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Emiratis involved in deadly Oman road accident airlifted back to the UAE

Emiratis involved in deadly Oman road accident airlifted back to the UAE

The National5 days ago
Emirati citizens injured in a deadly road accident in Oman on Friday have been airlifted back to the UAE for further medical treatment, following a co-ordinated rescue operation.
The joint mission, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) in co-ordination with the National Search and Rescue Centre of the National Guard, the Air Force and Air Defence Command, transferred the injured by air ambulance to Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in Fujairah to continue their treatment after receiving initial medical care in Oman.
According to the Royal Oman Police, five people lost their lives in the crash – including three Emirati citizens. While eleven other sustained injuries of varying severity. Among the injured were five children.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, which remains continuing.
In a report on state news agency, Wam, Mofa and the National Guard offered their condolences and sympathies to the families of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery to all the injured.
Mofa also expressed its appreciation for the Omani authorities' swift response and close co-operation with the UAE Embassy in Muscat.
The government has reminded all UAE citizens to exercise caution when travelling by road, adhere to traffic laws and strictly observe speed limits to ensure their safety and that of others.
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Bodies in the streets: Druze caught in Sweida violence reveal horrific days of bloodshed
Bodies in the streets: Druze caught in Sweida violence reveal horrific days of bloodshed

The National

time2 hours ago

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Bodies in the streets: Druze caught in Sweida violence reveal horrific days of bloodshed

Ramzi has witnessed horrors throughout his career as a doctor during Syria's 13-year civil war. But few compare, he said, to the scenes he witnessed this week at the main hospital in Sweida, a Druze -majority town where bloody sectarian violence raged for days. 'I saw at least 200 bodies at the hospital, many of them civilians,' he recalled. Videos purportedly filmed inside the hospital show bloodstained corridors and rooms strewn with bodies, many soaked in blood and piled on top of each other. Clashes erupted on Sunday in Sweida, in southern Syria, before a retaliatory exchange between armed Bedouin and Druze factions, two long-standing rivals, quickly escalated into widespread violence as Syrian troops were sent to the area to quell the unrest. Druze factions, which deeply distrust the government, mobilised to repel its forces. In hours, the fighting turned into bloodshed, with many breaches reported against civilians. As videos were posted on social media, reports emerged of government-affiliated troops abusing and humiliating Druze people, as well as looting and burning their homes. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria has said it is 'deeply alarmed' by the violence in Sweida, quoting reports from local residents of 'killings, abductions, burning of properties and looting, as well as an increase in incitement and hate speech online and in person'. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), a war monitor, says more than 500 people have been killed amid 'extrajudicial killings, mutual shelling, as well as air strikes carried out by Israeli forces'. Israel joined the fighting by launching dozen of strikes across Syria, claiming to be defending the Druze minority. The fighting lasted for four days until Syrian authorities announced on Wednesday an 'immediate and complete halt ' to their offensive, following a deal with some, but not all, representatives of the Druze community. The reported breaches against civilians come as Syria's new government, led by an Islamist faction once affiliated with Al Qaeda, struggles to assert authority over myriad armed groups, despite calls to bring all factions under the command of the Ministry of Defence. Syria's interim President Ahmad Al Shara said on Thursday that the government was 'keen on holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people'. The National spoke on the phone with six Druze civilians who described four days of intense fear, confined to their homes amid heavy shelling without water and electricity. Their names have been changed to protect their identities. Some recounted seeing neighbours killed after stepping outside; others said they recognised the bodies of loved ones in videos circulating online. Residents said they believed Syria's General Security was involved in the violence against them, but were unable to identify the killers amid the chaos. The National was not able to independently verify which factions or groups were responsible for the reported violations against locals. Interviews were frequently interrupted by the sound of explosions, even hours after the ceasefire was agreed. A hospital under siege Ramzi said he left Sweida Hospital on Tuesday to rest and was unable to return, as all roads were closed amid indiscriminate shelling. 'Authorities should have secured a safe corridor to the hospital so that at least the wounded could be treated,' he said. He added that the hospital remained under siege for days, without medical supplies, electricity, or water. 'Roads to the hospital were cut, water and electricity were shut off, the wounded had no chance of being saved,' he said. According to Ramzi, at least two doctors were killed by snipers, one while attempting to reach the facility, the other in a car alongside her son. He said he later saw the boy's body among the dead inside the hospital. 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'Liberation has been achieved through the determination and will of Syria's honourable sons,' the voice continued. Baha said both his cousin and his cousin's son were civilians. The father was in his 50s, the son just 20. The family owned a small poultry business, he said, and had no connection to Sheikh Al Hijri and his armed group. Videos circulating widely on social media appear to show graphic scenes of violence, though The National was unable to independently verify their origin. In one video, masked gunmen are seen shooting at a group of unarmed men seated in a line near a roundabout. The National could verify the location as Tishreen Square in central Sweida but was unable to identify the victims and perpetrators. Another video shows at least 10 bodies lying in pools of blood inside a traditional Druze living room. Several residents told The National the victims were members of a prominent local family, the Radwans. One said he recognised the family's salon. Residents also said that indiscriminate shelling has destroyed civilian houses. Tamara, another Sweida resident, said her parents' house was heavily damaged in a shelling on Wednesday, though her parents were not harmed. Other reported abuses included scenes of humiliation. Fawzi, a taxi driver in his thirties who had been confined to his home amid the gunfire and shelling, heard men chanting outside 'Druze pigs! '. Videos circulating online also showed armed men forcibly shaving the moustaches of Druze men, a symbol of masculinity in their culture. On Thursday morning, as the situation began to calm, Ramzi left for a quieter area in Sweida. He shared a video with The National showing the aftermath of the fighting, charred cars lined the road, and most shopfronts had their glass shattered, the debris scattered across the ground. On Thursday evening, he said the city remained sealed off. For Rahaf al Doughli, a professor of Middle East and North African Studies at Lancaster University, the violence reflect a lack of control by Mr Al Sharaa over the patchwork of factions operating in Syria, despite promises of unification. She said the announcement, after the fall of the Assad regime, of the integration of all armed factions was more of an 'accessory process' than an institutionalised one. 'We saw the first impact of this in the violations that happened along the coast,' she said, referring to a spree of sectarian killings in which hundreds of unarmed Alawites were killed by factions nominally affiliated with the government and by armed civilians, according to war monitors. 'It was a major mistake to launch an attack on Sweida using the same military groups that have yet to undergo proper training or discipline,' she added. 'What comes after Sweida is unlike anything before it. We are approaching a very critical juncture in Syria's future. 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time4 hours ago

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