April 23, 2021
Fighting escalated between Syria’s Kurdish-led forces and members of a pro-regime militia in the northeastern city of Qamishli on Friday after a local community leader was shot dead returning home from a meeting about reducing tensions in the city.
Shaykh Hayes al-Jaryan, also known as Abu Lawrence, was killed late Thursday night near his home near Qamishli airport, an area controlled by the pro-regime National Defense Force militia, according to local officials.
One local source described al-Jaryan as an independent mediator who had “a good relationship” with the Syrian Democratic Forces. His son Lawrence was killed in the war against the Islamic State in 2014.
other Iran talks:
Rouhani notes 60-70% progress in Vienna. Let’s start in Vienna, where talks are underway for the return of both the United States and Iran to compliance with Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The details are trickling out and the messages are mixed, but the headline (cutting through the daily pressers and remarks, on and off the record) is that talks are ongoing and some type of roadmap to reconciliation may be emerging. While expressing all sorts of reservations and caution, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi nonetheless said on April 20 that the talks are on the right track. Iran President
A Preview of Post-Withdrawal Problems in Afghanistan
Army paratroopers secure a landing zone for a helicopter in Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 20, 2019. (U.S. Department of Defense Photo by Army Maj. Thomas Cieslak)
On Tuesday, the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing to address “national security challenges and U.S. force posture” in the Middle East and Africa. Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, appeared alongside Gen. Stephen Townsend, head of U.S. Africa Command, and Amanda Dory, the acting under secretary of defense for defense policy. The hearing touched on a variety of issues, from China and Russia’s influence in Africa to the U.S.’s potential return to the Iran nuclear deal. But it was also the first time that Gen. McKenzie, the head of all U.S. forces in the Middle East, has publicly appeared before Congress since President Biden announced the withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021. (Gen. Aus