By Ece Toksabay

ANKARA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Thursday it is ready to help Syria if asked after the Syrian army independently launched a "counter-terrorism" operation in Aleppo, where fierce fighting broke out in recent days between government forces and Kurdish fighters.

Turkey's Defence Ministry said at a briefing that the Aleppo operation was "carried out entirely by the Syrian army," implying no Turkish involvement.

Turkey's military is ready to "support" Syria in its battle with Kurdish fighters in the northwestern city of Aleppo if Damascus asks for help, a defence ministry official said Thursday.

And Turkey's top diplomat said Ankara had been working "intensively" with Syrian and American officials in a bid to end the unrest.

Deadly clashes erupted this week between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) after the two sides failed to reach a year-end deadline to merge the Kurdish fighters into the main Damascus military.

Iranian protesters on Thursday stepped up their challenge to the clerical leadership with the biggest protests yet of nearly two weeks of rallies, as authorities cut internet access and the death toll from a crackdown mounted.

The movement, which originated with a shutdown on the Tehran bazaar on December 28 after the rial currency plunged to record lows, has spread nationwide and is now being marked by larger-scale demonstrations, including in the capital.

BEIRUT, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Lebanese army said on Thursday that it had achieved the goal of a state monopoly on arms in the country’s south in an "effective and tangible way", but said there was more work to be done to clear unexploded ordnance and tunnels in the area.

The army had set a year-end deadline to clear non-state weaponry from southern Lebanon, which borders Israel, before moving on to other areas of the country.

It said it had extended operational control over the south, except for areas still occupied by Israeli troops.

Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said the head of Yemen's southern separatists, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, left for Somaliland aboard a vessel and then boarded a plane to Somalia's Mogadishu.

The plane that took him to Mogadishu waited for an hour and then flew to a military airport in Abu Dhabi, the coalition said in a statement, without specifying whether al-Zubaidi was still on board.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

Jan 7 (Reuters) - Mohammad Sinwar, the elusive Hamas military chief in Gaza, had for months since the death of his brother, in 2024, been Israel's most wanted man.On December 29, Hamas announced that he had died, aged 49, around seven months after Israel said it killed him in a strike.

Hamas did not provide details on Sinwar's death but said it mourned him along with other group leaders, describing them as "heroic martyrs". Hamas confirmed in the statement that Sinwar had been the head of the group's armed forces.

By Ariba Shahid and Saad Sayeed

ISLAMABAD, Jan 7 - Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are in talks to convert about $2 billion of Saudi loans into a JF-17 fighter jet deal, two Pakistani sources said, deepening military cooperation months after the two nations signed a mutual defence pact last year.

The talks underscore how the two allies are moving to operationalise defence cooperation at a time when Pakistan is facing acute financial strain and Saudi Arabia is reshaping its security partnerships to hedge against uncertainty about U.S. commitments in the Middle East.

By Andrew Mills and Rachna Uppal

Abu Dhabi, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Turmoil in Yemen's south has exposed a major feud between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, yet their $30 billion trade ties are proving remarkably resilient.

There is unlikely to be any repeat of the trade boycott that hit Qatar in 2017 during its standoff with Gulf states, because there is simply too much at stake for both Saudi and the UAE.

WHY IS THE SAUDI-UAE ROW NOT LIKELY TO HIT TRADE ?

ROME, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Italy has begun repatriating dozens of its citizens stranded on the Yemeni island of Socotra, with a first flight carrying 46 tourists due to land in Jeddah on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Another 59 Italians remain on the island and are expected to return on additional flights in the coming days, as authorities work with Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities will grant the Italians a four-day transit visa to help facilitate their return home.

By Federico Maccioni

DUBAI, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Yemeni separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi,who took up arms early in life and never shied away from joining conflicts,shows no signs of abandoning his dream of creating an independent state in the south.

Zubaidi, the leader of Yemen's Southern Transitional Council, failed to board a flight to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks on ending a military escalation that saw his forces sweep towards the Saudi border last month.