Latest news with #gunmen
Reuters
2 days ago
- Reuters
Insight: How Syrian attackers killed: One hand on the gun, another on the camera
By Deniz Uyar, Monica Naime and Pola Grzanka July 29 (Reuters) - The fighters in military-style uniforms pointed their rifles at the three unarmed men and ordered them out onto a sunny balcony, before barking at them to pause. "One minute. You want to film them?" one of the attackers asked his comrade. The unfolding horror, which was already being filmed by one gunman on his cellphone, was delayed for a few moments to allow a second fighter to start capturing the events. "Let's go! Throw yourself over," the gunmen yelled at their victims, members of Syria's minority Druze faith. Two of the attackers shot the men one by one as they clambered over the black railing before their bodies tumbled to the street below, according to the footage circulating on social media which was reviewed by Reuters. The victims were Moaz Arnous, his brother Baraa Arnous and their cousin, Osama Arnous, according to a family friend and another cousin who both told Reuters the video showed the three being killed at their home in the southern city of Sweida on July 16. The deaths were among 12 execution-style killings of unarmed Druze civilians carried out at three sites in and around Sweida this month by gunmen wearing military fatigues, according to the footage of the attacks, which was filmed by the killers themselves or people accompanying them and verified by Reuters. Another video shows Mounir al-Rajma, a 60-year-old guard at a communal water well, being gunned down by two young fighters after telling them he is Druze, his son Wiam told Reuters. Other footage shows a group of fighters forcing eight civilians to kneel in the dust of a roundabout before shooting them dead, according to a friend and a relative of some of those victims. The videos provide some of the most detailed depictions yet of the bloodshed that erupted in Sweida province in mid-July, initially between local Druze militia and Bedouin tribal fighters and subsequently government forces sent to restore order. The violence killed hundreds of mostly Druze people, according to Reuters reporting and two monitoring groups. Reuters was able to use visible landmarks in each video to geo-locate the incidents. The events depicted and their dates were verified through interviews with seven relatives and friends of the victims. All said they believed Syrian government forces killed their loved ones. The news agency could not identify the attackers in the videos, which were not time-stamped, or determine who first posted them online. The pieces of footage began appearing online after July 18, a review of social media posts found. The media offices of the Syrian defence and interior ministries didn't respond to questions from Reuters on the filmed attacks. Syria's defense ministry said on July 22 that it was aware of reports that an "unknown group" wearing military fatigues committed "shocking and gross violations" in Sweida. It didn't mention execution-style killings targeting Druze people. The ministry vowed to investigate the abuses, identify those responsible and impose "maximum penalties" on perpetrators, "even if they are affiliated with the ministry of defense." On the same day, the interior ministry condemned "in the strongest terms the circulating videos showing field executions carried out by unidentified individuals in the city of Sweida". RIGHTS GROUP: AT LEAST 1,000 DEAD Syria has been plagued by bouts of sectarian strife since the sudden fall of President Bashar al-Assad and his police state in December last year after 14 years of war. The new government, led by a former Sunni Islamist group that has its roots in global jihad, dissolved Assad's army and sought to integrate dozens of former rebel factions into a national army, but those forces have struggled to fill the security vacuum. Sweida province is predominantly populated by the Druze community, a distant offshoot of Islam that comprises about 3% of Syria's pre-war population of 24 million. The atrocities there came four months after a spree of killings against the Alawite minority, with armed factions affiliated to the new government killing hundreds of people in coastal settlements. The Sweida unrest began on July 13 when longstanding local tensions over land and resources in the province escalated into clashes between local Druze militia and Bedouin tribal fighters, who like government forces largely adhere to the country's majority Sunni faith. The violence worsened significantly after the Syrian military was deployed to the province on July 14 to quell the clashes