Merchant ship damaged by missile off Yemen: marine monitors

Update Merchant ship damaged by missile off Yemen: marine monitors
The longer the war in Gaza goes on and Yemen's Houthis keep attacking ships in the Red Sea the greater the risk that Yemen could be propelled back into war, UN special envoy for the poorest Arab nation warned. (File/AFP)
Short Url
Updated 15 March 2024
Follow

Merchant ship damaged by missile off Yemen: marine monitors

Merchant ship damaged by missile off Yemen: marine monitors
  • The crew was not injured and the vessel was able to continue its journey

Dubai: A missile strike damaged a merchant ship in the Red Sea off Yemen, marine security monitors said Friday, as the country’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels threatened to expand their months-long harassment campaign which has disrupted global trade.
The crew was not injured and the vessel continued its journey, said the British navy’s United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, and security firm Ambrey, after the incident west of the rebel-held port of Hodeida in the early hours of Friday.
“A merchant vessel has reported that they have been struck by a missile and the vessel has sustained some damage,” said UKMTO.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Houthis, who have launched dozens of missile and drone strikes on shipping in the commercially vital seaway over the past four months.
The rebels say they are targeting Israel-linked shipping as part of an “axis of resistance” of Iran allies and proxies, in protest at Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthi attacks, including a deadly assault on a bulk carrier last week and the sinking of a ship carrying thousands of tons of fertilizer, have triggered reprisal strikes by US and British forces.
On Thursday, the US military said it had destroyed nine anti-ship ballistic missiles and two drones after the Houthis fired on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Such exchanges have become a frequent occurrence in the area, sending shipping insurance costs soaring and prompting many firms to detour around the southern tip of Africa.
Late on Thursday, rebel leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said the Houthis would expand their attacks to ships taking the longer route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
“We are moving, with the grace and help of God Almighty, to prevent them from crossing even through the Indian Ocean and from South Africa,” he said in a speech broadcast by the rebels’ Al-Masirah TV channel.
“We have begun implementing our related operations,” he added.
Twelve “targeting operations” using 58 missiles were carried out against commercial and military ships this week in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, the Houthi leader said.


American released from Syrian prison is flown out of the country, a US official says

Updated 8 sec ago
Follow

American released from Syrian prison is flown out of the country, a US official says

American released from Syrian prison is flown out of the country, a US official says
Travis Timmerman, 29, was flown out of Syria on a US military helicopter
Timmerman was detained after he crossed into Syria while on a Christian pilgrimage

WASHINGTON: The US military has transported out of Syria an American who had disappeared seven months ago into former President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system and was among the thousands released this week by rebels, a US official said Friday.
Travis Timmerman, 29, was flown out of Syria on a US military helicopter, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation.
It’s unclear where Timmerman may go next. After being rescued, he thanked his rescuers for freeing him but has told American officials that he would like to stay in the region, according to another person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly.
Timmerman was detained after he crossed into Syria while on a Christian pilgrimage from a mountain along the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle in June.
He told The Associated Press that he was not ill-treated while in Palestine Branch, a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence.
In his prison cell, Timmerman said, he had a mattress, a plastic drinking container and two others for waste.
He said the Friday calls to prayers helped keep track of days.
Timmerman said he was released Monday morning alongside a young Syrian man and 70 female prisoners, some of whom had their children with them, after rebels seized control of Damascus and forced Assad from power in a dramatic upheaval.
He said he was freed by “the liberators who came into the prison and knocked the door down (of his cell) with a hammer.” He had been held separately from Syrian and other Arab prisoners and said he didn’t know of any other Americans held in the facility.
Timmerman is from Urbana, Missouri, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Springfield in the southwestern part of the state. He earned a finance degree from Missouri State University in 2017.

RSF attacks main hospital in North Darfur’s Al-Fasher, says health official

RSF attacks main hospital in North Darfur’s Al-Fasher, says health official
Updated 2 min 9 sec ago
Follow

RSF attacks main hospital in North Darfur’s Al-Fasher, says health official

RSF attacks main hospital in North Darfur’s Al-Fasher, says health official

CAIRO: The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the main still-functioning hospital in Al-Fasher, in Sudan’s North Darfur state, on Friday, killing nine people and injuring 20, according to a local health official and activists.

