Page 14 - Syria

France issues arrest warrants for Syrian prez, generals over war crimes

French judicial authorities issued international arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar Assad, his brother, and two army generals for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, lawyers for Syrian victims said. They include a 2013 chemical attack on rebel-held Damascus suburbs. A victim of the attack welcomed the move as a reminder of the horrors of Syria's civil war and urged countries where Assad might travel to arrest him. While he is unlikely to face trial in France, international warrants for a serving world leader are very rare and send a strong message about Assad's leadership at a time when some countries have welcomed him back into the diplomatic fold. In addition to President Assad, the arrest warrants were issued for his brother, Maher Assad, the commander of the 4th Armored Division, and two Syrian army generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan, the lawyers said. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government on the warrants. Jeann

France issues arrest warrants for Syrian prez for involvement in war crimes

French judicial authorities on Wednesday issued international arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar Assad, his brother and two army generals alleging their involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity including in the chemical attack in 2013 on rebel-held Damascus suburbs, lawyers for Syrian victims said. In addition to President Assad, the arrest warrants were issued for his brother, Maher Assad, the commander of the 4th Armored Division, and two Syrian army generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan. Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt, lawyers at the Paris Bar who represent the plaintiffs, and NGOs behind the complaint, hailed the decision Wednesday. It marks a crucial milestone in the battle against impunity, Sulzer told The Associated Press on the phone. It signifies a positive evolution in case law recognising the grave nature of the crimes committed. The Paris prosecutor's office has not publicly commented on the arrest warrants that remain secret under French l

US conducts airstrikes against Iran-backed groups in Syria to retaliate

The Pentagon and US officials say US fighter aircraft conducted airstrikes on locations in eastern Syria involving Iranian-backed groups, likely causing casualties and destroying weapons stored at the two targets that were struck a training facility and a safe house. A defense official said that the training facility also served as a weapons storage and that the safe house, located in the Bulbul district of Mayadin, functioned as a headquarters for Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated groups in the area. The official said Revolutionary Guard-related personnel were present at the time of the strikes and likely were hit, but the Pentagon had not confirmed whether they were killed. The defense official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to provide additional details of the strikes. The US has conducted three strikes over the last two weeks against Iranian-tied weapons depots in Syria to retaliate for the more than 50 rocket and drone attacks that ...

US conducts airstrikes in Syria in retaliation for attacks on its troops

The US military conducted airstrikes on two locations in eastern Syria involving Iranian-backed groups, hitting a training location and a weapons facility, according to the Pentagon and US officials. It marks the third time in a bit more than two weeks that the US has retaliated against the militants for what has been a growing number of attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria. In a statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes targeted sites near Abukama and Mayadin and were used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as Iran-backed militias. The President has no higher priority than the safety of US personnel, and he directed today's action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests, Austin said. A U.S. official said one site also included weapons storage. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a military operation. The militant groups, many operating under the umbrella of t

US attacks Syrian facility in response to attacks by Iran-backed militias

The U.S. launched an airstrike on a facility in eastern Syria linked to Iranian-backed militias, in retaliation for what has been a growing number of attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in the region for the past several weeks, the Pentagon said. The strike by two U.S. F-15 fighter jets was on a weapons storage facility linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today's action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. This is the second time in less than two weeks that the U.S. has bombed facilities used by the militant groups, many operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which U.S. officials say have carried out at least 40 such attacks since Oct. 17. That was the day a powerful explosion rocked a Gaza hospital, killing hundreds and triggering protests in a number of Muslim .

Israel-Hamas war spilling into Syria, which already has instability: Envoy

The Israel-Hamas war is spilling into Syria, fuelled by growing instability, violence and a lack of progress toward a political solution to its 12-year conflict, the United Nations special envoy for the country said Monday. Geir Pedersen told the Security Council that, on top of violence from the Syrian conflict, the Syrian people now face a terrifying prospect of a potential wider escalation following Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel and the ongoing retaliatory military action. Spillover into Syria is not just a risk; it has already begun, the U.N. envoy for Syria said. Pedersen pointed to air strikes attributed to Israel hitting Syria's airports in Aleppo and Damascus several times, and retaliation by the United States against what it said were multiple attacks on its forces "by groups that it claims are backed by Iran, including on Syrian territory." With the region at its most dangerous and tense, he said, fuel is being added to a tinderbox that was already beginning to ignit

