BEIRUT: Clashes between forces affiliated with the Syrian Arab Republic’s new rulers and local gunmen from the minority Druze community killed one person and wounded nine near Damascus on Saturday, a monitor said.
Since Islamist-led rebels in December overthrew longtime repressive ruler Bashar Assad, clashes and shootings have occurred in several areas, with security officials accusing armed supporters of the previous government.
Saturday’s incident occurred in Jaramana, a densely populated suburb near Damascus that is home to a majority of Druze and Christian minority residents.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “one person was killed and nine others from Jaramana were injured during clashes between security forces affiliated with the new authority and local gunmen tasked with protecting the area.”
It could not specify whether the killed person was a civilian or a local fighter.
Tensions began on Friday when a dispute led to the killing of one security forces member and the wounding of another in a shooting at a checkpoint in Jaramana, according to the Observatory.
Syria’s official news agency, SANA, quoted Col. Hossam Al-Tahhan, the local head of security, as saying the checkpoint had stopped Ministry of Defense personnel as they entered the area to visit their relatives.
After surrendering their weapons they were assaulted and “their vehicle was directly targeted by gunfire,” resulting in the casualties, Tahhan said.
He warned such incidents could have repercussions on “Syria’s security, stability, and unity.”
Jaramana’s Druze said in a statement that they would “withdraw protection from all offenders and outlaws” and pledged to hand over anyone proven responsible to “the relevant authorities to face justice.”
Restoring and maintaining security across Syria remains one of the most pressing challenges for interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, following about 13 years of civil war.
The Druze, who also live in Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, make up about three percent of Syria’s population.
They largely stayed on the sidelines of the civil war.
Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham Islamist group led the offensive against Assad. The group has its roots in Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and is proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States.
HTS has moderated its rhetoric and vowed to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.
Israeli defense minister Israel Katz on Saturday warned Syria’s new rulers not “to harm the Druze,” adding the military has been ordered “to prepare and to send a firm and clear warning: if the regime harms the Druze, it will suffer the consequences.”
His comment came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Sunday demanded “the complete demilitarization of southern Syria” including Sweida province where Druze Arabs predominate.
The same day Assad was ousted, Israel announced its troops were entering a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.
One killed in Syria clashes near Damascus
https://arab.news/8x6bv
One killed in Syria clashes near Damascus
- Saturday’s incident occurred in Jaramana, a densely populated suburb near Damascus that is home to a majority of Druze and Christian minority residents
- Jaramana’s Druze said in a statement that they would “withdraw protection from all offenders and outlaws“
Internet disrupted in Morocco after Spain power outage
- Spain said it was working to determine the cause of the blackout, with Portugal saying the entire Iberian peninsula was affected
RABAT: A major power outage in Spain and Portugal on Monday disrupted Orange Maroc Internet services in Morocco, the subsidiary of the French telecoms giant announced.
In a statement, the company said “the disruption to our Internet network is due to a widespread power outage in Spain and Portugal.”
It said the blackout had “impacted international connections.”
Other Internet providers such as Maroc Telecom and Inwi have not issued any statements regarding potential disruptions.
Moroccan authorities have also not reported any impacts on the North African country resulting from the blackout.
At 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT), power went out across Spain and Portugal, causing widespread disruptions to mobile networks, Internet service and railroad operations.
With stoplights knocked out, road traffic was also halted.
Spain said it was working to determine the cause of the blackout, with Portugal saying the entire Iberian peninsula was affected. Southwest France also briefly saw cuts, its high-voltage grid operator said.
Orange Maroc’s statement came hours later, around 1520 GMT.
In neighboring Algeria, the Ministry of Telecommunications also warned of potential Internet service interruptions due to the outage.
At 1330 GMT, it said disruptions could occur “in the upcoming hours,” but none have been reported yet.
Algeria seizes 1.65 million ecstasy pills in major drug bust
- Authorities in the North African country did not specify whether those arrested were foreign nationals
ALGIERS: Algerian authorities said Monday they had seized 1.65 million ecstasy pills and arrested nine suspects involved in an international “criminal network operating between Morocco and France.”
Police said in a statement that the shipment was concealed in a truck arriving aboard a ship from the French port of Marseille.
The statement, carried by state television, said the drug haul was valued at around 4 billion dinars (nearly $30 million), describing it as “the largest quantity of such drugs ever seized in Africa.”
Several vehicles and large sums of cash believed to be “proceeds from criminal activities” were also seized, the police said.
Authorities in the North African country did not specify whether those arrested were foreign nationals.
The suspects were referred to prosecutors on charges including “international drug trafficking within an cross-border criminal group” and “money laundering,” according to the police statement.
Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo near ‘significant breakthrough,’ two security sources say
- Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that a recent meeting in Doha on efforts to reach a ceasefire made some progress, but noted there was no agreement yet on how to end the war
CAIRO: Negotiations held in Cairo to reach a ceasefire in Gaza were on the verge of a "significant breakthrough," two Egyptian security sources told Reuters on Monday.
There was no immediate comment from Israel and Hamas. Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a brief post on X that an Israeli official denied the reported breakthrough, without giving further details.
The Egyptian sources said there was a consensus on a long-term ceasefire in the besieged enclave, yet some sticking points remain, including Hamas arms.
