pullout, an interior ministry spokesman told Reuters, as authorities seek to supplement thousands of cameras already across the capital, Kabul.

The Taliban administration — which has publicly said it is focused on restoring security and clamping down on Islamic State, which has claimed many major attacks in Afghan cities — has also consulted with Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei about potential cooperation, the spokesman said.

Preventing attacks by international militant groups - including prominent organisations such as Islamic State - is at the heart of the interaction between the Taliban and many foreign nations, including the U.S. and China, according to readouts from those meetings. But some analysts question the cash-strapped regime's ability to fund the program, and rights groups have expressed concern that any resources will be used to crackdown on protesters.

Details of how the Taliban intend to expand and manage mass surveillance, including obtaining the U.S. plan, have not been previously reported.

The mass camera rollout, which will involve a focus on "important points" in Kabul and elsewhere, is part of a new security strategy that will take four years to be fully implemented, Ministry of Interior spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told Reuters.

"At the present we are working on a Kabul security map, which is (being completed) by security experts and (is taking) lots of time," he said. "We already have two maps, one which was made by U.S.A for the previous government and second by Turkey."

He did not detail when the Turkish plan was made.

A U.S State Department spokesperson said Washington was not "partnering" with the Taliban and has "made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists."

A Turkish government spokesperson didn't return a request for comment.

Qani said the Taliban had a "simple chat" about the potential network with Huawei in August, but no contracts or firm plans had been reached.

Bloomberg News reported in August that Huawei had reached "verbal agreement" with the Taliban about a contract to install a surveillance system, citing a person familiar with the discussions.

Huawei told Reuters in September that "no plan was discussed" during the meeting.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said she was not aware of specific discussions but added: "China has always supported the peace and reconstruction process in Afghanistan and supported Chinese enterprises to carry out relevant practical cooperation."

ELECTRICITY CUTS, RIGHTS CONCERNS

There are over 62,000 cameras in Kabul and other cities that are monitored from a central control room, according to the Taliban. The last major update to Kabul's camera system occurred in 2008, according to the former government, which relied heavily on Western-led international forces for security.

When NATO-led international forces were gradually withdrawing in January 2021, then-vice president Amrullah Saleh said his government would roll out a huge upgrade of Kabul's camera surveillance system. He told reporters the $100 million plan was backed by the NATO coalition.

"The arrangement we had planned in early 2021 was different," Saleh told Reuters in September, adding that the "infrastructure" for the 2021 plan had been destroyed.

It was not clear if the plan Saleh referenced was similar to the ones that the Taliban say they have obtained, nor if the administration would modify them.

Jonathan Schroden, an expert on Afghanistan with the Center for Naval Analyses, said a surveillance system would be "useful for the Taliban as it seeks to prevent groups like the Islamic State ... from attacking Taliban members or government positions in Kabul."

The Taliban already closely monitor urban centres with security force vehicles and regular checkpoints.

Rights advocates and opponents of the regime are concerned enhanced surveillance might target civil society members and protesters.

Though the Taliban rarely confirm arrests, the Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 64 journalists have been detained since the takeover. Protests against restrictions on women in Kabul have been broken up forcefully by security forces, according to protesters, videos and Reuters witnesses.

Implementing a mass surveillance system "under the guise of 'national security' sets a template for the Taliban to continue its draconian policies that violate fundamental rights," said Matt Mahmoudi from Amnesty International.

The Taliban strongly denies that an upgraded surveillance system would breach the rights of Afghans. Qani said the system was comparable with what other major cities utilize and that it would be operated in line with Islamic Sharia law, which prevents recording in private spaces.

The plan faces practical challenges, security analysts say.

Intermittent daily power cuts in Afghanistan mean cameras connected to the central grid are unlikely to provide consistent feeds. Only 40% of Afghans have access to electricity, according to the state-owned power provider.

The Taliban also have to find funding after a massive economic contraction and the withdrawal of much aid following their takeover.

The administration said in 2022 that it has an annual budget of over $2 billion, of which defence spending is the largest component, according to the Taliban army chief.

