Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Jan. 25

DAMASCUS -- The Turkish military campaign on the Kurdish-held Afrin enclave in northern Syria has killed and wounded 141 civilians since it started last Saturday, state news agency SANA reported on Thursday.

It came amid unconfirmed reports about a possible understanding between the Kurdish fighters and the Syrian army for handing Afrin over to the Syrian army to confront the Turkish campaign. (Syria-Turkey-Military Operation)

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BEIRUT -- Lebanon was invited Thursday to participate in peace talks on Syria in the Russian town of Sochi this month, the National News Agency reported.

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zaspikin extended the invitation during a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. (Lebanon-Syria-Peace Talks)

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DUBAI -- A U.S. senior official said on Thursday that his country aligns with its "staunch allies the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia" over the threats posed by Iran to regional stability, UAE state news agency WAM reported.

The comments were made by Paul Ryan, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, at a meeting at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. (UAE-U.S.-Iran)

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ADEN, Yemen -- The Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces launched on Thursday a wide-scale military operation against the Shiite Houthi rebels in the southwestern province of Taiz, an army commander told Xinhua.

"The fighting is now ferocious and concentrating on the western parts of Taiz. Houthis lost strategic sites," the army commander said on condition of anonymity. (Yemen-Houthis-Taiz) Enditem