logo
16 killed in ‘most violent' Syria unrest since Assad ouster: monitor

16 killed in ‘most violent' Syria unrest since Assad ouster: monitor

Arab News06-03-2025

'Our forces in the city of Jableh managed to arrest the criminal General Ibrahim Huweija,' SANA said Huweija, who headed air force intelligence from 1987 to 2002, has long been a suspect in the 1977 murder of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Bek JumblattDAMASCUS: Gunmen loyal to Syria's Bashar Assad killed 16 security personnel on Thursday, a war monitor said, in attacks it described as the 'most violent' since the longtime president's ouster.The fighting took place in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia, the heartland of the ousted president's Alawite minority who were considered bastions of support during his rule.During the operation, security forces captured and arrested a former head of air force intelligence, one of the Assad family's most trusted security agencies, state news agency SANA reported.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes in the coastal town of Jableh and adjacent villages were 'the most violent attacks against the new authorities since Assad was toppled' in December.It said most of the security personnel killed were from the former rebel bastion of Idlib in the northwest.'Our forces in the city of Jableh managed to arrest the criminal General Ibrahim Huweija,' SANA said. 'He is accused of hundreds of assassinations during the era of the criminal Hafez Assad,' Bashar Assad's father and predecessor.Huweija, who headed air force intelligence from 1987 to 2002, has long been a suspect in the 1977 murder of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Bek Jumblatt. His son and successor Walid Jumblatt retweeted the news of his arrest with the comment: 'Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest).'At least three of the gunmen in Jableh were killed, the Britain-based Observatory said.The provincial security director said security forces clashed with gunmen loyal to an Assad-era special forces commander in another village in Latakia, after authorities reportedly launched helicopter strikes.'The armed groups that our security forces were clashing with in the Latakia countryside were affiliated with the war criminal Suhail Al-Hassan,' the security director told SANA.Nicknamed 'The Tiger,' Hassan led the country's special forces and was frequently described as Assad's 'favorite soldier.' He was responsible for key military advances by the Assad government in 2015.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported 'strikes launched by Syrian helicopters on armed men in the village of Beit Ana and the surrounding forests, coinciding with artillery strikes on a neighboring village.'SANA reported that militias loyal to the ousted president had opened fire on 'members and equipment of the defense ministry' near the village, killing one security force member and wounding two.Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera reported that its photographer Riad Al-Hussein was wounded in the clashes but that he was doing well.A defense ministry source later told SANA that large military reinforcements were being deployed to the Jableh area.Alawite leaders later called in a statement on Facebook for 'peaceful protests' in response to the helicopter strikes, which they said had targeted 'the homes of civilians.'The security forces imposed overnight curfews on Alawite-populated areas, including the port city of Tartus and third city Homs, SANA reported.In other cities around the country, crowds gathered 'in support of the security forces,' it added.Tensions erupted after residents of Beit Ana, the birthplace of Suhail Al-Hassan, prevented security forces from arresting a person wanted for trading arms, the Observatory said.Security forces subsequently launched a campaign in the area, resulting in clashes with gunmen, it added.Later on Thursday, large groups of young men, some bearing arms, gathered in Idlib, in support of the security forces fighting in Latakia, the Observatory said.Messages broadcast over the loudspeakers of mosques called for 'jihad' against the gunmen, it added.The tensions erupted after at least four civilians were killed during a security operation in Latakia, the monitor said on Wednesday.Security forces launched the campaign in the Daatour neighborhood of the city on Tuesday after an ambush by 'members of the remnants of Assad militias' killed two security personnel, state media reported.Islamist rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham launched a lightning offensive that toppled Assad on December 8.The country's new security forces have since carried out extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions.Residents and organizations have reported violations during those campaigns, including the seizing of homes, field executions and kidnappings.Syria's new authorities have described the violations as 'isolated incidents' and vowed to pursue those responsible.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Syria requires women to wear burkinis on public beaches
Syria requires women to wear burkinis on public beaches