and entered Sweida city itself on July 15, according to residents, two war monitors and reporters on the ground. The Syrian Network for Human Rights said 1,013 people have been killed in the bloodshed since July 13, including 47 women, 26 children and six medical personnel. The group said victims were mainly Druze, adding that it wasn't clear how many were fighters or civilians. The network said the vast majority died after the army's arrival led to a sharp increase in fighting. The organization's head, Fadel Abdulghany, told Reuters it had documented execution-style killings by Syrian troops, Bedouin fighters and Druze groups. A forensic pathologist in the city of Sweida, who requested anonymity to speak about sensitive matters, told Reuters he had examined 502 bodies that had been brought to the Sweida National Hospital during this month's violence. One was decapitated and two, including a teenage girl, had their throats slit. Most of the others suffered from gunshot wounds inflicted at close range, he said. Reuters could not independently verify the numbers or specific atrocities recounted by the Syrian network and the pathologist. The son of Rajma, the 60-year-old water well guard, identified his father in a video verified by Reuters as having been filmed on July 15 outside the Muhammad Salih Nasr School in the town of Thaalah, less than a mile from their home. Rajma is seen sitting on the steps of the school's entrance as at least three young rifle-toting men in military fatigues are heard repeatedly screaming at him, "Are you Muslim or Druze?" The exchange is filmed by someone standing directly next to the fighters and it is unclear if the person is also armed. When the older man answers, "I'm Syrian", one fighter responds: "What does Syrian mean? Muslim or Druze?" Rajma says: "My brother, I'm Druze." Three of the fighters immediately open fire. "This is the fate of every dog among you, you pigs," one of them says. In another video verified by Reuters, a group of seven fighters in military fatigues carrying rifles are seen guiding eight men in civilian clothes down a sidewalk. Based on the shop signs and road layout, Reuters identified the street as lying just west of Tishreen Square in the heart of Sweida city. The only visible insignia on the fatigues is a small black patch on the right arm of one of the fighters bearing the Islamic declaration of faith in a design popularized by the Islamic State group. Reuters reporters have also seen some soldiers at checkpoints in government areas wearing them. Syria's defense and interior ministries didn't respond to questions on whether their forces wear the patches. The Islamic State did not mention Sweida in any of their posts on their social media propaganda channels, including in the period after July 13. Reuters couldn't reach a representative for the group. A few seconds into the video, the fighter filming turns his phone camera around to his own face: He's a bearded man dressed in military fatigues, with a red bandana wrapped around his head and the butt of a rifle visible across his chest. The eight victims walk in single file, each resting his hands on the shoulders of the man in front. The last man in line, wearing a tan shirt and sandals, was identified by a friend who watched the video as Hosam Saraya, a 35-year-old Syrian-American citizen. The friend said the older man directly in front of him in line was Hosam's father, and the next man was Hosam's brother Kareem. Most of the others were from the same extended family, the friend added. Dima Saraya, the wife of Ali Saraya - another of the men in line - told Reuters that armed men in military fatigues had surrounded the apartment building where the extended Saraya family lived west of Tishreen Square on July 16 and demanded that the men inside surrender themselves, promising to question them for a few hours and return them home safely. U.S. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma confirmed that Hosam, who had lived in Oklahoma, "was tragically executed alongside other members of his family in Syria." He didn't give further details. A separate video shows the same eight unarmed men kneeling in the dirt of a roundabout in Tishreen Square. Reuters was able to verify the video's location from the statue in the roundabout and a tower block visible directly behind it. The same friend identified Hosam, his brother and his father among the kneeling men in the second video. At least two fighters fire their rifles directly at the kneeling group, from close proximity and for at least seven seconds. The kneeling men crumple into the dirt and lie motionless as the armed men yell, "God is great."
