BEIRUT: Twelve murders have taken place at a displaced camp in northeast Syria in just over two weeks, the UN said Thursday, sounding the alarm over an “increasingly untenable” security situation.
Held by Kurdish forces, Al-Hol camp — Syria’s biggest — holds almost 62,000 people, of whom more than 80 percent are women and children, including Syrians, Iraqis and thousands from as far afield as Europe and Asia.
The foreigners are families of jihadists from the Daesh group, which seized swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The Iraqi and Syrian residents of the camp largely fled subsequent fighting between IS and Kurdish forces.
“Between 1 and 16 January, the UN received reports of the murders of 12 Syrian and Iraqi camp residents,” said the UN statement, adding that an Iraqi woman was among those killed.
“The disturbing events indicate an increasingly untenable security environment at Al-Hol,” it added.
The camp had already witnessed several security incidents in recent months, sometimes involving IS supporters.
These have included escape attempts and attacks against guards or staff employed by NGOs, sometimes with knives, other times with firearms.
The UN statement published on Thursday said that Imran Riza, its Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, and Muhannad Hadi, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, expressed their “serious concern over the deteriorating security conditions” at the camp.
The two UN officials also stressed the “urgent need for durable solutions to be found for every person living in the camp.”
Since the fall of IS’ self-proclaimed caliphate in March 2019 after a US-backed Kurdish offensive in eastern Syria, Kurdish authorities have repeatedly demanded that countries repatriate women and children.
But most countries, especially European nations, are reluctant to take back their citizens. Some, including France, have brought home a limited number of French jihadists and children.
“The recent rise in violence... jeopardizes the ability for the UN and humanitarian partners to continue to safely deliver critical humanitarian assistance,” the UN statement added.
Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011 after the violent repression of protests, quickly spiralling into a multi fronted conflict that pulled in numerous actors, including jihadist groups and foreign powers.
UN says 12 murdered in Syria camp in two weeks
https://arab.news/vrnmq
UN says 12 murdered in Syria camp in two weeks
Syria forces beef up security amid reports of mass killings of Alawites
- The Alawite heartland has been gripped by fear of reprisals for the Assad family’s brutal rule, which included widespread torture and disappearances
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Syrian security forces deployed heavily in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast on Saturday, after a war monitor reported that government and allied forces killed nearly 750 civilians from the religious minority in recent days.
Residents of the region continued to report killings of civilians after deadly clashes broke out on Thursday between Syria’s new authorities and gunmen loyal to toppled president Bashar Assad, himself an Alawite.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 745 Alawite civilians were killed in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus.
The Britain-based Observatory said they were killed in “executions” carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters, accompanied by the “looting of homes and properties.”
The civilian deaths took the overall toll from violence in the region since Thursday to 1,018, after fighting killed 125 members of the new government’s security forces and 148 pro-Assad fighters, according to the Observatory’s figures.
The official SANA news agency reported that security forces had deployed to Latakia, as well as Jableh and Baniyas farther south, to restore order.
Baniyas resident Samir Haidar, 67, told AFP two of his brothers and his niece were killed by “armed groups” that entered people’s homes, adding that there were “foreigners among them.”
He managed to escape to a Sunni neighborhood, but said: “If I had been five minutes late, I would have been killed... we were saved in the last minutes.”
Though himself an Alawite, Haidar was part of the leftist opposition to the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade under their rule.
Defense ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani said the security forces had “reimposed control” over areas that had seen attacks by Assad loyalists.
“It is strictly forbidden to approach any home or attack anyone inside their homes,” he added in a video posted by SANA.
The news agency later reported that “regime remnants” staged an ambush in the town of Al-Haffah in Latakia province, killing one member of the security forces and wounding two.
Education Minister Nazir Al-Qadri announced that schools would remain shut on Sunday and Monday in both Latakia and Tartus provinces due to the “unstable security conditions.”
SANA reported a power outage throughout Latakia province due to attacks on the grid by Assad loyalists.
The killings followed clashes sparked by the arrest of a wanted suspect in a predominantly Alawite village, the Observatory reported.
The monitor said there had been a “relative return to calm” in the region on Saturday, as the security forces deployed reinforcements.