A drone fired four missiles at the hospital, destroying wards, waiting areas, and other facilities, said state health minister Ibrahim Khatir and the Al-Fasher resistance committee, a pro-democracy group that monitors violence in the area.

Images they shared showed debris scattered over hospital beds and damaged ceilings and walls. 

The RSF says it does not target civilians and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Sudan’s army and the RSF have been locked in conflict for more than 18 months, triggering a profound humanitarian crisis in which more than 12 million people have been driven from their homes, and UN agencies have struggled to deliver relief.

Al-Fasher is one of the most active frontlines between the RSF, the Sudanese army, and its allies, fighting to maintain a last foothold in the Darfur region. 

Observers fear that an RSF victory there could bring ethnic retribution, as happened in West Darfur last year.


Lebanon has ‘reached the brink of collapse’ despite ceasefire, UN report warns

Lebanon has ‘reached the brink of collapse’ despite ceasefire, UN report warns
Updated 12 min 54 sec ago
Follow

Lebanon has ‘reached the brink of collapse’ despite ceasefire, UN report warns

Lebanon has ‘reached the brink of collapse’ despite ceasefire, UN report warns
  • Lebanese army continues deployment in Khiam, opens road to Marjayoun
  • Israeli army claims to have found Kornet missiles, anti-tank launch platform in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army command said its units were being deployed in the border village of Khiam on Friday after entering it on Thursday as a new UN report warned that Lebanon had “reached the brink of collapse” despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement last month to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia also urged a reassessment of priorities, emphasizing that care is a fundamental element in achieving social stability and economic recovery.

In a study titled “Restoring Care, Rebuilding Communities: Path to Recovery for Lebanon,” ESCWA highlighted that the effects of the conflict extended beyond immediate humanitarian needs, affecting health, education, and social infrastructure.

On Friday, Lebanese army units began clearing the main road from the north of the town to the south, connecting Khiam to Marjayoun, by removing rubble and potential explosives left by the Israelis.

The army command said the deployment of its military units was taking place in coordination with the five-member committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire agreement.

Israel completed the withdrawal of its forces from Khiam on Thursday morning.

The Lebanese army command warned “citizens not to approach the area and abide by the instructions of the military units until the completion of the deployment.”

A Lebanese resident who was killed on Thursday when Israeli forces raided Khiam Square a few hours following the Lebanese army’s entry to the area has been identified as Mustafa Awada. Several people were injured in the Israeli assault.

Awada had just broadcast a live video from his phone when an Israeli attack drone killed him and injured many others who were with him in Khiam Square.

The Lebanese army retrieved Awada’s body and transported it to the Marjayoun Governmental Hospital on Friday.

The Israeli army continued its hostilities in the invaded southern area, raiding the coastal town of Naqoura on Friday morning.

An Israeli drone also raided the Tebna area near Baisariyeh.

The Israeli army renewed its warnings to residents of southern Lebanon, instructing them not to move south of an area that includes 50 villages, the houses and infrastructure of which have been almost destroyed.

Lebanon’s southern border with Israel extends 120 km from the west of Naqoura to the east of Shebaa, constituting an area of 30,575 hectares.

There are 30 towns and villages on the borderline, comprising an estimated 32,000 homes.

Some 170,000 people reside in these towns, including around 90,000 permanent residents, who are still displaced.

Official statistics indicate that 70 percent of people in the area Israeli forces invaded are Shiites, while the remaining residents include Sunni Muslims, Druze, and Christians.

Israeli troops are set to withdraw from the area within 60 days since the ceasefire agreement came into force.

Under the ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese army is supposed to deploy 6,000 soldiers south of the Litani River to work in coordination with UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL to extend state authority and withdraw unauthorized weapons from the area.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed on Friday in a social media post that Brigade 769 forces discovered and destroyed “Kornet missiles and an anti-tank missile launcher” in southern Lebanon.

Adraee claimed that the forces discovered numerous combat tools, including rocket launchers and Kornet missiles camouflaged in rugged and mountainous areas, in addition to Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition magazines, and other military equipment.

They also found an anti-tank rocket launcher that Hezbollah operatives had used to fire at towns in the Galilee panhandle area over the past year, which was subsequently confiscated.

Adraee said Israeli forces also “discovered a weapons depot containing RPG shells and mortar rounds, all of which were confiscated.”

