Latest news with #SyrianConflict
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
American killed in Syria amid growing sectarian violence, State Department says
The U.S. State Department confirmed on Tuesday that a U.S. citizen was killed in Syria after disturbing videos surfaced showing him among a group of men apparently being executed by Syrian government forces. "We offer condolences to the family on their loss and are providing consular assistance to them," the State Department said in a statement. "We are greatly concerned when any U.S. citizen is harmed overseas, wherever they are. The United States calls for accountability in all cases where U.S. citizens are harmed abroad." Family and friends confirmed to ABC News that one of the men executed was Hosam Saraya, an American citizen. The confirmation came after videos shared on social media last week showed eight men kneeling next to each other in civilian clothes, with a group of soldiers filming. In one video, the soldiers are seen talking to each other. Then, without warning, they open fire, shooting the unarmed, kneeling men dozens of times at close range. The videos were filmed in Tishreen Square, in southern Syria, on the afternoon of July 16 amid ongoing fighting there. ABC News has spoken to friends and family of Hosam Saraya, a American-Syrian citizen, and confirmed that he and other relatives were among those seen in the video being gunned down. Besides Saraya, the family said his brother, Karim, their father, Ghassan, and their uncles and cousins were also shot to death in the incident. The family showed ABC News Saraya's American passport, confirming his U.S. citizenship. The State Department is "looking into accounts of the death of an individual reported to have been a U.S. citizen in Syria,' a spokesperson said. The Saraya family are Druze, the largest ethnic group in the city but a minority in Syria. Sectarian clashes broke last week between government forces and Druze, Sunni Bedouins and other Sunni factions. A close friend of the Sarayas who worked with Hosam told ABC News that he spoke with Hosam and his relatives last Tuesday night and that they told him bombs had been falling around their home. On Wednesday, the friend, who only wants to be identified as Omar, heard from other family members that Hosam and the others had been taken from their home by government forces. Saraya's mother was left in their ransacked home, Omar said.
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Reuters
Syrian committee reports 1,426 killed in March massacres of Alawites
BEIRUT, July 22 (Reuters) - A Syrian fact-finding committee said on Tuesday that 1,426 people, including 90 women, were killed during the March 7-9 massacres of Syrian Alawites along the country's Mediterranean coast. The committee had come up with an initial list of 298 suspects and had sent two lists of names to the courts, spokesperson Yasser Farhan said.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Syrian presidency announces comprehensive ceasefire after fighting in Druze area
A Syrian military official said correspondence with the US had led Damascus to believe it could deploy forces to Sweida without Israel confronting them. The Syrian presidency announced on Saturday an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire following days of bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has left over 300 people dead. On Friday, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan, and other neighbors. In the Saturday statement, Syria urged all parties to adhere to the ceasefire. On Wednesday last week, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying that Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze - part of a small but influential minority that also has members in Lebanon and Israel. "We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity," Barrack said in a post on X/Twitter. The Syrian Defense Ministry ordered Bedouin militias to leave the city of Sweida, after which Syrian security forces would enter the city in order to implement the ceasefire provisions, Syrian media reported. The Israeli embassy in Washington and the Syrian Consulate in Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Increasing conflict The ceasefire announcement came after the US worked to put an end to the conflict. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said steps had been agreed to end a "troubling and horrifying situation." It also followed what appeared to be a de-escalation of the conflict after government troops withdrew from Sweida, where violence had been centered. Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by US messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops and on Damascus on Wednesday in an escalation that took the Islamist-led leadership by surprise, the sources said, after government forces were accused of killing scores of people in the Druze city of Sweida. Transporting troops Damascus believed it had a green light from both the US and Israel to dispatch its forces south despite months of Israeli warnings not to do so, according to the sources, which include Syrian political and military officials, two diplomats, and regional security sources. That understanding was based on public and private comments from US special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack, as well as on nascent security talks with Israel, the sources said. Barrack has called for Syria to be centrally administered as "one country" without autonomous zones. Syria's understanding of US and Israeli messages regarding its troop deployment to the south has not been previously reported. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on private diplomatic discussions but said the United States supported the territorial unity of Syria. "The Syrian state has an obligation to protect all Syrians, including minority groups," the spokesperson said, urging the Syrian government to hold perpetrators of violence accountable. In response to Reuters questions, a senior official from Syria's ministry of foreign affairs denied that Barrack's comments had influenced the decision to deploy troops, which was made based on "purely national considerations" and with the aim of "stopping the bloodshed, protecting civilians and preventing the escalation of civil conflict". Damascus sent troops and tanks to Sweida province on Monday to quell fighting between Bedouin tribes and armed factions within the Druze community - a minority that follows a religion derived from Islam, with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Syrian forces entering the city came under fire from Druze militia, according to Syrian sources. Subsequent violence attributed to Syrian troops, including field executions and the humiliation of Druze civilians, triggered Israeli strikes on Syrian security forces, the defense ministry in Damascus and the environs of the presidential palace, according to two sources, including a senior Gulf Arab official. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intervened to block Syrian troops from entering southern Syria - which Israel has publicly said should be a demilitarized zone - and to uphold a longstanding commitment to protect the Druze. Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold accountable those responsible for violations against the Druze. He blamed "outlaw groups" seeking to inflame tensions for any crimes against civilians and did not say whether government forces were involved. The US and others quickly intervened to secure a ceasefire by Wednesday evening. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the flare-up as a "misunderstanding" between Israel and Syria. A Syrian and a Western source familiar with the matter said Damascus believed that talks with Israel as recently as last week in Baku produced an understanding over the deployment of troops to southern Syria to bring Sweida under government control. Netanyahu's office declined to comment in response Reuters' questions. Israel said on Friday it had agreed to allow limited access by Syrian forces into Sweida for the next two days. Soon after, Syria said it would deploy a force dedicated to ending the communal clashes, which continued into Saturday morning. Joshua Landis, head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said it appeared Sharaa had overplayed his hand earlier in the week. "It seems that his military staff misunderstood the backing of the US It also misunderstood Israel's stand on the Jabal Druze (in Sweida) from its talks with Israel in Baku," he said. 'Took it as a yes' A Syrian military official said correspondence with the US had led Damascus to believe it could deploy forces without Israel confronting them. The official said US officials had not responded when informed about plans for the deployment, leading the Syrian leadership to believe it had been tacitly approved and "that Israel would not interfere." A diplomat based in Damascus said Syrian authorities had been "overconfident" in its operation to seize Sweida, "based on US messaging that turned out not to reflect reality." US envoy Barrack has said publicly and in private meetings in Damascus that Syria should be "one country," without autonomous rule for its Druze, Kurdish or Alawite communities, which remain largely distrustful of the new Islamist-led leadership. That distrust has prompted Druze factions and a major Kurdish force in northeast Syria to resist Syrian army deployments, and demand their own fighters be integrated into the army as wholesale units only stationed in their territory. Landis said it appeared Sharaa had understood Barrack's statements against federalism in Syria "to mean that the central government could impose its will on the Druze minority by force." The senior Gulf official said Damascus had made a "big mistake" in its approach to Sweida, saying troops had committed violations, including killing and humiliating Druze. The nature of violence handed Israel an opportunity to act forcefully, the Gulf official and another source said. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, an independent monitoring group, said on Friday the death toll from the violence had reached at least 321 people, among them medical personnel, women and children. It said they included field executions by all sides. Reuters was able to verify the time and location of some videos showing dead bodies in Sweida, but could not independently verify who conducted the killings or when they occurred. A regional intelligence source said Sharaa had not been in control of events on the ground because of the lack of a disciplined military and his reliance instead on a patchwork of militia groups, often with a background in Islamic militancy. In sectarian violence in Syria's coastal region in March, hundreds of people from the Alawite minority were killed by forces aligned with Sharaa. With more blood spilled and distrust of Sharaa's government high among minorities, the senior Gulf Arab official said there are "real fears that Syria is heading towards being broken up into statelets." The official from the Syrian Foreign Affairs Ministry said the Sweida operation was not aimed at revenge or escalation, but at preserving the peace and unity of the country. Syrian troops were ready to re-engage to end the communal violence there "whenever appropriate conditions arise, including clear guarantees from the United States that Israel will not intervene," the official said, speaking before the Israeli announcement. Liran Aharoni contributed to this report.