Arab News

time11 hours ago

  • Arab News

Syria requires women to wear burkinis on public beaches

DAMASCUS: Syria's Islamist-led government has decreed that women should wear burkinis or other swimwear that covers the body at public beaches and swimming pools, while permitting Western-style beachwear at private clubs and luxury hotels. The tourism ministry decision issued this week marks the first time the Damascus authorities have issued guidelines related to what women can wear since Bashar Assad was toppled in December. During the Assad family's iron-fisted rule of Syria, which was shaped by a secular Arab nationalist ideology, the state imposed no such restrictions, though people often dressed modestly at public beaches, reflecting conservative norms. The new requirements were set out in a wider decree dated June 9 and which included public safety guidelines for beaches and swimming pools ahead of the summer, such as not spending too long in the sun and avoiding jellyfish. It said that beachgoers and visitors to public pools should wear 'appropriate swimwear that respects public decency and the feelings of different segments of society,' requiring 'more modest swimsuits' and specifying 'the burkini or swimming clothes that cover the body more.' Women should wear a cover or a loose robe over their swimwear when moving between the beach and other areas, it said. Men should wear a shirt when not swimming, and are not allowed to appear bare-chested 'in the public areas outside the swimming areas – hotel lobbies or ... restaurants,' it said. The decree added that 'in public areas outside the beaches and swimming pools,' it was preferable to wear loose clothing that covers the shoulders and knees and to avoid transparent or very tight clothing. It offered an exception for hotels classed as four stars or above, and for private beaches, pools and clubs, saying 'normal Western swimwear' was generally permitted, 'with adherence to public morals and within the limits of public taste.' Since Sunni Islamist-led rebels overthrew Assad, fliers have appeared urging women to cover up, but the government has issued no directives ordering them to observe conservative dress codes. A temporary constitution passed earlier this year strengthened the language on the role of sharia (Islamic law) in Syria. Interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led an Al-Qaeda group before cutting ties with the jihadist network, has sidestepped interviewers' questions on whether he thought Syria should apply sharia, saying this was for experts to decide.

China's embassy in UK accuses NATO of ‘smearing and scapegoating'
China's embassy in UK accuses NATO of ‘smearing and scapegoating'

Al Arabiya

time12 hours ago

  • Al Arabiya

China's embassy in UK accuses NATO of ‘smearing and scapegoating'

China firmly opposes NATO's 'smearing and scapegoating' of China, its embassy in Britain said on Wednesday in response to remarks NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made about Beijing's military build-up earlier this week. NATO should correct its 'misperception' of China, stop peddling its 'security anxiety' and 'using China as an excuse for its continued military build-up and disruption of global and regional security,' a Chinese embassy spokesperson said in a statement. At a Chatham House event in London on Monday, Rutte said China, working with Russia, North Korea and Iran, is 'modernizing and expanding its military at breakneck speed,' according to his speech published on NATO's website.

UK and Others Sanction 2 Far-Right Israeli Ministers over Violence in Occupied West Bank
UK and Others Sanction 2 Far-Right Israeli Ministers over Violence in Occupied West Bank

Asharq Al-Awsat

timea day ago

  • Asharq Al-Awsat

UK and Others Sanction 2 Far-Right Israeli Ministers over Violence in Occupied West Bank

Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said Tuesday they have imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers for allegedly "inciting extremist violence" against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The decision by Western governments friendly to Israel was a sharp rebuke of Israel's settlement policies in the West Bank and of settler violence, which has spiked since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, key partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, are champions of Israeli settlement who support continuing the war in Gaza, facilitating what they call the voluntary emigration of its Palestinian population and the rebuilding of Jewish settlements there. They could now face asset freezes and travel bans. The five countries' foreign ministers said in a joint statement that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich "have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous." UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the two men "have been inciting violence against Palestinian people for months and months and months" and "encouraging egregious abuses of human rights." Israel's Foreign Ministry said earlier it had been informed of the sanctions. Smotrich, the finance minister, wrote on social media that he learned of the sanctions while he was inaugurating a new West Bank settlement. "We are determined to continue building," he said. "We overcame Pharoah, we'll overcome Starmer's Wall." Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, wrote on social media, referring to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions decision "outrageous." He said he had discussed it with Netanyahu and they would meet next week to discuss Israel's response. Netanyahu is the target of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court last year over alleged war crimes in Gaza, part of a global wave of outrage at Israel's conduct during its 20-month war against Hamas. Netanyahu has denied the allegations and accused the court of being biased against Israel. The Biden administration took the rare step of sanctioning radical Israeli settlers implicated in violence in the occupied West Bank — sanctions that were lifted by President Donald Trump. Eitay Mack, an Israeli human rights lawyer who spent years campaigning for the sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, along with violent West Bank settlers, described Tuesday's move as "historic." "It means the wall of immunity that Israeli politicians had has been broken," he said. "It's unbelievable that it took so long for Western governments to sanction Israeli politicians, and the fact that it's being done while Trump is president is quite amazing." Mack added: "It is a message to Netanyahu himself that he could be next." Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state. Successive Israeli governments have promoted settlement growth and construction stretching back decades. It has exploded under Netanyahu's far-right coalition, which has settlers in key Cabinet posts. There are now well over 100 settlements across the West Bank that house more than 500,000 settlers. The settlers have Israeli citizenship, while the territory's 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal, and Palestinians see them as the greatest obstacle to an eventual two-state solution, which is still seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store