A defense ministry source told SANA that troops had blocked roads leading to the coast to prevent “violations,” without specifying who was committing them.
Latakia province security director Mustafa Kneifati said: “We will not allow for sedition or the targeting of any component of the Syrian people.
“We will not tolerate any acts of revenge under any circumstances,” he told SANA.
Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad in December, has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and remains proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States.
Since the rebel victory, it has sought to moderate its rhetoric and vowed to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.
The Alawite heartland has been gripped by fear of reprisals for the Assad family’s brutal rule, which included widespread torture and disappearances.
Social media users have shared posts documenting the killing of Alawite friends and relatives, with one user saying her mother and brothers were “slaughtered” in their home.
AFP could not independently verify the accounts.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, has reported multiple “massacres” in recent days, with women and children among the dead.
The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled outside a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.
Other videos appeared to show men in military garb shooting people at close range.
AFP could not independently verify the images.
The leaders of Syria’s three main Christian churches issued a joint statement condemning “the massacres targeting innocent civilians.”
The spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze minority, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hajjri, also called for an end to the violence.
The International Committee of the Red Cross urged all parties to “ensure umimpeded access to health care and protection of medical facilities.”
Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said the violence was “a bad omen.”
The new government lacks the tools, incentives and local support base to engage with disgruntled Alawites, he said.
“All they have is repressive power, and a lot of that... is made up of jihadist zealots who think Alawites are enemies of God.”
With Hezbollah’s influence eroded, can Lebanon forge a brighter future?
- Country is braced for a hopeful era with a new government in place and the Iran-backed group marginalized
- Beirut working with Riyadh to resume trade and rebuild trust as President Aoun’s visit revitalizes relations
DUBAI: For the first time since its creation in 1982, Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia has seen its political and military clout diminished after a devastating war with Israel gutted its leadership, emptied its coffers, and depleted its once formidable arsenal.
Despite the grand funeral of its slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah, attended by thousands of mourners at Beirut’s Camille Chamoun Stadium on Feb. 23 to project an image of resilience and strength, the group’s influence over Lebanon and the wider region is undoubtedly on the wane.
“The Lebanese are certainly ready for a new period in the country where the state has a monopoly over weapons,” Michael Young, a senior editor at the Beirut-based Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, told Arab News.
“As for Hezbollah, it is not going to disappear, on the contrary, it is still around. The big question is whether it can transform itself or not.”
The fall of the Bashar Assad regime in neighboring Syria — once a critical supply line for weapons from Iran — has compounded Hezbollah’s woes, leaving it isolated, unable to rearm, and increasingly powerless to dictate Lebanese affairs.
Hezbollah is reportedly facing a financial crisis, leaving it scrambling to provide monetary support to the families of its injured members and to finance reconstruction work in its southern and eastern strongholds devastated by Israeli bombardment.
“Some Hezbollah supporters have embraced the change while others are still screaming,” a waiter at one of the cafes along Beirut’s Hamra Street who did not wanted to be identified told Arab News.
“If we have to drag them into this new era kicking and screaming, then we will. It has been about them for so many decades. They left the country broken and darkened. It’s time to move on.”
Many Lebanese have warmly welcomed the end of Iranian hegemony and the crippling of its biggest proxy in the Middle East. The election of former army chief Joseph Aoun as president and ICJ judge Nawaf Salam as prime minister in January is emblematic of this shift.
Backed by the US, France, and Saudi Arabia, Aoun’s election by Lebanese lawmakers is the clearest indication yet that Iran’s influence in Lebanon is spent, opening the way to reforms and international support to help pull the nation out of the mire.
Aoun’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia — the first by a Lebanese leader in eight years — has been regarded as a positive step in resetting ties between the two countries.
During the visit, Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promised to reactivate a $3 billion funding package for the Lebanese army, and a released joint statement declared both sides are looking into ways to allow Saudi citizens to visit Lebanon again.
Both countries are also looking into the resumption of Lebanese imports into the Kingdom, which had been halted due to the smuggling of millions of amphetamine and Captagon pills into the Arab Gulf states via Lebanon, often hidden in regular cargo.
