Thousands of Alawites mourn 3 killed by foreign Islamists: monitor, witness

Thousands of Alawites mourn 3 killed by foreign Islamists: monitor, witness
Thousands of Syrians from ousted President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite community mourned on Thursday three civilians killed by foreign Islamist allies of the country's new authorities, a war monitor and an attendee said. (AFP/File)
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Updated 09 January 2025
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Thousands of Alawites mourn 3 killed by foreign Islamists: monitor, witness

Thousands of Alawites mourn 3 killed by foreign Islamists: monitor, witness
  • “Thousands of mourners gathered at the funeral of three Alawite farmers from the same family,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
  • The civilians were killed on Wednesday in the village of Ain Sharqia

DAMASCUS: Thousands of Syrians from ousted President Bashar Assad’s Alawite community mourned on Thursday three civilians killed by foreign Islamist allies of the country’s new authorities, a war monitor and an attendee said.
Since Assad’s ouster, violence against Alawites, long associated with his clan, has soared, with the monitor recording at least 148 killings.
“Thousands of mourners gathered at the funeral of three Alawite farmers from the same family, including one child, killed by foreign Islamist fighters allied to Syria’s new authorities,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
The civilians were killed on Wednesday in the village of Ain Sharqia, in the Alawite heartland of Latakia province, the Observatory said.
“Down with the factions,” some of those in attendance chanted in reference to armed groups, according to footage shared by the monitor.
Mourner Ali told AFP that people had called for those responsible for the killings to be punished and for foreign fighters to leave so that local policemen affiliated with the new authorities could take their place.
“We can’t have people die every day,” he said, asking to be identified only by his first name to discuss sensitive matters.
“We want security and safety to prevail; we support the transitional authorities. We do not want any more killings after today.”
Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Observatory, told AFP the mourners also demanded that Syria’s new rulers free thousands of detained soldiers and conscripts.
The Alawite community was over-represented in the country’s now-defunct armed forces.
On Tuesday, three Alawite clerics were also killed by unknown gunmen on the road from Tartus to Damascus, the monitor said.
Another cleric and his wife were found dead in the Hama countryside Thursday after they were abducted a day earlier.
Last month, angry protests broke out in Syria over a video showing an attack on an Alawite shrine, with the Observatory reporting one demonstrator killed in Homs city.
Syrian authorities said the footage was “old” and that “unknown groups” were behind the attack, saying republishing the video served to “stir up strife.”
The alliance spearheaded by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which seized Damascus and ousted Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive, has sought to reassure minority communities in the Sunni Muslim majority country.
Assad had long presented himself as a protector of minority groups.


28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza
Updated 8 sec ago
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28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza
  • Israeli military says that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday.
The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment on the civilian deaths.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.

Syria denies ‘escalatory intentions’ towards Lebanon: sources

Syria denies ‘escalatory intentions’ towards Lebanon: sources
Updated 40 min 41 sec ago
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Syria denies ‘escalatory intentions’ towards Lebanon: sources

Syria denies ‘escalatory intentions’ towards Lebanon: sources
  • A source said the Syrian government considers the issue of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons a top priority
  • Syrian authorities have accused Lebanon of procrastination to repatriate its imprisoned nationals

DUBAI: The Syrian government has denied reports that Damascus intends to take escalatory measures against Beirut over the case of Syrian prisoners in Lebanon, sources said on Friday.
A source from Syria’s Ministry of Information said the Syrian government considers the issue of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons a top priority, adding that it is committed to resolving it swiftly through official channels between the two countries.
Sources close to the Syrian government were previously quoted by a television channel saying Damascus was considering diplomatic and economic escalation against Beirut.
The source claimed Damascus was considering the escalation over what it described as Lebanon’s disregard to the fate of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons, which an unnamed official related to the Syrian information ministry also denied.
Syrian authorities have accused Lebanon of procrastination to repatriate about one third of more than 2,000 of its imprisoned nationals.
The fate of the Syrian prisoners has irritated Damascus given that Lebanon had announced in March that it was ready to repatriate them.


New page opened for Turkiye following PKK disarmament, Erdogan says

New page opened for Turkiye following PKK disarmament, Erdogan says
Updated 12 July 2025
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New page opened for Turkiye following PKK disarmament, Erdogan says

New page opened for Turkiye following PKK disarmament, Erdogan says
  • Today is a new day; a new page has opened in history, Erdogan said
  • Thirty PKK militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that a new page opened for Turkiye following the start of a weapons handover by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
“As of yesterday, the scourge of terrorism has entered the process of ending. Today is a new day; a new page has opened in history. Today, the doors of a great, powerful Turkiye have been flung wide open,” Erdogan said.
Thirty PKK militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkiye.


Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal, Palestinian and Israeli sources say

Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal, Palestinian and Israeli sources say
Updated 21 min 46 sec ago
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Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal, Palestinian and Israeli sources say

Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal, Palestinian and Israeli sources say
  • Hamas wants Israel to retreat to lines it held in a previous ceasefire before it renewed its offensive in March
  • US envoy Steve Witkoff, who played a major role in crafting the latest ceasefire proposal, will travel to Doha this week to join discussions

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza are stalling over the extent of Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha said on Saturday.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are nonetheless expected to continue, the sources said, despite the latest obstacles in clinching a deal.

A Palestinian source said that Hamas has rejected the withdrawal maps which Israel has proposed, as they would leave around 40 percent of the territory under Israeli control, including all of the southern area of Rafah and further territories in northern and eastern Gaza.

Two Israeli sources said Hamas wants Israel to retreat to lines it held in a previous ceasefire before it renewed its offensive in March.

The Palestinian source said matters regarding aid and guarantees for ending the war were also presenting a challenge, and added that the crisis may be resolved with more US intervention.

The White House said on Monday that Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, who played a major role in crafting the latest ceasefire proposal, will travel to Doha this week to join discussions there.

Delegations from Israel and Hamas have been in Qatar since Sunday in a renewed push for an agreement which envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals and discussions on ending the war entirely.

Hamas has long demanded an end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would end the fighting only when all hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive.

Israel’s subsequent campaign against Hamas has since killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, sparked a humanitarian crisis and left much of the territory in ruins.


‘All our crew are Muslim,’ fearful Red Sea ships tell Houthis

‘All our crew are Muslim,’ fearful Red Sea ships tell Houthis
Updated 12 July 2025
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‘All our crew are Muslim,’ fearful Red Sea ships tell Houthis

‘All our crew are Muslim,’ fearful Red Sea ships tell Houthis
  • Increasingly desperate messages from commercial vessels trying to avoid attack by Yemen militia

LONDON: Commercial ships sailing through the Red Sea are broadcasting increasingly desperate messages on public channels to avoid being attacked by the Houthi militia in Yemen.

One message read “All Crew Muslim,” some included references to an all-Chinese crew and management, others flagged the presence of armed guards on board, and almost all insisted the ships had no connection to Israel.

Maritime security sources said the messages were a sign of growing desperation to avoid attack, but were unlikely to make any difference. Houthi intelligence preparation was “much deeper and forward-leaning,” one source said.

Houthi attacks off Yemen’s coast began in November 2023 in what the group said was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war. A lull this year ended when they sank two ships last week and killed four crew. Vessels in the fleets of both ships had made calls to Israeli ports in the past year.

“Seafarers are the backbone of global trade, keeping countries supplied with food, fuel and medicine. They should not have to risk their lives to do their job,” the Seafarers' Charity.