Turkey 'won't stop' Syria operation despite 'threats': Erdogan
Istanbul: Turkey will not stop its operation against Kurdish militants in northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, dismissing what he called "threats" from other countries.
"Whatever some may say, we will not stop this step that we have taken," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. "Now there are threats coming from left and right, telling us to stop this," he added.
"We will not step back... We will continue this fight until all the terrorists go south of the 32-kilometre (20 mile) limit from our border that Mr Trump himself mentioned."
Turkey launched an operation on Wednesday against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria that it considers a "terrorist" off-shoot of Kurdish insurgents in its own territory.
It aims to establish a buffer zone to keep the YPG away from its border -- an idea that was first publicly mooted by US President Donald Trump at the start of the year.
However, Trump and other Western allies have heavily criticised this week's offensive by Turkey, since they had used the YPG as the key frontline force in the battle against the Islamic State group in recent years.
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Two Delhi men held for BMTC bus phone thefts in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Whitefield police have arrested two men from Delhi for allegedly stealing mobile phones from passengers travelling in Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses and solved 14 theft cases, officials said on Tuesday.
The arrested accused have been identified as Jai Chand (25), who worked at a hotel in Delhi, and Tarun (34), an autorickshaw driver in Delhi.
Officials said on January 24, a Mahadevapura resident lodged a complaint that his iPhone 15 Plus was stolen while he was travelling on a BMTC bus towards Whitefield.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case and arrested two suspects within an hour near a lodge on Hosa Road. During the arrest, the police found a bag containing several stolen mobile phones.
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“During interrogation, the suspects confessed that they were stealing mobile phones from passengers travelling in BMTC buses. They had also committed thefts during a concert held under the Channarayapatna police station limits on January 23,” the police said.
Investigations revealed that the accused had travelled from Delhi for the concert and stolen mobile phones from the audience. A third suspect is at large and is likely hiding in the Shahdara area of Delhi.
One of the victims, a YouTuber, raised the theft issue in February in a post on X.
“Here is my (FIR No 0013/2026 is registered in Channarayapatana PS. Your GSC No. is PO1814260100013) request @DelhiPolice @BlrCityPolice to plz look into this & get my device back since it's my work phone & I am a youtuber, all my data is there! someone plz help. @dcpwhitefield,” Anirban Sarkar posted on X on February 6.
Police have recovered 14 mobile phones of various brands, collectively valued at about Rs 9 lakh, from the accused. The two were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.
In total, one case from Whitefield and 13 from Channarayapatna police stations were detected. Further investigation is underway.