The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
Inside brutal ‘baby farms' where kidnapped girls as young as 13 are raped until pregnant & tots sold to desperate Brits
CAGED inside filthy, cramped buildings in Nigeria, pregnant teenagers cradle their swollen stomachs, knowing their babies will be ripped from their arms the moment they're born. The girls - watched closely by gunmen to ensure they don't escape - were kidnapped off the streets then brought to these hellholes to be repeatedly raped until they fell pregnant. 20 20 20 Their journey to motherhood is nothing short of horrific - with some girls fed just one meal a day, given poor medical care, and sexually abused by their captors while heavily pregnant. And their trauma will only intensify once their babies are born, as the defenceless infants are flogged to desperate infertile couples - allegedly including Brits - and child trafficking rings. Newborns from Nigerian 'baby factories' are reportedly being sold for as little as £60 - and as much as £2,000 - on the black market, with in-demand boys attracting a 'premium' price. Just this month, a family court in Leeds heard the case of a 'very young' baby who was brought in from Nigeria by a woman who was not their biological mother, and has now been put up for adoption. The case follows that of another baby brought unlawfully from Nigeria, who was taken in by social services in Manchester, amid fears that children from 'baby factories' are being trafficked to Britain. But, while they may never know their real mothers, they are perhaps among the lucky ones. Those babies not purchased by international or domestic couples, who claim them as their own, are used as child labour. Others are trafficked to Western nations as sex slaves. And for a few, their fate is even worse - with reports of infants being sacrificed in sick rituals. Experts tell The Sun that Nigeria's baby trafficking trade is 'lucrative', with an estimated 10 children sold each day - while their violated young mothers are left with empty arms. 'Infants are sold into black-market adoptions, domestic servitude, or trafficked into countries like the UK,' says Jared Navarre, Chairman of the Board of Project AK-47, a strategic humanitarian initiative that fights to free children enslaved and exploited globally. 'Some are moved on forged documents. 'Others are smuggled in under the radar and are never registered, and never found.' He adds: 'These factories exist because there's a market for human lives.' 20 20 20 As for the fate of the babies' mothers - some, who didn't die in childbirth the first time, are impregnated, again and again, with their newborns callously torn from them each time. When their depraved captors consider them no longer useful, the 'luckier' girls are freed - reportedly, with blindfolds on, so they can't locate the factories they were held at. Those less fortunate are never seen again. 'They're raped systematically and impregnated as part of the business model,' says Jared. 'They're not patients. They're inventory.' 20 20 20 Last week, it was reported that a woman living in West Yorkshire had flown to Nigeria before returning to Gatwick Airport with a 'very young' baby girl that she hadn't birthed. The woman, who was arrested, claimed she was the baby's biological mother, according to the BBC. However, tests showed 'no genetic link' to either the woman or her husband. The Leeds court heard that the baby had suffered "significant emotional and psychological harm" after her 'parents' lied and handed the authorities fake documents. A judge ordered that the girl - who, tragically, may never know the identities of her real parents - be placed for adoption. Police said there was no active investigation at present. A specialist social worker, who visited the medical centre where the mother alleged she had given birth, told the court the practice of "baby farming" is well known in West Africa. At least 200 illegal "baby factories" have been shut down by the Nigerian authorities in the last five years, she said. Promised 'easy money' 20 20 But such concerns aren't entirely new: in 2012, a High Court judge raised fears about 'desperate childless parents' becoming involved in baby-selling scams in Africa. Disguised as maternity clinics and orphanages, 'baby factories' plague south-eastern Nigeria - which has the dark reputation of being a major African country in human trafficking. Fuelled by poverty, heavy social pressure on women to bear children, and a stigma around teen pregnancy, these heinous sites have been described as 'puppy mills for people'. They have even inspired the recent Netflix series, Baby Farm. The girls at these 'factories' - some, just 14 - have either been recruited while pregnant with false promises of 'easy money', or have been kidnapped, raped and impregnated. 'Some come in already pregnant. Most don't,' says Jared. Forced to sell their babies 20 20 One survivor - who was already pregnant - told Al Jazeera that she was lured to a 'baby factory' by a woman who claimed she owned a home for young expectant mothers. But when she got there, the girl said the woman demanded to buy her unborn baby. 'I was really afraid and I was scared,' said the 19-year-old, who was held captive. She added that some imprisoned teens tried to kill themselves, while others staged escape attempts. 