US strikes Iran-linked sites in Syria in retaliation for attacks on troops

The U.S. military launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said, in retaliation for a slew of drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and personnel in the region that began early last week. The U.S. strikes reflect the Biden administration's determination to maintain a delicate balance. The U.S. wants to hit Iranian-backed groups suspected of targeting the U.S. as strongly as possible to deter future aggression, possibly fueled by Israel's war against Hamas, while also working to avoid inflaming the region and provoking a wider conflict. According to the Pentagon, there have been at least 12 attacks on U.S. bases and personnel in Iraq and four in Syria since Oct. 17. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said 21 U.S. personnel were injured in two of those assaults that used drones to target al-Asad Airbase in Iraq and al-Tanf Garrison in Syria.

IDF strikes Syria after rocket attack, conducts airstrike on gunmen

A day ago, the IDF said two rockets were launched from Syria at northern Israel, setting off alarms in the Golan Heights communities of Neot Golan, Bnei Yehuda and Givat Yoav

Indians top the list of those seeking citizenship in wealthy OECD nations

Out of those Indians who moved to OECD countries, 133,000 were granted nationality, the highest among all countries

Aid convoy reaches Gaza as Israel attacks targets in Syria, West Bank

The second aid convoy destined for desperate Palestinian civilians reached Gaza on Sunday, as Israel widened its attacks to include targets in Syria and the occupied West Bank and the Israeli prime minister warned Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group that if it launches its own war, we will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine. For days, Israel has been on the verge of launching a ground offensive in Gaza following Hamas' brutal October 7 rampage through a series of Israeli communities. Tanks and troops have been massed at the Gaza border, waiting for the command to cross. Israel's military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the country had increased airstrikes across Gaza to hit targets that would reduce the risk to troops in the next stage of the war. Fears of a widening war grew as Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza, two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants. Israel has traded fire with Hezbollah militants si

Israel responds to fire from Syria with artillery, mortar amid Hamas attack

The Israeli military said it is responding to fire from Syria with artillery and mortar shelling. The military said Tuesday that unidentified projectiles were fired from Syria and appeared to have fallen in an open area. The flare-up comes as Israel is striking in Gaza in response to a stunning attack by Hamas and as exchanges of fire with the Lebanese Hezbollah have continued. There was no immediate comment from Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor, said a Palestinian faction conducted the rocket attack from Syrian territory. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. Israeli warplanes hammered the Gaza Strip neighbourhood by neighbourhood on Tuesday, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety in the tiny, sealed-off territory now suffering severe retaliation for the deadly weekend attack by Hamas militants. Humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid i

Canada, Netherlands take Syria to top UN court; accuse Damascus of torture

The Netherlands and Canada are taking Syria's government to the United Nations' highest court on Tuesday, accusing Damascus of massive human rights violations against its own people. Since 2011, Syrians have been tortured, murdered, sexually assaulted, forcibly disappeared and subjected to chemical weapon attacks on a mass scale, the Netherlands and Canada said when they launched the case at the International Court of Justice in June. Twelve years on, human rights violations at the hands of the Syrian regime persist, they added. Syria's conflict started with peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad's government in March 2011 but quickly morphed into a full-blown civil war after the government's brutal crackdown on the protesters. The tide turned in Assad's favour against rebel groups in 2015, when Russia provided key military backing to Syria, as well as Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. In a written filing to the court, the Netherlands and Canada said torture

Turkish warplanes hit US-backed Kurdish militia targets in northern Syria

Turkish warplanes have carried out airstrikes on sites believed to be used by US-backed Kurdish militant groups in northern Syria after the US military shot down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 metres of American troops. A Turkish defence ministry statement said the Turkish jets targeted some 30 sites in the Tal Rifat, Jazeera and Derik regions, destroying caves, bunkers, shelters and warehouses used by Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, or its affiliated Kurdish militia group in Syria, which is known as People's Defence Units, or YPG. Turkiye has been carrying out strikes on Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria following a suicide attack outside the Interior Ministry building in the Turkish capital earlier this week. The PKK claimed the attack in which one attacker blew himself up and another would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police. Two police officers were wounded. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the two assailants had arrived from Syria, wher