Hamas repeatedly said it was not willing to lay down its arms, a key demand by Israel.
Earlier, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV reported that Egyptian intelligence chief General Hassan Mahmoud Rashad was set to meet an Israeli delegation headed by strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer on Monday in Cairo.
The sources said the ongoing talks included Egyptian and Israeli delegations.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar did not report developments on the latest talks. Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that a recent meeting in Doha on efforts to reach a ceasefire made some progress, but noted there was no agreement yet on how to end the war. He said the militant group is willing to return all remaining Israeli hostages if Israel ends the war in Gaza. But Israel wants Hamas to release the remaining hostages without offering a clear vision on ending the war, he added. The media adviser for the Hamas leadership, Taher Al-Nono, told Reuters on Saturday that the group was open to a years-long truce with Israel in Gaza, adding that the group hoped to build support among mediators for its offer.
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem on Monday night, before Reuters reported that there had been progress in the talks, Dermer said the government remained committed to dismantling Hamas' military capability, ending its rule in Gaza, ensuring that the enclave never again poses a threat to Israel and returning the hostages.
Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a January ceasefire collapsed, saying it would keep up pressure on Hamas until it frees the remaining hostages still held in the enclave. Up to 24 of them are believed to be still alive.
The Gaza war started after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack which killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's offensive on the enclave killed more than 52,000, according to local Palestinian health officials.
US lost seven multi-million-dollar drones in Yemen area since March
- “There have been seven MQ-9s that have gone down since March 15,” the US official said on condition of anonymity, without specifying what caused the loss of the drones, which cost around $30 million apiece
WASHINGTON: The United States has lost seven multi-million-dollar MQ-9 Reaper drones in the Yemen area since March 15, a US official said Monday, as the Navy announced a costly warplane fell off an aircraft carrier into the Red Sea.
Washington launched the latest round of its air campaign against Yemen’s Houthis in mid-March, and MQ-9s can be used for both reconnaissance — a key aspect of US efforts to identify and target weaponry the rebels are using to attack shipping in the region — as well as strikes.
“There have been seven MQ-9s that have gone down since March 15,” the US official said on condition of anonymity, without specifying what caused the loss of the drones, which cost around $30 million apiece.
The US Navy meanwhile announced the loss of another piece of expensive military equipment: an F/A-18E warplane that fell off the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in an accident that injured one sailor.
A tractor that was towing the F/A-18E — a type of aircraft that cost more than $67 million in 2021 — also slipped off the ship into the sea.
“The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard,” the Navy said in a statement.
The carrier and its other planes remain in action and the incident is under investigation, the Navy added. No details of recovery work were released.
It is the second F/A-18 operating off the Truman to be lost in less than six months, after another was mistakenly shot down by the USS Gettysburg guided missile cruiser late last year in incident that both pilots survived.
The Truman is one of two US aircraft carriers operating in the Middle East, where US forces have been striking the Houthis on a near-daily basis since March 15.
The military’s Central Command said Sunday that US forces have struck more than 800 targets and killed hundreds of Houthi fighters, including members of the group’s leadership, as part of the operation.
The Iran-backed Houthis began targeting shipping in late 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by a military campaign launched by Israel after a shock Hamas attack in October of that year.
Houthi attacks have prevented ships from passing through the Suez Canal — a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of the world’s shipping traffic — forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.
The United States first began conducting strikes against the Houthis under the Biden administration, and President Donald Trump has vowed that military action against the rebels will continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.
Hezbollah leader calls on government to work harder to end Israel’s attacks on Lebanon
- Naim Kassem's comments came as the Israeli military said it carried out more than 50 strikes in Lebanon this month
- He said the priority should be for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, an end to Israeli strikes in the country and the release of Lebanese held in Israel
BEIRUT: The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group called on the government Monday to work harder to end Israel’s attacks in the country a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a suburb of Beirut.
Naim Kassem said in a televised speech that Hezbollah implemented the ceasefire deal that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war in late November. But despite that, Israel is continuing with near-daily airstrikes.
Kassem’s comments came as the Israeli military said it carried out more than 50 strikes in Lebanon this month saying they came after Hezbollah violated the US-brokered ceasefire.
On Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck Beirut’s southern suburbs after issuing a warning about an hour earlier, marking the third Israeli strike on the area since a ceasefire took effect in late November. The Israeli military said it struck a precision-guided missiles facility.
“The resistance complied 100 percent with the (ceasefire) deal and I tell state officials that it’s your duty to guarantee protection,” Kassem said, adding that Lebanese officials should contact sponsors of the ceasefire so that they pressure Israel to cease its attacks.
“Put pressure on America and make it understand that Lebanon cannot rise if the aggression doesn’t stop,” Kassem said, pointing to Lebanese officials. He added that the US has interests in Lebanon and “stability achieves these interests.”
Kassem said the priority should be for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, an end to Israeli strikes in the country and the release of Lebanese held in Israel since the war that ended on Nov. 27.
Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by its Hamas allies ignited the Israel-Hamas war. Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and abducted 251 others during the 2023 attack.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict exploded into all-out war last September when Israel carried out waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders. The fighting killed over 4,000 people.
The Lebanese government said earlier this month that 190 people have been killed and 485 injured in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire took effect.
