JEDDAH: Kurdish-led forces sent troop reinforcements to Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria on Monday amid days of clashes with fighters loyal to the head of the local provincial military council.
Fighting erupted a week ago after the Syrian Democratic Forces arrested Ahmad Al-Khabil. They accused him of communicating with the Assad regime in Damascus, and of drug trafficking and mismanagement leading to an increase in Daesh activities.

STOCKHOLM: Sweden on Monday urged Iran to free one of its nationals it says has been held in the country arbitrarily since April 2022 in a case exacerbating bilateral tensions.
“A Swedish citizen — a man in his thirties — was detained in Iran in April 2022. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Sweden in Tehran are working very intensively on the case and are maintaining close contact with the EU,” Sweden’s foreign ministry told AFP in an email.

RABAT: The United Nations envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, arrived in Laayoune on Monday for talks on the disputed territory, the UN said.
A statement said he was “looking forward to conducting visits in the region and meetings, engaging all concerned ahead of the issuance of the report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council in October.”
The conflict dates back to 1975, when colonial occupier Spain withdrew from Western Sahara, sparking a 15-year war between the Algeria-backed Polisario Front and Morocco for control over the territory.

CAIRO: United Nations-commissioned experts on Monday called for forces of a powerful Libyan military commander to stop evicting residents and demolishing their homes in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
The experts said in a statement that the Libyan National Army, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, has since March removed more than 20,000 residents from their homes “at a very short notice.”
They also said the destruction in the city center “is spreading in an alarmed manner,” with residents expelled and forced to give up their property or their ownership documents.

GENEVA: The United Nations’ rights chief said Monday he was “alarmed” by the high number of injuries during recent clashes in Israel involving Eritrean protesters.
Trouble erupted on Saturday when a demonstration against an Eritrean government event turned violent, injuring nearly 140 people, including a dozen Eritrean asylum seekers who were hit by Israeli police gunfire.
“Alarmed at high number of injuries during protests involving opposing Eritrean protesters, particularly in Israel,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on X, formerly known as Twitter.