Syria casualty tolls in Homs drone strikes rises to 80 killed, 240 wounded

Syria's health minister has raised the casualty tolls from a drone attack on Thursday that hit a packed military graduation ceremony in the central city of Homs to 80 killed and 240 wounded. It was one of the deadliest attacks on the Syrian army in recent years, with the country's conflict now in its thirteenth year. Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabash said that civilians, including six children, and military personnel were among those killed. There were concerns the death toll could rise further as many of the wounded were in serious condition. In an earlier statement, Syria's military said that drones laden with explosives targeted the ceremony packed with young officers and their families as it was wrapping up in Homs. It accused insurgents backed by known international forces of the attack, without naming any particular group. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern at the drone attack in Homs as wel

Shelling in northwest Syria kills at least 5 civilians: Emergency workers

The Syrian government early Thursday shelled a village in the rebel-held northwestern part of the country, killing at least five civilians, activists and emergency workers said. The shelling, which comes amid a rise in strikes in the rebel-held enclave in recent days, hit a family house on the outskirts of the the village of Kafr Nouran in western Aleppo province, according to opposition-held northwestern Syria's civil defence organisation known as the White Helmets. The dead included an elderly woman and three of her daughters and her son, said Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Nine others from the family were injured, it said. Neither Syria nor its key military ally Russia commented on the shelling, but Damascus says strikes in the northwestern province target armed insurgent groups. The Syrian pro-government newspaper Al-Watan said the Syrian army had targeted the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Hayat Tahrir al Sham in response to its ..

Cluster munition deaths in Ukraine surpass Syria for first time in a decade

More than 300 people were killed and over 600 wounded by cluster munitions in Ukraine in 2022, according to an international watchdog, surpassing Syria as the country with the highest number of casualties from the controversial weapons for the first time in a decade. Russia's widespread use of the bombs, which open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets or submunitions as they are called, in its invasion of Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, their use by Ukrainian forces helped make 2022 the deadliest year on record globally, according to the annual report released Tuesday by the Cluster Munition Coalition, a network of non-governmental organisations advocating for a ban of the weapons. The deadliest attack in Ukraine, according to the the country's prosecutor general's office, was a bombing on a railway station in the town of Kramatorsk that killed 53 people and wounded 135. Meanwhile, in Syria and other war-battered countries in the Middle East, although active fighting

Iran warns Israel that it will face retaliation for its airstrike on Syria

Iran's foreign minister condemned Wednesday an Israeli airstrike on the international airport of the Syrian city of Aleppo, saying such attacks would eventually face retaliation. Hossein Amirabdollahian made his comments during a news conference in the Syrian capital, Damascus, where he was beginning a two-day visit. On Monday, an Israeli airstrike damaged Aleppo's airport, putting the runway out of service. The airport has been targeted several times this year, including two attacks in March that also put it out of service. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. Often the strikes target Syrian military forces or Iranian-backed groups. Tehran has been a main backer of the Syrian government since a 2011 uprising turned into full-blown civil war. It has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters to Syria, helping to tip the balance of power in the favour of .

IS claims responsibility for attack that killed 20 Syrian soldiers

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an ambush in eastern Syria that killed at least 20 government soldiers and wounded others, warning that such attacks will continue. IS sleeper cells still carry deadly attacks despite their defeat in Syria in 2019. The group once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq where they declared a caliphate in 2014. The Friday night statement said IS fighters ambushed two army trucks in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour using different kinds of weapons. IS claimed that 40 members of the Syrian military were killed and 10 were wounded. Syrian opposition activists said the Thursday night attack on a bus carrying soldiers near the town of Mayadeen killed at least 20 soldiers and wounded others. State media said several soldiers were killed and wounded, without giving a breakdown. Let the whole world know that our allegiance to our leaders is practiced with deeds and not words and our Jihad is going on until Doomsday, IS said. Last w

4 Syrian soldiers killed in suspected Israeli airstrikes around Damascus

Israeli airstrikes hit areas around Damascus early Monday, killing at least four Syrian soldiers, Syrian state media reported. Syrian state television, citing a military source, said four other soldiers were also wounded while the strikes caused some material damage. Israeli authorities did not immediately comment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked war monitor, said the strikes targeted weapons and munitions warehouses and positions of Iran-backed militias around Damascus. They say at least six were killed and seven others wounded. The Observatory said the strikes mark 22nd time Israel has struck Syria this year. Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighboring Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges them. Israel has also targeted the international airports in Damascus and the northern Syrian city of Aleppo several times over the past f

UN to reduce food aid, cash payments to Afghanistan amid 'funding crisis'

Carl Skau, the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program said apart from Afghanistan, these countries include Syria, Yemen, and West Africa