The troops were conducting field operations to “neutralize threats,” he added.

Also on Friday, explosions were heard in the mountain range and villages of Baalbek-Hermel, in eastern Lebanon.

It was confirmed that these explosions originated from firing ranges located east of Baalbek, where the Lebanese army was detonating missiles left over from the recent Israeli aggression.

The Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria continued to witness heavy traffic for the sixth consecutive day, with families fleeing Syrian territory following the fall of the Assad regime.

The Lebanese General Security prevents the entry of those who do not meet specific conditions while facilitating the passage of Syrian refugees in Lebanon returning to their homeland.

Several Lebanese truck owners, stranded in Daraa, Syria, appealed to Lebanese authorities to urgently intervene to facilitate the passage of their vehicles to Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing.

The truck owners said in their plea that their number is estimated at 70 trucks loaded with cheese and food products destined for Lebanese markets.

They said that delays in procedures and increasing restrictions at the border left the trucks stranded on Syrian land for several days.

The Lebanese army on Friday launched an investigation into a road accident involving 30 Syrian nationals who sustained injuries when the passenger bus they were traveling in overturned and collided with a curb in Akkar, in the far north of Lebanon.

It was revealed that those travelers had entered Lebanon clandestinely through an illegal border crossing along the Nahr Al-Kabir river between Syria and Lebanon.

The bus driver, a Lebanese national, was among 11 injured people who needed to be hospitalized. Some passengers were in critical condition.

In other developments, Wafiq Safa, Hezbollah’s head of liaison and coordination unit, has assured that the movement would support the Lebanese army’s mission as outlined in the ceasefire agreement to the greatest extent possible.

The assurance came at a recent meeting between Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun and Safa, the Central News Agency, known as Al-Markazia, reported on Friday.

The parliament speaker’s adviser, Ahmed Baalbaki, was also present.

Safa previously survived airstrikes targeting him in Beirut in October.


Gaza heads toward famine, World Food Programme says

Gaza heads toward famine, World Food Programme says
Updated 21 min 26 sec ago
Follow

Gaza heads toward famine, World Food Programme says

Gaza heads toward famine, World Food Programme says

UNITED NATIONS: The deputy executive director of the UN World Food Programme has been on whirlwind visits to hotspots in the Middle East and Sudan to assess dire humanitarian situations and escalating demands for food from millions of people trapped or fleeing conflicts.

But Carl Skau said in an interview this week that the Rome-based agency has been forced to make major cuts to the numbers of people it can help because of a lack of funding.

The humanitarian organization is working to diversify its funding, including targeting the private sector, but Skau said, “it’s going to be a tough time ahead, no doubt, with increasing gaps.”

Skau said the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza is dire but he’s equally worried about southern Gaza, “if not even more,” because of the million or so people on the beach north of Khan Younis as winter approaches.

In northern areas, where the UN estimates there are still 65,000 Palestinians and no aid has arrived for more than two months, Skau said Israeli military operations, lawlessness and taking of food aid have prevented access to the needy.

He said some humanitarian convoys have gotten through to the broader northern area including Gaza City, where the UN estimates some 300,000 people are located.

In the south, Skau said, the organization assisted around 1.2 million people in June, July, August and into September. 


UK’s Starmer says Syria needs ‘non-sectarian’ governance

UK’s Starmer says Syria needs ‘non-sectarian’ governance
Updated 42 min 30 sec ago
Follow

UK’s Starmer says Syria needs ‘non-sectarian’ governance

UK’s Starmer says Syria needs ‘non-sectarian’ governance
  • “All leaders agreed that Syria’s territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty must be respected,” the spokesperson added

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday caution was needed regarding Syria’s prospects after the end of Bashar Assad’s rule and that the country required “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance on behalf of all Syrians.”
“Discussing the unfolding situation in Syria, the Prime Minister said that the fall of Assad’s brutal regime should be welcomed, but we must be cautious about what comes next,” a spokesperson for Starmer said after the prime minister took part in a call with other Group of Seven leaders.
“All leaders agreed that Syria’s territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty must be respected throughout the transition process and in future,” the spokesperson added.
The language was similar to that in a G7 statement about Syria issued on Thursday.
Starmer also called on G7 leaders to increase military support for Ukraine against Russia’s 33-month-old invasion and tighten sanctions against Moscow.