Latest news with #GeneralSecurityService
LeMonde
16-07-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Israel drives Syrian government forces out of Druze stronghold of Sweida
The bodies of Osama and Ahmed Qtemish, two members of the General Security Service, the newly formed Syrian police force, lay on the ground under a blanket, their faces speckled with blood. Their young brother, who had also been injured in the ear, wept and refused to leave their bodies. He had already lost two other brothers, who had been tortured to death by Bashar al-Assad's regime in the notorious Saydnaya prison. On the morning of Tuesday, July 15, the police unit in which the Qtemish brothers served was targeted by an Israeli strike in the center of Sweida, a city in southern Syria where the majority of residents are from the Druze religious community. "It's a massacre," said Dr. Ahmed al-Hor, one of only two doctors working at the improvised field hospital set up in a building in al-Mazra'a, a Druze village located on the western outskirts of the city of Sweida. "Since dawn, we've received more than 100 wounded and about 30 martyrs – soldiers and police officers, but also members of elite units. Most were targeted by strikes from Israeli drones and aircraft; others by Druze snipers and artillery," he said. On Tuesday evening, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported 248 dead, including 93 members of the government forces, since fighting broke out on Sunday between Druze factions and Bedouin fighters. The government forces, who had entered Sweida on Tuesday morning, were caught off guard. A ceasefire had been announced by Syria's Defense Ministry at 8 am. An agreement had just been reached with the city's prominent Druze figures, providing for its defenders to surrender their weapons and allow government forces to deploy in Sweida, a city of 150,000 residents that had so far remained outside of Damascus's control. Yet influential Druze religious leader Hikmat al-Hijri condemned the agreement, accusing the government of violating it through the "indiscriminate bombardment" of "unarmed civilians." He also addressed Druze fighters, calling for "resisting this brutal campaign."
LeMonde
15-07-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Syrian army enters Druze stronghold of Sweida
The sandstorm-wracked villages located on the outskirts of the Sweida governorate seemed deserted. On the road connecting Damascus to the southern Syrian province, where the Druze religious minority make up the majority of the population, artillery fire rang out at regular intervals. With their faces hidden behind scarves and Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders, Bedouin tribal fighters sped by on motorcycles, or in the backs of pickup trucks, toward conflict zones where, late in the afternoon on Monday, July 14, Druze militia groups fought Syrian government forces. Members of the General Security Service – the new Syrian police – who, that morning, had taken control of the checkpoint defining the start of Sweida governorate, located at the hamlet of as-Sawara al-Kubra, let the Bedouin fighters through. Only Bedouins from the local area, who arrived in empty pickup trucks in hopes of looting the abandoned villages, were discouraged from getting any closer by warning shots. The police officers lined the belongings they had confiscated from looters up along the side of the road: a refrigerator, some furniture, a computer tower unit, some copper wire and clothing. Moheib al-Bitar and Tourfa Nawakil, two Christian men in their sixties from the hamlet of as-Sawara al-Kubra, searched through the line-up to find objects that had belonged to them. "The 30 Druze families from the village have fled. Only seven Christian families are left here. Fortunately, the General Security deployed to secure the village. The Bedouins looted, burned houses, and killed five Druze," said al-Bitar.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Yahoo
Syrian security forces detonate leftover munitions, source says
DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Syrian security forces detonated leftover munitions as part of a training exercise in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, a security source said, creating an explosion that was heard across the city. The source from Syria's General Security Service, which is broadly responsible for security matters, told Reuters no-one was wounded in the controlled blast. Residents had heard a loud blast and saw a plume of smoke rising in the western neighborhoods of the city early on Tuesday evening.
Reuters
24-06-2025
- Reuters
Syrian security forces detonate leftover munitions, source says
DAMASCUS, June 24 (Reuters) - Syrian security forces detonated leftover munitions as part of a training exercise in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, a security source said, creating an explosion that was heard across the city. The source from Syria's General Security Service, which is broadly responsible for security matters, told Reuters no-one was wounded in the controlled blast. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. Residents had heard a loud blast and saw a plume of smoke rising in the western neighborhoods of the city early on Tuesday evening.
Saudi Gazette
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Israeli military recovers bodies of three hostages in Gaza
JERUSALEM — IDF soldiers, in coordination with the General Security Service, recovered and returned to Israel the remains of three hostages: Yonatan Samerano, Ofra Keidar, and Sergeant Shai Levinson. The operation took place overnight. Following identification at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the families were informed of the outcome. Yonatan Samerano, 21, was attending the Nova music festival in Western Negev when Hamas launched its attack on Israel. He and two friends fled to Kibbutz Be'eri, but Hamas militants had already infiltrated the area. The three were killed, and their bodies taken into the Gaza Strip. Samerano's abduction was captured on CCTV. Israeli authorities later claimed his captor was an employee of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. Germany expressed condolences to the family of 19-year-old Shai Levinson, who held dual Israeli-German citizenship. Tank crew commander Shai Levinson, a sergeant in the IDF's 7th Armoured Division, was killed in a battle with militants on October 7. His death was officially reported in January Keidar, 71, was out for a walk early on the morning of October 7 when she too was killed by Hamas - her body was taken to Gaza. Her husband was shot by the attackers inside their home. Before she died, Ofra told her loved ones over the phone that she was being around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, and intelligence assessments suggest that only about 20 of them are still to Israeli authorities, approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack on southern response, Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. According to the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-run territory, the conflict has resulted in the deaths of more than 55,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. — Euronews
