Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he delivers a speech at his ruling Justice and Development (AKP) Party conference in Ankara, Friday, March 30, 2018. Erdogan has responded angrily at France for suggesting that it could help establish a dialogue between Turkey and a Syrian group that is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers to be terrorists. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Pool Photo via AP)
Republished March 30, 2018 - 9:53 AM
Original Publication Date March 30, 2018 - 2:21 AM
BEIRUT - The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):
7:55 p.m.
A member of the British armed forces has been killed in a bomb blast in Syria during an operation against the Islamic State group.
A U.K. defence ministry spokesman said Friday that an improvised explosive device in Syria killed the service member who was embedded with U.S. forces on Thursday.
No details on the casualty's service branch, unit or gender were immediately provided.
The spokesman said "the family has been notified and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."
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4 p.m.
A U.S. defence official says one of the two troops with the U.S.-led coalition who were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Syria was an American.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details had not yet been publicly released, did not give the nationality of the second military member.
Earlier on Friday, the U.S. military said two coalition personnel were killed and five others wounded by a roadside bomb in Syria without specifying where exactly the attack occurred.
The U.S. official said no additional information about the American would be immediately available.
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12:50 p.m.
A Syrian rebel group based near the capital Damascus is denying reports that an agreement has been reached with the Russians to evacuate the area and move somewhere else.
Army of Islam military spokesman Hamza Bayraqdar tells The Associated Press that the reports are false, adding that his group's stance is to reject displacement and demographic change in the area known as eastern Ghouta.
Earlier on Friday, Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff said in a briefing that the agreement was that the rebels and their families leave the Syrian town of Douma in eastern Ghouta.
The announcement came after the Syrian government on Wednesday issued a three-day ultimatum to the Army of Islam group to leave Douma or face an all-out offensive.
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12:30 p.m.
The Russian military says a deal has been reached for the largest rebel group in the enclave of eastern Ghouta to leave the area.
Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff told Friday's briefing that the agreement envisages that the rebels and their families leave the Syrian town of Douma, just outside of Damascus.
The announcement came after the Syrian government on Wednesday issued a three-day ultimatum to the Army of Islam group to leave Douma or face an all-out offensive.
The Syrian government and the Russian military backing it have demanded that Army of Islam members leave the area for northern Syria, following other rebels who left eastern Ghouta.
Rudskoi said over 143,000 people, including 13,793 and 23,544 members of their families have left eastern Ghouta.
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11:55 a.m.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has responded angrily at France for suggesting that it could help establish a dialogue between Turkey and a Syrian group that is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers to be terrorists.
Erdogan on Friday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of overstepping "his limits" and going "over his head," adding that Turkey would never negotiate with "terrorists."
He was speaking after Macron met with members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, pledged French support to the group, and suggested that Turkey could establish dialogue with the group with Paris' help.
In his address in Ankara, the Turkish leader also said he held a telephone conversation with Macron last week during which the French leader made "bizarre" comments that forced Erdogan to raise his voice and respond with a "high frequency."
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11:15 a.m.
The U.S. military says two coalition personnel have been killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria.
A U.S. military statement says the incident occurred on Thursday night and that the wounded personnel were being evacuated for further medical treatment.
Friday's statement did not say where the explosion occurred and did not state the casualties are Americans.
A Syrian official had told The Associated Press earlier that a roadside bomb exploded in the mixed Arab-Kurdish town of Manbij. Mohammed Abu Adel, the head of the Manbij Military Council, an Arab-Kurdish US.-backed group in the town, says the bomb went off hundreds of meters away from a security headquarters that houses the council just before midnight on Thursday.
The coalition statement said details pertaining to the incident are being withheld pending further investigation.
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8:35 a.m.
A Syrian official says a roadside bomb has gone off in a tense, mixed Arab-Kurdish town not far from the border with Turkey.
Mohammed Abu Adel, the head of the Manbij Military Council, an Arab-Kurdish US.-backed group in the town, says the bomb went off hundreds of meters away from a security headquarters that houses the council just before midnight on Thursday.
A U.S. military official said on Friday an incident involving coalition forces was reported in Manbij but said no more information was available.
Col. Ryan Dillon said the coalition was still gathering information about the incident.
Manbij is under threat of a Turkish military operation. Ankara says Syrian Kurdish militiamen it views as "terrorists" and an extension of Kurdish insurgents inside Turkey is in control of the town.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018