MILITANCY RISKS

The discussion with Huawei occurred several months after China met with Pakistan and the Taliban's acting foreign minister, after which the parties stressed cooperation on counter-terrorism. Tackling militancy is also a key aspect of the 2020 troop-withdrawal deal the United States struck with the Taliban.

China has publicly declared its concern over the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an armed separatist organisation in its western Xinjiang region. Security officials and U.N. reports say ETIM likely has a small number of fighters in Afghanistan. ETIM couldn't be reached for comment.

The Islamic State has also threatened foreigners in Afghanistan. Its fighters attacked a hotel popular with Chinese businesspeople last year, which left several Chinese citizens wounded. A Russian diplomat was also killed in one of its attacks.

The Taliban denies that militancy threatens their rule and say Afghan soil will not be used to launch attacks elsewhere. They have publicly announced raids on Islamic State cells in Kabul.

"Since early 2023, Taliban raids in Afghanistan have removed at least eight key (Islamic State in Afghanistan) leaders, some responsible for external plotting," said U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West at a Sept. 12 public seminar.

A July U.N. monitoring report said there were up to 6,000 Islamic State fighters and their family members in Afghanistan. Analysts say urban surveillance will not fully address their presence.

The Afghan "home base" locations of Islamic State fighters are in the eastern mountainous areas, said Schroden. "So while cameras in the cities may help prevent attacks ... they're unlikely to contribute much to their ultimate defeat."

(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul and Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad; Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington, David Kirton in Shenzhen, Liz Lee in Beijing, and Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Editing by Katerina Ang)

The Threat of a Forgotten American ‘Map’ Unearthed by the Taliban

Shannon Vavra
Mon, September 25, 2023 

Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty


The Taliban has reportedly obtained a years-old security plan created by the U.S. that could help launch a sweeping new surveillance system in Afghanistan, raising concerns among experts that the system could be used for nefarious purposes.

The plan, which is based on a map the United States apparently created before withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2021, was originally intended for the previous government. Now, the Taliban regime is considering using it as a basis for a project meant to root out terrorist threats, Ministry of Interior spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told Reuters.

“At the present we are working on a Kabul security map, which is [being completed] by security experts and [is taking] lots of time,” he said. “We already have two maps, one which was made by U.S.A for the previous government and second by Turkey.”

The United States has claimed it is not working with the Taliban on the surveillance program, which will take at least four years to roll out, according to Qani. It’s not clear how the Taliban obtained the alleged surveillance maps from either the United States or Turkey.

The alleged national security plan has already raised concerns among human rights activist who fear that the Taliban could use the system to go after domestic critics, rather than target terrorists.

The Taliban Is Back, and the World’s Jihadis Are Coming

It’s a near certainty that the Taliban will leverage any surveillance to target women, critics, and former government officials to further their repressive rule, said Nathan Sales, a former State Department coordinator for counterterrorism.

“We know what the Taliban is likely to do with any surveillance capabilities, because we know what they've been doing with their existing capabilities—and what they've been doing is ruthlessly suppressing former government officials who partnered with the U.S., ruthlessly suppressing women and girls for the ‘crime’ of trying to get an education or work outside the household,” Sales told The Daily Beast. “If they have surveillance capabilities or other technologically-enabled capabilities, you can bet that they're going to use those tools to further entrench their rule.”

The Taliban is reportedly getting Beijing in on the initiative too: According to Bloomberg, Chinese Telecommunications company Huawei has reached a “verbal agreement” to support the camera surveillance plan after talks with regime officials.

The Biden administration has admitted that U.S. assets had been left behind in the aftermath of the chaotic and hastily coordinated withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

According to a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, “nearly all night vision, surveillance, communications, and biometric equipment that was provided to the ANDSF were left behind.” It was not clear if this surveillance equipment included maps.

Taliban Mock Hasty U.S. Withdrawal: ‘Losers Never Look Back’

The Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Mission to Afghanistan Karen Decker did not immediately return a request for comment. The State Department referred comment to the Department of Defense.

Sales warned that “it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Taliban would seek to use for its own benefit equipment or capabilities that the United States had provided to the previous government and left behind in the rush for the exits.”