To be sure, not everyone in Lebanon is pleased with the dramatic political shift taking place. Hezbollah supporters have been left reeling since the loss of their charismatic leader and the forced acceptance of the US-brokered ceasefire with Israel, which has been interpreted as a major blow to the “Axis of Resistance” of Iran-backed proxies throughout the region.
“The Shiite community in Lebanon had their golden days under Nasrallah, and now it’s a new phase where they’re mourning the golden days,” Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, said in an interview with an Israeli TV channel.
IN NUMBERS
• Real GDP (PPP): $65.8 billion
• Total population: 5.36 million
• Public debt: 146.8% of GDP
• Total refugees: 1.27 million+
Source: The World Factbook (CIA)
Ghaddar, who is originally from southern Lebanon, said that Hezbollah called for a mass demonstration in downtown Beirut on March 8, 2005, to “ascertain that they’re taking over, inheriting the Syrian army and taking over the Lebanese institutions.”
The war between Israel and the Lebanese militia began on Oct. 8, 2023, when fighters in south Lebanon began firing rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which a day earlier had attacked southern Israel, triggering the war in Gaza.
What began as a tit-for-tat exchange of fire along the Israel-Lebanon border suddenly escalated in September 2024 when Israel intensified its aerial bombardment of Hezbollah positions, attacked its communications networks, and mounted a ground offensive.
On Sept. 17-18, thousands of pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies in the possession of Hezbollah members suddenly exploded in synchronized waves after being sabotaged by Israel. The attack killed 42 and injured 3,500, crippling the militia’s communications.
According to one of Nasrallah’s sons, Jawad, his father was left spiritually broken by the pager and walkie-talkie attack and the death of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander and long-time Hezbollah member, in an Israeli strike.
In an interview with Lebanese television network Al-Manar, Jawad described his father as “spiritless and sad” after these blows.
“You could see that he was hurt,” he said. “There were times I could not bear to hear his voice when he was in that state. You listen to him trying to seek encouragement, but once you hear his voice, it hurts your heart. Later, I learned that he was crying.”
On Sept. 27, 2024, Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an underground Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburb. The attack, carried out by Israeli F-15I fighter jets, involved more than 80 bombs, destroying the bunker and nearby buildings.
The Israel military confirmed Nasrallah’s death on Sept. 28, and his body was recovered the following day. The strike resulted in at least 33 deaths and nearly 200 injuries, including civilians.
As the conflict threatened to drag the US and Iran into direct confrontation, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Israel trading missile strikes, the international community acted to secure a ceasefire in November 2024, which has by and large held.
Hezbollah’s battering by Israel has left it politically enfeebled, allowing independent lawmakers and parties not affiliated with the militia to establish a new government after more than two years of political deadlock.
“Up to now there are no signs that the party is going through a reassessment of its previous strategy, although some say within the party such discussions are taking place,” Carnegie Middle East Center’s Young told Arab News.
“Given the hardening of the Iranian position recently, with Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying there can be no negotiations with America, I am not sure that is correct.”
Lebanon remains in the midst of a devastating economic crisis, with the local currency having lost more than 90 percent of its value since 2019 and up to 80 percent of the population living in poverty — at least 40 percent of them in extreme poverty.
Unemployment rates have skyrocketed and banks continue to impose strict controls on withdrawals and transfers. Meanwhile, the World Bank estimates it will cost $8.5 billion to repair the damage of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
For the thousands of Lebanese who were forced to flee their homes in the south under Israel’s bombardment, the mere suggestion that Hezbollah was somehow victorious in the conflict, as some hardline supporters like to claim, is utterly delusional.
“If my parents return to their village, when should we expect them to be expelled again?” Ali, a university student who now lives with his parents in a cramped Beirut apartment and did not want to give his full name, told Arab News.
“How many more times? We are caught in the crossfire, doomed to be a football between Hezbollah and Israel.
“We are tired of being kicked around. It is shameful. Then you get a deluded supporter who tells you we’ve won. What did we win?”
The international community and Arab donors have so far refused to release any aid funds until UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is fully implemented, which calls for the disarmament and disbanding of all armed groups in the country except for the Lebanese army.