'I was among the ones who tried to escape, but there was no way,' she said. Human trafficking expert Joanna Ewart-James says some pregnant girls are 'coerced' into going to 'factories' through poverty, 'seeing no financial option other than to sell their baby'. 'Many young women are afraid to tell their families they are pregnant,' Joanna, co-founder of the US-based non-profit organisation, Freedom United, tells us. 'And without access to abortion and antenatal care, some are drawn to baby-sellers who keep them hidden - and captive - until the baby is born.' She adds of the infants involved: "The commodification - the buying and selling - of children and newborn babies is horrific because of their inability to defend themselves.' Abortion is illegal in Nigeria - where up to one million people each year are thought to be trafficked. Pregnancies can only be terminated to save the life of the mother. Another survivor, then 16, wasn't pregnant when a woman, known as 'Aunty Kiki', lured her from an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp to the Nigerian state of Enugu. Promised a job as a housemaid, with a monthly salary, the teen was transported to a compound guarded by gunmen, where a man allegedly ordered her to strip then raped her. 'The compound had two flats of three bedrooms each filled with young girls, some of them pregnant,' the teen - who would go on to suffer daily abuse - told Al Jazeera. Within weeks of being caged at the compound, the girl was pregnant. Yet she was still raped. 'It doesn't matter whether you are six weeks or six months pregnant,' said another girl who was impregnated at the compound. 'If any of the men wants you, you can't say no.' The two girls from the compound both delivered baby boys, who were snatched from them. The infants were sold to unknown customers, for unknown sums - though they likely drew a heftier price because they were male. Traditionally, in Nigeria, boys inherit land. 'Cryptic pregnancy doctors' 20 20 Lori Cohen, CEO of children's rights organisation Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT), says that, in patriarchal societies like Nigeria, 'rigid gender roles continue to shape the cultural norms by placing a premium on fertility, and particularly boy babies'. So-called 'cryptic pregnancy doctors' in Nigeria prey on this pressure to conceive. Their cruel scams - which 'guarantee' couples a pregnancy - operate alongside 'baby factories'. In such scams, Nigerian couples longing to be parents fork out hundreds of pounds on 'miracle' fertility treatment - including injections that reportedly cause the woman's stomach to bloat. The 'doctors' administering the treatment promise the woman that she is pregnant - news she has, often, waited years to hear - despite medical scans and tests proving otherwise. As the 'birth' nears, the couple is told they must pay for an expensive drug to induce labour. But this is not always available imminently - because the 'drug' is, in fact, a trafficked baby. While waiting for this 'drug', women have reported being up to 15 months 'pregnant'. Ify Obinabo, Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Welfare, told a BBC Africa Eye documentary: 'Cryptic pregnancy cannot exist without child trafficking. Anybody that tells you [that] you will have a child through cryptic pregnancy is a liar… you are going to be given another person's child, a trafficked child. Ify Obinabo, Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Welfare 'Anybody that tells you [that] you will have a child through cryptic pregnancy is a liar… you are going to be given another person's child, a trafficked child.' One Nigerian-trained diagnostic sonographer, who dubs herself 'The Celebrity Sonographer', recently told of how a woman ended up with 'three cryptic babies'. Taking to Facebook, the sonographer, based in London, explained that the devastated woman had been convinced that she'd carried and given birth to her children. However, DNA tests had refuted this. For each birth, the woman had reportedly been called up by a hospital in Nigeria - which has reportedly since closed down - and told it was 'time for her to deliver'. 'She was not allowed to come with anyone,' wrote the sonographer. 'Once she arrives, they will make her sleep and when she wakes up, her baby will be by her side and that was how she gave birth to the three.' She added: 'It dawned on me that they had probably made her sleep to give her other people's children.' Some experts claim that 'local corruption' in Nigeria helps 'baby factories' to thrive. 'They operate because they're profitable, protected, and low-risk for the people running them,' says Jared. 'Local corruption shields them. International demand fuels them.' He adds: 'There's no meaningful consequence for either.' Nigerian cops have previously cracked down on such 'factories' through raids and arrests, with 22 pregnant women, aged between 20 and 25, rescued from one site in 2023. In 2021, four pregnant girls were saved from a 'factory' in Anambra, while, in 2019, police in the nation's biggest city, Lagos, freed 19 women and girls as well as four babies. Most of the survivors in Lagos - brought there from the states of Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Abia and Imo - had been kidnapped and impregnated by their captors. 'The young women were mostly abducted by the suspects for the purpose of getting them pregnant and selling the babies to potential buyers,' Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana told Reuters at the time, adding that the victims had been 'tricked' with employment offers. 