“This is actually one of the reasons why when you do a retrograde you want to do it in an orderly way to make sure that nothing that's sensitive—information or material—gets left behind to be used by your adversaries,” he added.
Downward Spiral

It’s also possible, though less likely, that the United States is leaning on the Taliban to try to knock out terrorism in Afghanistan in a more coordinated way—a move Sales cautioned would be a misstep.

“This could mean that the U.S. and the Taliban are cooperating in some way for the achievement of security goals,” Sales said. “That strikes me as a road that we should be very, very cautious about starting to walk down. The Taliban’s interests are not our interests. The United States does not want to see the Taliban succeed in its misgovernance of the long-suffering people of Afghanistan.”

That said, there is a serious threat of resurgent terrorism in the region following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Army Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command warned lawmakers in a briefing in March that the ISIS branch in Afghanistan, ISIS-K, was six months away from being able to “do an external operation against U.S. or Western interests abroad... with little to no warning.”

Afghanistan has grown into a hub for coordinating terrorist plots against embassies, churches, and business centers since the withdrawal, according to leaked U.S. intelligence, The Washington Post reported. And while al Qaeda is “unlikely” to resurge in Afghanistan, U.S. assessments indicate that the broader terrorist threats in Afghanistan remain.

United Nations officials have grown concerned about a resurgence of terrorism in Afghanistan in recent months as well. Vladimir Voronkov, the Under-Secretary-General of the Office of Counter-Terrorism, said just last month that the operational capabilities of ISIS-K were reportedly increasing, leading the group to “becoming more sophisticated in its attacks.”

“The situation in Afghanistan is growing increasingly complex, with fears of weapons and ammunition falling in the hands of terrorists now materializing,” Voronkov said.

ISIS-K has already attacked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Afghanistan on multiple occasions this year. According to a recent U.S. intelligence community assessment, the terrorist group still has hopes to launch attacks against the west.

“ISIS–Khorasan almost certainly retains the intent to conduct operations in the West and will continue efforts to attack outside Afghanistan,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s annual worldwide threat assessment states.

Still, some experts argue that the terrorism threat may be nothing more than a convenient cover for the Taliban.

“Implementing such a vast architecture of mass surveillance under the guise of ‘national security’ sets a template for the Taliban to continue its draconian policies that violate fundamental rights of people in Afghanistan—especially women in public spaces,” Matt Mahmoudi, Amnesty International’s Researcher and Advisor on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, said.

European court rules Turkish teacher's rights were violated by conviction based on phone app use
Associated Press
Updated Tue, September 26, 2023 

View of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, eastern France, Thursday, Jan.26, 2023. The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, ruled that the rights of a Turkish teacher convicted of what prosecutors called terrorism offences had been violated because the case was largely based on his use of a phone app. 

(AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)More

ISTANBUL (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled that the rights of a Turkish teacher convicted of what prosecutors called terrorism offences had been violated because the case was largely based on his use of a phone app.

The court said its ruling could apply to thousands of people convicted following an attempted coup in Turkey in 2016 after the prosecution presented use of the ByLock encrypted messaging app as evidence of a crime.

Ankara has blamed the coup on the followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey has listed Gulen’s movement as a terrorist organization known as FETO. Gulen denies any involvement in the failed putsch.

Yuksel Yalcinkaya was among tens of thousands arrested following the coup attempt in July 2016, in which 251 people were killed as pro-coup elements of the military fired at crowds and bombed state buildings. Around 35 people who allegedly participated in the plot also were killed.

Yalcinkaya, from Kayseri province in central Anatolia, was convicted of membership of a terrorist organization in March 2017 and sentenced to more than six years’ imprisonment.

The European court found the “decisive evidence” for his conviction was the alleged use of ByLock, which is said to have been used exclusively by Gulen supporters.

In its judgement, the court found the case had violated the European Convention on Human Rights, namely the right to a fair trial, the right to freedom of assembly and association and the right of no punishment without law.

In a statement, the court said that “such a uniform and global approach by the Turkish judiciary vis-a-vis the ByLock evidence departed from the requirements laid down in national law” and contravened the convention’s “safeguards against arbitrary prosecution, conviction and punishment.”