After several years of political gridlock and a power vacuum once filled by Hezbollah and the Amal bloc led by Nabih Berri, Lebanon is now in a unique position to stabilize and integrate itself once again into the Arab fold.
President Aoun’s remarks during the Arab League summit in Cairo on March 4 reflect his apparent determination to set Lebanon on this new course, with some describing his speech as “resistance through diplomacy.”
The Washington Institute’s Ghaddar believes that while the current phase may not be “the end of Hezbollah for the (Lebanese Shiite) community,” the lack of money, jobs, services, and reconstruction has led people to seek alternatives.
“It’s very clear that Hezbollah is no longer an option for them,” she said in the interview with the Israeli TV channel.
Today, “Hezbollah is a new entity, which cannot provide, cannot protect, obviously cannot preserve, and cannot rebuild.”
Dembele hits double as PSG win ahead of Liverpool return
- Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos had PSG 2-0 up in Brittany before Lilian Brassier pulled one back for Rennes
- Dembele netted twice in stoppage time to seal the victory for the visitors
PARIS: Ousmane Dembele scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain warmed up for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Liverpool by winning 4-1 away to Rennes in Ligue 1 with a much-changed team on Saturday.
Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos had PSG 2-0 up in Brittany before Lilian Brassier pulled one back for Rennes, but Dembele netted twice in stoppage time to seal the victory for the visitors.
The result allowed the Ligue 1 leaders to maintain their unbeaten record in domestic competition this season.
The Parisians are now a huge 16 points clear at the top before closest challengers Marseille play at home to Lens later.
Luis Enrique’s side were ultimately comfortable winners despite the coach making eight changes to his starting line-up in between the two legs of the Liverpool tie, with the return at Anfield coming up on Tuesday.
“We are in perfect condition to go and take on Liverpool. We have nothing to lose and we will give everything to try to qualify,” for the quarter-finals, said Luis Enrique.
“It was difficult but we put in a serious performance and it gives us lots of hope before going to Liverpool,” the Spaniard added of his team’s display.
Barcola, Joao Neves and Willian Pacho were the only players to keep their places for PSG against Rennes following the 1-0 home loss to Liverpool in the first leg last Wednesday.
Dembele was among the regular starters to be rested at kick-off, but he came off the bench just after the hour mark and the France forward’s double strike moves him onto 20 league goals for the campaign.
The player who began his career at Rennes has now scored 28 times in all competitions this season, including 23 goals in 18 appearances since mid-December.
Rennes came into the game on a run of four wins in five outings to climb up into mid-table after Habib Beye replaced Jorge Sampaoli as coach at the end of January.
However, PSG went in front at Roazhon Park on 27 minutes as Desire Doue, another former Rennes player, quickly took a free-kick just inside the home half and released Barcola to run through and score his 18th goal of the season.
Teenage forward Mohamed Kader Meite almost equalized for Rennes before the break, heading off the crossbar from Adrien Truffert’s cross.
Barcola then turned provider as PSG doubled their lead five minutes after half-time, squaring for Ramos — one of those brought into the starting line-up — to net his 13th this season in all competitions.
Center-back Brassier pulled one back for Rennes shortly after, heading in from close range after a corner had been flicked on.
However, Luis Enrique then sent on the cavalry, with Dembele, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Achraf Hakimi all coming off the bench for the latter stages.
PSG made sure of the points as Hakimi ran through on goal before unselfishly squaring for Dembele to make it 3-1 in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the game.
Dembele then fired in his second and PSG’s fourth goal from the edge of the area in the 94th minute.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Lille were 1-0 winners at home to Montpellier in a game that fell in between the two legs of their Champions League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund.
Jonathan David scored the only goal of the game early in the second half, the Canadian netting his 14th of the campaign in Ligue 1.
Lille are fifth in the table, behind Monaco in fourth on goal difference.
They entertain Dortmund on Wednesday after drawing 1-1 in the first leg in Germany.
Some 200 detained after Istanbul Women’s Day march: organizers
- Although the march ended without incident, organizers said police then started rounding up a number of protesters
- “The police started to detain our friends in an act of provocation,” the march organizers wrote on X
ISTANBUL: Police detained some 200 demonstrators in Istanbul late on Saturday after more than 3,000 women marched peacefully through the city center under tight security to mark International Women’s Day, organizers said.
