EU Sanctions Syrian Militias Over Ethnic Violence
BRUSSELS: The European Union sanctioned on Wednesday three Syrian militia groups and two of their leaders for serious human-rights abuses over their alleged involvement in deadly ethnic violence in March.
More than 1,700 people were killed in attacks mostly targeting the Alawite community, which is associated with the clan of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad, in Syria's coastal region in March.
Brussels added the three pro-Turkish militia groups -- the Sultan Sulaiman Shah Brigade, the Hamza Division and the Sultan Murad Division -- to its sanctions list for their role in the killings.
The groups targeted 'civilians and especially the Alawite community, including by committing arbitrary killings', the EU's official journal read.
Sultan Sulaiman Shah Brigade's founder Muhammad Hussein al-Jasim and Hamza Division chief Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr were also added to the sanctions list.
The latter was held responsible for 'serious human rights abuses in Syria, including torture and arbitrary killings of civilians'.
The move comes a week after EU countries gave a green light to lifting all economic sanctions on Syria in a bid to help the war-torn country recover after the ouster of Assad. The decision was officially adopted Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump has also announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria, ending more than a decade of diplomatic freeze.
Syria's new rulers have been clamouring for relief from the crushing international punishment imposed after Assad's crackdown on opponents spiralled into civil war.
But EU diplomats had warned the 27-nation bloc intended to impose new individual sanctions on those responsible for stirring ethnic tensions.
Syria's 14-year civil war killed more than half a million people and ravaged the country.
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