It added: “There are currently approximately 8,500 applications on the court’s docket involving similar complaints … and, given that the authorities had identified around 100,000 ByLock users, many more might potentially be lodged.”

The court also called on Turkey to address “systemic problems, notably with regard to the Turkish judiciary’s approach to ByLock evidence.”

Responding to the ruling, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said it was "unacceptable for the ECHR to exceed its authority and give a verdict of violation by examining the evidence on a case in which our judicial authorities at all levels … deem the evidence sufficient.”

He also protested the court's acceptance of Yalcinkaya’s legal representative, who Tunc said was subject to arrest warrants for FETO membership.

Turkey was ordered to pay 15,000 euros ($15,880) in costs and expenses.

Saudi envoy links Israel normalisation talks to land-for-peace offer

Tue, September 26, 2023 at 7:17 AM MDT·3 min read
By Ali Sawafta

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's first ambassador to the Palestinians described a decades-old Arab land-for-peace offer on Tuesday as a pillar of any normalisation of ties with Israel, an apparent attempt to signal that Riyadh has not abandoned the Palestinian cause.

Expectations of a landmark U.S.-brokered Saudi-Israeli deal have grown over the last week, though the timing and terms remain murky.

Among complicating factors are calls by Riyadh and Washington for the Palestinians to make diplomatic inroads as part of any deal - a prospect unpalatable to Israel's hardline coalition government.

Saudi Arabia's non-resident ambassador to the Palestinians - a role it unveiled last month - made a first visit to their seat of government in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, presenting credentials also designating him "consul-general in Jerusalem".

That title is touchy as Israel considers all of Jerusalem its own capital and rejects the Palestinians' claim on East Jerusalem as capital of their hoped-for future state.

The ambassador, Nayef Al-Sudairi, told reporters in Ramallah his visit "reaffirms that the Palestinian cause and Palestine and the people of Palestine are of high and important status and that in the coming days there will be a chance for a bigger cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the state of Palestine".

Referring to the prospect of normalisation with Israel, Al-Sudairi said: "It is the normal thing among nations to have peace and stability."

"The Arab initiative, which Saudi Arabia presented in 2002, is a fundamental pillar of any upcoming agreement," he added.

That referred to a proposal aired by Riyadh and later adopted by Arab states widely, under which Israel would get pan-Arab recognition only if it quit territories captured in a 1967 war, including lands where the Palestinians want their state.

Israel has been keen to pursue more peace deals with Arab states without giving up land, having won normalisation from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and upgraded ties with Morocco and Sudan, in 2020 despite talks with the Palestinians having been frozen for years.

Dismayed at being sidelined in the 2020 diplomacy, the Palestinians have taken a more active role in the Saudi talks.

In a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, President Mahmoud Abbas said Al-Sudairi's visit "will contribute to reinforcing the strong ties between the two countries and the two fraternal peoples".

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Kan radio on Tuesday that any Saudi normalisation deal "will be one supported by the right wing" - a reference to religious-nationalist parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition that refuse to cede occupied West Bank land to the Palestinians.

In a speech, Netanyahu restated his position that Israeli military and economic prowess, rather than territorial concessions, are the keys to regional statecraft - given, among other factors, shared Arab concerns about the rise of Iran.

"Thanks to this strength, we are deterring our enemies. Thanks to this strength, we are achieving peace with our neighbours," he said.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Peter Graff)

1st Saudi envoy to the Palestinians in West Bank, Israeli minister in Riyadh amid normalization push

JULIA FRANKEL and ISABEL DEBRE
Updated Tue, September 26, 2023 









Nayef al-Sudairi, Saudi Arabia's the first-ever Saudi ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, right, and Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Dr. Riyad Al-Maliki, left, make a joint statement after their meeting in Ramallah, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. Al-Sudairi visited the Palestinian territories Tuesday to discuss the burgeoning Saudi-Israeli normalization deal, which the kingdom has said will hinge on what concessions Israel is willing to grant the Palestinians. 

