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The Fighting Continues in Northern Syria

The Kurds vow to defend themselves—alone if necessary—against Syria, Turkey and Russia.
A figure of a Shooting Man with mountains as abackdrop

The sound of Turkish artillery breaks the silence of the morning in the village of Umm Kaif, less than 2 miles from Tal Tamr near the Syrian-Turkish border. Despite the proclamation of a cease fire last month, the Turkish army and its Syrian rebel allies are still clashing with the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, and lately also the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Kurdish mortars return fire a minute or so after the shelling starts.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal


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Picture of Dr. Jonathan Spyer

Dr. Jonathan Spyer

Dr. Jonathan Spyer is one of the very few Western/Israeli experts to have traveled extensively in Syria, Iraq and the Kurdish areas during the recent years of conflict. He is the author of Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars (Routledge, December 2017), and The Transforming Fire: the Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict (Continuum, 2010). He is a regular contributor to Jane’s Intelligence Review, has published in leading journals and media outlets including Middle East Quarterly, Times (of London), Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Haaretz, Atlantic, Australian, National Post, Globe and Mail, Jerusalem Report, Jerusalem Post and others; and has appeared on CNN, al-Jazeera, Fox, BBC, Sky, and other outlets. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics and an MA in Middle East politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He is also a fellow at the Middle East Forum.

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