For years protests have been banned in the city’s central Taksim Square, which is habitually fenced off with barriers, but the authorities have in recent years tolerated rallies nearby albeit under a heavy security presence.
The Feminist Night March rally began at sunset near Taksim Square, with many demonstrators wearing purple and waving banners with slogans including “We won’t be silenced, we’re not afraid and we won’t obey” and “Long live our feminist struggle.”
Although the march ended without incident, organizers said police then started rounding up a number of protesters, posting footage showing officers roughly dragging several demonstrators out of the crowd.
“After the #FeministNightMarch finished and the crowd dispersed without incident, the police started to detain our friends in an act of provocation,” the march organizers wrote on X.
“Nearly 200 women were unjustly detained on March 8!” they added.
There was no immediate comment from the authorities.
Earlier, several hundred demonstrators had gathered for a protest in the Kadikoy neighborhood on the Asian side of the city, also waving banners as they marched through the streets.
“With our demand for an end to violence against women, for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention against femicide... and for social policies that don’t place the burden of care on women, we are pursuing our March 8 struggle for democracy, equality, peace and fraternity,” Arzu Cerkezoglu, chairwoman of the DISK trade union, told AFP.
She was referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 2021 decision to pull Turkiye out of the Istanbul Convention, which requires countries to set up laws aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women.
Turkiye does not collate official figures on femicides, leaving the job to women’s organizations which collect data on murders and other suspicious deaths from press reports.
According to figures gathered by the We Will Stop Femicide Platform rights organization, at least 1,318 women have been killed by men since Turkiye withdrew from the convention in March 2021.
DR Congo offers bounty for arrest of M23 leaders
- The M23, which, according to UN experts, is backed by some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers, resumed its fight against the government in Kinshasa in 2021 and has since seized swaths of territory in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda
KINSHASA: Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are offering a $5-million reward for help in arresting leaders of the M23 group that recently captured two major northern towns, the Justice Ministry announced.
“A reward of $5 million is offered to any person who helps arrest the convicts Corneille Nangaa, Bertrand Bisimwa and Sultani Makenga,” the ministry said in a statement.
Nangaa, a leader in the River Congo Alliance, or AFC, a military-political coalition to which the M23 belongs, is a former president of the DRC’s electoral commission.
Bisimwa and Makenga are, respectively, the president and military chief of the M23.
Tried in absentia in Kinshasa, all three men were convicted and sentenced to death in August 2024.
DRC authorities are also offering a bounty of $4 million for any information leading to the arrest of the three men’s “accomplices on the run” and “other sought individuals,” the statement said.
The M23, which, according to UN experts, is backed by some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers, resumed its fight against the government in Kinshasa in 2021 and has since seized swaths of territory in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda.
A lightning offensive in recent weeks has captured the provincial capital, Goma, and Bukavu, the main cities in the neighboring province of South Kivu.
The DRC’s mineral-rich east has been ravaged for three decades by conflict and atrocities.
According to the Financial Times, the US is in exploratory talks with the DRC over a deal that would give Washington access to critical minerals in the country.
Congo approached the US last month, proposing a deal that would offer exploration rights to the US in exchange for support for the government of President Felix Tshisekedi, the newspaper reported, citing public documents.
Security sources said on Friday at least 35 people were killed when pro-government militia attacked a village in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,
The attack happened at about 3 a.m. on Thursday in the village of Tambi, in the Masisi area of North Kivu province controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group.
A security source said that at least 35 people were killed in the attack, while local sources and an eyewitness put the death toll at more than 40.
A community leader and a medical source said villagers had recently returned to the area after having fled fighting between the M23 and the Congolese army and local militia.
“The militia went to attack Tambi where residents had started to return ... they opened fire and civilians were killed,” said one community leader, who said 43 people died.
“They put some victims in a church and then shot them. Those who were in the fields were killed there.”
The community leader, a local health worker, and a local resident said another group of civilians sought refuge in a house and died when the militia set it on fire.
“We counted 47 bodies in the morning,” the resident said, adding that they were buried in a communal grave.
Some of the victims were unable to be identified because of their burns, he added.