(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)


RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Saudi Arabia's newly appointed envoy to the Palestinian Authority presented his credentials to President Mahmoud Abbas during his first visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a move linked to recent American efforts to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The trip by nonresident Saudi ambassador Nayef al-Sudairi — marking the first time that the Saudi delegation has visited the West Bank since 1967 — came as Israel's tourism minister became the first senior Israeli official to make a public visit to Saudi Arabia.

In a clear sign that a landmark diplomatic deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia has gained momentum, Israel's Tourism Minister Haim Katz on Tuesday led an Israeli delegation to Riyadh to take part in a conference hosted by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Katz's office described his visit as unprecedented for an Israeli minister and said he would hold discussions with officials from across the Middle East.

Meanwhile the visit by al-Sudairi to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, is widely seen as an attempt by the kingdom to address the key sticking point in the Saudi-Israeli normalization deal: Saudi Arabia’s stance toward the Palestinians. The Saudi government has said it will only normalize ties with Israel if there is major progress toward the creation of a Palestinian state.

To kick off his two-day trip, al-Sudairi, who also serves as the Saudi ambassador to Jordan, met with Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority that exercises limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, and other senior officials. Before presenting his credentials, he sought to assure the Palestinians that Saudi Arabia was “working to establish a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital," without elaborating.

“God willing, next time this meeting will take place in Jerusalem,” al-Sudairi told journalists after the meeting.

Nearly two decades ago, Saudi Arabia and other Arab leaders endorsed the Arab Peace Initiative, pledging that there would be no diplomatic recognition of Israel without a just settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Even as Palestinians still live under an open-ended Israeli military occupation in the West Bank, now in its 57th year, and under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade in Gaza, efforts by the United States to establish formal relations for the first time between Israel and Saudi Arabia have escalated. Last week, Netanyahu and President Biden discussed the prospect of an agreement during the Israeli leader's first visit to the U.S. since returning to power last year.

But obstacles to the deal remain. The Saudis are seeking a defense pact with the United States and want help in building their own civilian nuclear program, which has fueled fears of an arms race with Iran.

Saudi Arabia also wants Israel to grant at least some kind of concession to the Palestinians in the West Bank, which Israel captured along with east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war.

From Ramallah on Tuesday, al-Sudairi reiterated the kingdom's position in support of the Palestinians, describing the Arab Peace Initiative as a “fundamental pillar of any agreement.”

Yet any effort to grant the Palestinians greater autonomy would be met with strong opposition by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right, ultranationalist government. Powerful Cabinet ministers have imposed sanctions on the Palestinian Authority and called openly for the annexation of parts of the West Bank.

Officials Tuesday were tight-lipped about the kinds of concessions under discussion, instead praising bilateral ties. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki hailed the visit as a “historic milestone."

“He is here to begin work developing relations between our countries,” al-Maliki said of the ambassador. “It is a major responsibility, to preserve the Palestinian cause.”

The Palestinian Authority also has not specified what it is willing to accept from the Israeli government. President Abbas said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week that there can be no Mideast peace without his people enjoying their “full and legitimate national rights.”

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has staked his legacy on Israel's normalization of ties with Arab states as an alternative to negotiating with the Palestinians. In 2020, Israel forged relations with three Arab countries, including the Gulf Arab states of United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Those deals have helped end years of Israel's isolation in the region and raised hopes that Saudi Arabia — the Sunni powerhouse home to Islam’s most important religious sites — and other Arab states that have long refused to recognize Israel would make similar moves.

The visit by Tourism Minister Katz to Riyadh appeared to further accelerate the countries' push for normalization. Before taking off for Saudi Arabia, Katz described tourism as a “bridge between nations.”

“Partnership in tourism issues has the potential to bring hearts together and economic prosperity,” he said.

When asked about Katz's visit, Ahmad Deek, the director-general of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, said that the Palestinian Authority “is in continuous dialogue" about the developments with Saudi officials and “trusts in their support for the rights of our people.”

___

DeBre reported from Jerusalem.

