Lebanon security source says one dead in strike on Hezbollah van

The wreckage of a vehicle lies on the Araya-Kahhale road on October 30, 2024, at the site of an Israeli strike. (AFP)
The wreckage of a vehicle lies on the Araya-Kahhale road on October 30, 2024, at the site of an Israeli strike. (AFP)
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Updated 30 October 2024
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Lebanon security source says one dead in strike on Hezbollah van

The wreckage of a vehicle lies on the Araya-Kahhale road on October 30, 2024, at the site of an Israeli strike. (AFP)
  • “A van belonging to Hezbollah was targeted in an Israeli strike on the Kahhale road and its driver killed,” the official said

BEIRUT: A Lebanese security official told AFP that an Israeli strike on a Hezbollah van carrying munitions near Beirut killed the driver on Wednesday.
“A van belonging to Hezbollah was targeted in an Israeli strike on the Kahhale road and its driver killed,” the official said, adding that the vehicle was carrying munitions.
The official requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
An AFP correspondent saw a vehicle on fire and said the Kahhale road, which links Beirut to Damascus, had been blocked in both directions.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) earlier reported an “enemy drone strike” on a vehicle.
An Israeli strike on a four-wheel-drive vehicle in nearby Qmatiyeh, a village in the Aley district, killed another two people, said the security official, who did not identify the casualties.
Last week, the NNA said an Israeli strike targeting a car on the same highway killed two people.
In August 2023, two people were killed in clashes between Hezbollah members and residents of the Christian town of Kahhale, after a truck carrying munitions for the group overturned on the highway.
The war has killed at least 1,754 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures, though the real number is likely to be higher due to gaps in the data.


Iran’s Khamenei says toppling of Syria’s Assad was result of US-Israeli plan

Iran’s Khamenei says toppling of Syria’s Assad was result of US-Israeli plan
Updated 11 December 2024
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Iran’s Khamenei says toppling of Syria’s Assad was result of US-Israeli plan

Iran’s Khamenei says toppling of Syria’s Assad was result of US-Israeli plan

DUBAI: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the toppling of Syrian President Bashar Assad was the result of a plan by the United States and Israel.
One of Syria’s neighbors also had a role, he said. He did not name the country but appeared to be referring to Turkiye, which has backed anti-Assad rebels.
Assad’s overthrow is widely seen as a major blow to the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance” political and military alliance that opposes Israeli and US influence in the Middle East.
“What happened in Syria was mainly planned in the command rooms of America and Israel. We have evidence of this. A neighboring government of Syria was also involved,” Khamenei said in a speech reported by Iranian state media.
The neighbor had a “clear role and continues to do so,” he said.
NATO member Turkiye, which controls swathes of land in northern Syria after several cross-border incursions against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, has been a main backer of opposition groups aiming to topple Assad since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.
Iran spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the war and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power.
Hours after Assad’s fall, Iran said it expected relations with Damascus to continue based on the two countries’ “far-sighted and wise approach” and called for the establishment of an inclusive government representing all segments of Syrian society.
In his speech, Khamenei also said the Iran-led alliance would gain in strength across the entire region.
“The more pressure you exert, the stronger the resistance becomes. The more crimes you commit, the more determined it becomes. The more you fight against it, the more it expands Khamenei said.
“Iran is strong and powerful— and will become even stronger,” he said.


Kurdish-led force announces US-brokered truce in Syria’s Manbij

Kurdish-led force announces US-brokered truce in Syria’s Manbij
Updated 11 December 2024
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Kurdish-led force announces US-brokered truce in Syria’s Manbij

Kurdish-led force announces US-brokered truce in Syria’s Manbij
  • US-backed SDF fighters spearheaded an offensive that defeated the Daesh group’s self-declared caliphate in Syria in 2019
  • US Central Command said its chief General Michael Kurilla had visited US bases and SDF partners in Syria

Beirut: The Kurdish-led force controlling northeast Syria said Wednesday it had reached a US-brokered ceasefire with Turkish-backed fighters in Manbij, after Islamist-led rebels toppled Bashar Assad’s government.
The clashes in Manbij, an Arab-majority city, have killed 218 combatants since Turkish-backed groups launched offensives in the north following the ouster of Assad on Sunday.
“We have reached a ceasefire agreement in Manbij via US mediation,” said Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Abdi.
He said fighters of the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council “will be withdrawn from the area as soon as possible.”
“Our goal is to reach a ceasefire across Syria and start a political process for the future of the country,” Abdi added.
Abdi had told reporters last week that the United Nations had been in touch with the SDF about helping to “shape a political resolution for Syria” as rebels seized power.
The US-backed SDF fighters spearheaded an offensive that defeated the Daesh group’s self-declared caliphate in Syria in 2019.
On Tuesday, US Central Command said its chief General Michael Kurilla had visited US bases and SDF partners in Syria.
Earlier this month, the pro-Turkiye fighters seized the strategic northern enclave of Tal Rifaat from Kurdish forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which dominate the SDF, as an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Arab-majority Tal Rifaat and Manbij are among three Kurdish-held areas in the north that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had repeatedly threatened to seize.


Pope calls for ‘mutual respect’ between religions in Syria

Pope calls for ‘mutual respect’ between religions in Syria
Updated 11 December 2024
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Pope calls for ‘mutual respect’ between religions in Syria

Pope calls for ‘mutual respect’ between religions in Syria
  • Pope Francis called Wednesday for “mutual respect” between religions in Syria

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis called Wednesday for “mutual respect” between religions in Syria, three days after the country’s longtime president Bashar Assad was toppled by rebels in a lightning offensive.
“I pray... that the Syrian people may live in peace and security in their beloved land and the different religions may walk together in friendship and mutual respect for the good of that nation afflicted by so many years of war,” Francis said during his weekly general audience.


Blinken to visit Turkiye on Friday to discuss Syria: official source

Blinken to visit Turkiye on Friday to discuss Syria: official source
Updated 11 December 2024
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Blinken to visit Turkiye on Friday to discuss Syria: official source

Blinken to visit Turkiye on Friday to discuss Syria: official source

ANKARA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Turkiye on Friday to discuss the developments in Syria following the toppling of strongman Bashar Assad, a Turkish official source said Wednesday.
“He will be in Turkiye on Friday,” the source said of the visit which will come just five days after Assad’s unexpected ouster, pledging to share more details “as they are finalized.”


Egyptian foreign minister to visit China this week

Egyptian foreign minister to visit China this week
Updated 11 December 2024
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Egyptian foreign minister to visit China this week

Egyptian foreign minister to visit China this week
  • The two countries will hold a foreign ministers’ level strategic dialogue, Mao added

BEIJING: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will visit China from Dec. 12-13, Mao Ning, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, told a regular press conference on Wednesday.
The two countries will hold a foreign ministers’ level strategic dialogue, Mao added. The Arab League, an assembly of 22 Middle Eastern and North African nations, including Syria, is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt’s capital.