🏴🇮🇶 On Kurdish Jihadis within HTS ranks: Estimates indicate that the number of Kurdish militants within Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria may exceed 3,000, originating from Kurdish populations across the region.
Reports suggest that the largest contingent is likely from Turkey, with a particularly notable concentration from the city of Bingöl, where over 600 individuals reportedly joined Jabhat al-Nusra (the predecessor of HTS) during its early formation.
Other fighters primarily consist of Kurdish militants from Iran and Iraq, while only a smaller fraction are believed to be Syrian Kurds.
One prominent Kurdish militant group active in Idlib province, HTS’s main stronghold during the Syrian conflict, was Ansar al-Islam—an Iraq-based Kurdish Salafi-jihadist organization.
Pictured: Ansar al-Islam fighters during a training session in Idlib in 2019.
🏴🇮🇶 On Kurdish Jihadis within HTS ranks: Estimates indicate that the number of Kurdish militants within Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria may exceed 3,000, originating from Kurdish populations across the region.
Reports suggest that the largest contingent is likely from Turkey, with a particularly notable concentration from the city of Bingöl, where over 600 individuals reportedly joined Jabhat al-Nusra (the predecessor of HTS) during its early formation.
Other fighters primarily consist of Kurdish militants from Iran and Iraq, while only a smaller fraction are believed to be Syrian Kurds.
One prominent Kurdish militant group active in Idlib province, HTS’s main stronghold during the Syrian conflict, was Ansar al-Islam—an Iraq-based Kurdish Salafi-jihadist organization.
Pictured: Ansar al-Islam fighters during a training session in Idlib in 2019.
Ukrainian forces have since put up a strong resistance to the Russian troops amid the war that has left hundreds of Ukrainian civilians, including children, dead, according to the United Nations. Ukrainian and international officials have accused Russia of targeting civilian populations with shelling and bombardments. Official government accounts have also spread fake fact checks. An official Twitter account for the Russia diplomatic mission in Geneva shared a fake debunking video claiming without evidence that "Western and Ukrainian media are creating thousands of fake news on Russia every day." The video, which has amassed almost 30,000 views, offered a "how-to" spot misinformation. Asked about its stance on disinformation, Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn told AFP: "As noted by our CEO, the sheer volume of information being shared on channels makes it extremely difficult to verify, so it's important that users double-check what they read." At the start of 2018, the company attempted to launch an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) which would enable it to enable payments (and earn the cash that comes from doing so). The initial signals were promising, especially given Telegram’s user base is already fairly crypto-savvy. It raised an initial tranche of cash – worth more than a billion dollars – to help develop the coin before opening sales to the public. Unfortunately, third-party sales of coins bought in those initial fundraising rounds raised the ire of the SEC, which brought the hammer down on the whole operation. In 2020, officials ordered Telegram to pay a fine of $18.5 million and hand back much of the cash that it had raised. Apparently upbeat developments in Russia's discussions with Ukraine helped at least temporarily send investors back into risk assets. Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that there were "certain positive developments" occurring in the talks with Ukraine, according to a transcript of their meeting. Putin added that discussions were happening "almost on a daily basis."
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