Saudi envoy seeks to reassure Palestinians amid talks with Israel

Hossam EZZEDINE
Tue, September 26, 2023 

Saudi ambassador Nayef bin Bandar al-Sudairi speaks to journalists, joined by Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki, on the left 

(AHMAD GHARABLI)

A Saudi envoy on a rare visit to the occupied West Bank pledged Tuesday that the Palestinian cause will be "a cornerstone" of any normalisation deal the oil-rich kingdom may strike with Israel.

The delegation headed by Nayef al-Sudairi was Saudi Arabia's first in three decades to the West Bank, which Israel has occupied along with other territories since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The visit comes as Washington has urged its Middle East allies Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalise diplomatic relations, following on from similar deals involving the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

The Palestinians have labelled those agreements a betrayal of their quest for statehood -- but Sudairi sought to reassure them that Riyadh stands by their side.

"The Palestinian matter is a fundamental pillar," Sudairi told journalists after meeting top Palestinian diplomat Riyad al-Maliki in Ramallah.

"And it's certain that the Arab initiative, which was presented by the kingdom in 2002, is a cornerstone of any upcoming deal."

The 2002 initiative proposed Arab relations with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Gaza and the Golan Heights, and a just resolution for the Palestinians.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, 87, last week again stressed strong reservations to Arab countries building ties with Israel.

"Those who think that peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full, legitimate national rights would be mistaken," Abbas told the UN General Assembly in New York.

- 'Getting closer' -

Sudairi, the Saudi envoy to Jordan, was last month also named ambassador for the Palestinian territories and consul general for Jerusalem.

His delegation, which crossed overland from Jordan, was the first from Saudi Arabia to visit the West Bank since the 1993 Oslo Accords, which had aimed to pave the way for an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

When asked whether there will be a Saudi embassy in Jerusalem, Sudairi recalled that there used to be a one in the Jerusalem district of Sheikh Jarrah, and said that "hopefully there will be an embassy there" again.

Washington has been leading the talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia -- the guardian of Islam's two holiest sites -- on a potential normalisation seen as a game changer for the Middle East.

The talks have covered security guarantees for Saudi Arabia and assistance with a civilian nuclear programme, according to officials familiar with the negotiations who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

The Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, last week told US network Fox that the kingdom was getting "closer" to a deal with Israel but insisted that the Palestinian cause remains "very important" for Riyadh.

In recent months Israel has sent delegations to Saudi Arabia to participate in sports and other events, including a UNESCO meeting.

- 'Circle of peace' -

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations on Friday that he believes "we are at the cusp" of "a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia".

Speaking Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, he said "many states in the Middle East want peace with Israel".

"Increasing the circle of peace is a historic opportunity and I'm committed to it."

The 1993 Oslo Accords were meant to lead to an independent Palestinian state, but years of stalled negotiations and deadly violence have left any peaceful resolution a distant dream.

Netanyahu's hard-right government has been expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank which are deemed illegal under international law.

A recent escalation in violence has seen at least 242 Palestinians and 32 Israelis killed so far this year, according to official sources on both sides.

The United States, which has brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinians in the past, has made no major push toward a two-state solution since a failed effort nearly a decade ago.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognised internationally.

It also maintains a blockade on the Palestinian coastal territory of Gaza, which is ruled by militant group Hamas.

he-jd/jjm/fz

DEFENDING KURDISTAN

25 dead as Damascus loyalists clash with Kurdish-led forces: monitor

AFP
Tue, September 26, 2023

Map of Syria showing zones of influence for different armed groups as of June 2023, according to UN data. 

(Sabrina BLANCHARD)


Fighters loyal to the Syrian government have clashed with Kurdish-led forces in a mainly Arab district of eastern Syria, leaving 25 people dead in two days, a war monitor said Tuesday.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are backed by Washington, said they had "driven out the regime gunmen who had infiltrated the Dheiban area" of Deir Ezzor province in the gun battles which erupted on Monday.

Earlier this month, the same area saw 10 days of fighting between the SDF and armed Arab tribesmen in which 90 people were killed.

Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest clashes erupted when pro-government fighters crossed the Euphrates river, which separates pro-government forces in southwestern Deir Ezzor from the SDF in the northeast.