Times
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Syria at risk of renewed civil war without intervention
Syrian government security forces set up a checkpoint in the town of Busra al-Hariri to prevent armed tribal fighters from advancing towards the city OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad offered Syria's people the chance of superseding a recent history of brutal despotism and a 13-year repression of a popular uprising. Yet, seven months since his enforced departure, the country remains scarred by violence and at risk of renewed civil war. In the past week, hundreds have been killed in clashes between Druze and Bedouin militias in the southern Syrian province of Sweida. Western governments must impress upon Damascus that flows of aid and diplomatic support will depend on crushing sectarian forces and cracking down on terrorism rather than giving them free rein. Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Syrian president, has given rhetorical expression to the principle of defending the country's religious and ethnic minorities, but this is scarcely reassuring on its own. There are reliable allegations that government forces took part in massacres of Druze civilians. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has demanded the end of 'the rape and slaughter of innocent people'. He added that Damascus 'must hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks'. Mr Rubio's comments implicitly challenge the strategy so far adopted under the Trump administration. President Trump has thus far treated Mr Sharaa as, in effect, a man he can do business with. The White House has given every indication that it wishes for a strong and centralised government in Damascus to hold Syria together. Thomas Barrack, Mr Trump's special envoy to Syria, said a fortnight ago after meeting Mr Sharaa: 'What we've learnt is federalism doesn't work.' Syria might benefit from a viable central government. A fissiparous state is one that is vulnerable to tribalism and sectarianism. But if the Trump administration's diagnosis of what Syria needs is correct, it crucially depends on rule from Damascus that has legitimacy. And not all US allies have confidence in this outcome. Israel plainly does not, which explains its intervention with airstrikes last week to try to protect the Druze and establish a buffer zone in the south of the country. Israeli attempts to keep neighbouring states from accumulating centralised power have an admittedly poor record, with heavy humanitarian costs, going back at least to the invasion of Lebanon in 1982. But it is not baseless to worry about the emergence of another putative autocrat in Damascus, with jihadist links. Mr Trump hailed Mr Sharaa as an 'attractive, tough guy' after meeting him in Saudi Arabia in May. There is every reason to wish for a stable Syria with a viable central government in succession to the nightmare that was the Assad regime, whose murderous campaign of repression created a huge outward flow of some 14 million refugees. The Sunni majority in Syria would undoubtedly wish for this, as would neighbouring states that have borne the brunt of the refugee crisis, notably Turkey and Saudi Arabia. But the occurrence of three outbursts of lethal communal violence since the fall of Assad give scant grounds for optimism. If the Syrian state becomes a vehicle for repression against minorities, western diplomacy will be making a familiar mistake in embracing it for fear of something worse. The United States above all must make clear that support will depend on Damascus cracking down on thuggish elements of the armed forces, rather than creating another republic of fear.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel and Syria agree to ceasefire, US ambassador to Turkey says
Syria and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said on Friday. The deal was 'embraced' by Turkey, Jordan and other neighboring countries, the ambassador, who also serves as the US special envoy to Syria, said in a post on X. 'We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbors,' Barrack said. Neither party immediately commented on the reported deal. The ceasefire comes after Israel launched airstrikes at Syria on Wednesday, which Israel said were aimed at protecting the Druze, an Arab religious minority. Clashes between pro-government forces and the Druze have killed scores of people since the fall of Syria's longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Israel's airstrikes on Damascus targeted several government buildings, with authorities saying at least three people were killed. One video from a Syrian television channel showed the Ministry of Defense building being hit live on air, forcing the anchor to take cover. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday night local time that the Syrian army started withdrawing from Suwayda, where clashes erupted over the weekend between Druze militia and Bedouin tribes, prompting government forces to intervene. Al-Sharaa's government also announced a new ceasefire with the Druze factions. In that same televised address, al-Sharaa accused Israel of seeking to divide the Syrian people and turn Syria 'into a battlefield of chaos.' The US has voiced concern over the increased tensions and has made a recent diplomatic push to resolve the conflict. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday to discuss the matter, according to a readout of the call from the Turkish foreign ministry. Rubio previously said on Wednesday night that all parties to the conflict had agreed to 'specific steps' to resolve the situation. 'This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do,' Rubio said on X. Amos Yadlin, a former major general and chief of Israeli Military Intelligence, said Friday on CNN's 'The Brief with Jim Sciutto' that that involvement of all the players – including Turkey, Israel, and Jordan – is 'making a lot of sense.' 'The question is how the people on the ground will behave, whether the retaliations of the two communities will stop,' Yadlin said. This story has been updated with additional developments. CNN's Katrina Samaan contributed to this report.