It said 21 of the dead were Damascus loyalists and three were SDF fighters. A woman was also killed.

The SDF said the loyalist fighters had crossed the Euphrates "under cover of an indiscriminate bombardment" of its positions.

The SDF riposted by bombarding the right bank of the river which is controlled by government troops with support from Iran-backed militias, the Observatory said.

The clashes earlier this month erupted after the SDF's arrest in late August of a local Arab military commander who had previously been an ally.

The SDF said at the time that it had driven out the detained commander's supporters among the area's Arab tribes.

It insisted the dispute was an entirely local one and not the result of any wider rift between its Kurdish-dominated forces and the Arab communities which form a majority in some areas under its control.

Washington, which has several hundred troops deployed in SDF-held areas of Deir Ezzor, including in the province's valuable oilfields, deployed mediators to engage with SDF commanders and Arab tribal leaders to try to avert any wider conflict.

The Kurds form a majority in the core areas of SDF control in northeastern and northern Syria. But in several areas which they captured in their US-backed campaign against the Islamic State group (IS), Arabs form the majority.

SDF leader Mazloum Abdi announced after the end of the earlier fighting that he had asked Arab tribal leaders to contact rebel tribesmen and assure them that his forces would grant amnesty to those who had been detained.

According to the Observatory, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria, some of the Arab fighters who fled to government-held territory after the previous clashes took part in this week's assault.

The SDF was Washington's main Syrian ally in its fightback against IS, which culminated in the jihadists' defeat in their last Syrian foothold on the left bank of the Euphrates in 2019.

Civil war erupted in Syria after President Bashar al-Assad's government crushed peaceful protests in 2011.

The conflict has killed more than half a million people and driven half the country's pre-war population from their homes.


US-backed Kurdish forces impose curfew in eastern Syria after new clashes with rival Arab militia

KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Updated Mon, September 25, 2023 

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on their armored vehicles, at al-Sabha town in the eastern countryside of Deir el-Zour, Syria, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. Weeklong clashes between rival U.S.-backed militias in eastern Syria, where hundreds of American troops are deployed, point to dangerous seams in a coalition that has kept on a lid on the defeated Islamic State group for years. 

(AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad) 

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces imposed a curfew after clashes erupted again on Monday in eastern Syria, where their fighters had battled for weeks with rival Arab militiamen, Syrian media and activists reported.

The fighting in a region where hundreds of American troops are deployed has pointed to dangerous seams in a coalition that has kept a lid on the defeated Islamic State group for years.

The reports say the Syrian Democratic Forces imposed the open-ended measure in several towns in Deir el-Zour province, including the town of Ziban, close to the Iraqi border where the Americans are based. Hundreds of U.S. troops have been there since 2015 to help in the fight against the militant Islamic State group. The oil-rich province is home to Syria’s largest oil fields.

Al Mayadeen, a pan-Arab TV station, said several fighters from the Kurdish-led forces were killed after Arab gunmen took over several parts of Ziban on Monday.

The SDF in a statement Monday said the gunmen entered Ziban “under cover of random artillery shelling” from the government-held town of Mayadeen in the province.

“(SDF fighters) have facilitated the movement of civilians to safe zones in neighboring villages, ensuring their safety and preventing the mercenary groups from using them in their terrorist acts ...” the statement added.

Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some of the Arab fighters had crossed from government-held areas.

Local media in the province reported that some Kurdish fighters had fled the area as the clashes intensified. There were no further details.

The Kurdish-led forces have accused the Syrian government of inciting the violence by allowing the rival Arab militiamen to crossing the Euphrates River. The clashes first erupted in late August when two weeks of fighting killed 25 Kurdish fighters, 29 members of Arab tribal groups and gunmen, as well as nine civilians, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces .

The Syrian government of President Bashar Assad in Damascus sees the Kurdish-led forces as secessionist fighters and has denounced their alliance with the United States in the war against IS and their self-ruled enclave in eastern Syria.

Meanwhile, Turkey, which has troops inside Syria, and Turkish-backed oppositions groups in Syria’s northwest, routinely clash with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.