'Orphanage trafficking' 20 20 A year earlier, more than 160 children had been rescued from a 'baby factory' and two unregistered orphanages in the same city, which is known for its beach resorts and nightlife. Horrifically, some of the infants had been sexually abused, an official told the BBC in 2018. They were later placed in government-approved homes. According to Joanna, so-called 'orphanage trafficking' is ongoing in parts of Africa, with British volunteers becoming unknowing participants in such exploitation. 'Used to attract donations from abroad, poor parents in countries like Uganda or Cambodia are convinced that their child will be given an education,' she tells us. 'Instead, they are placed in an orphanage to attract money from well-meaning volunteers travelling in their gap year.' Meanwhile, in southern Nigeria, some women drug and 'rent' their young children out to street beggars, according to a 2018 trafficking report by the U.S. Department of State. They do this to increase the beggar's profits, with passersby feeling pity for the child. But, in at least one case, an infant died from a drug overdose. Even for the children who survive trafficking, the consequences are 'irreversible'. Referring to the infants sold by 'baby factory beasts', Irina Tsukerman, a New York-based human rights and national security lawyer, tells us: 'They are deprived of their identities, disconnected from their biological families, and placed into lives constructed on deception. 'Their legal status may remain ambiguous. 'Their access to education, healthcare, and social protection may be compromised. 'The psychological harm of being trafficked as a commodity is compounded by the systemic erasure of their origins.' She adds: 'For the mothers who survive these 'factories', the loss is equally profound. They [mothers] are left to contend with the trauma of forced pregnancy, the disappearance of their child, and the social isolation that often follows Irina Tsukerman 'They are left to contend with the trauma of forced pregnancy, the disappearance of their child, and the social isolation that often follows.' While Nigerian police continue to raid 'factories' - with suspects facing a reported 10 years behind bars - the UK government has restricted adoptions from Nigeria in recent years. Border Force officers are trained to identify and safeguard children who could be in danger. But experts insist more action must be taken against the buyers, and sellers, of 'factory' babies. 'As with other forms of human trafficking, forced harvesting of children only exists because of the underlying demand that makes this crime so profitable,' says Lori. 'Eliminating the demand for stolen babies by holding buyers accountable, in addition to these vile child brokers, is the surest way to shutter the doors of these criminal networks.' 20 20
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Seventeen killed as gunmen attack bar in Ecuador
A 12-year-old boy was among 17 people killed as gunmen fired into a bar in Ecuador, the latest mass shooting in a country ravaged by drug violence. Ecuador's attorney general's office said 14 others were injured in the attack on Sunday night at La Clínica bar in El Empalme. Police Major Oscar Valencia said the gunmen travelled in two pickup vehicles and "opened fire on everyone" with "pistols and rifles", before firing on another group as they fled the scene. He said the child who was killed had ran for over a kilometre before collapsing and dying from gunshot wounds. Images from the scene published in local media showed several bodies on the street covered in white sheets. Investigators said they found at least 40 pieces of ballistic evidence at the scene. Valencia said witnesses reported the men shouted "active wolves" - a possible reference to a local gang who has vied for control of drug trafficking routes. Guayas has been on the frontline of worsening violence between drug traffickers. A week ago, nine people were killed while playing pool in a bar in the tourist resort of Playas, also in the same Guayas region as the latest shooting. Police said those killed in the earlier incident had been "collateral victims" and not the intended targets. President Daniel Noboa declared war on organised crime last year. Since then, the nation has become one of the most violent in the region, with a homicide rate of 38 per 100,000 people in 2024. In the first five months of 2025, Ecuador recorded 4,051 homicides, according to official figures. According to official sources, nearly three quarters of the world's cocaine production passes through Ecuador. Powerful Ecuador drug lord 'Fito' extradited to US
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Seventeen killed as gunmen attack bar in Ecuador
A 12-year-old boy was among 17 people killed as gunmen fired into a bar in Ecuador, the latest mass shooting in a country ravaged by drug attorney general's office said 14 others were injured in the attack on Sunday night at La Clínica bar in El Major Oscar Valencia said the gunmen travelled in two pickup vehicles and "opened fire on everyone" with "pistols and rifles", before firing on another group as they fled the said the child who was killed had ran for over a kilometre before collapsing and dying from gunshot wounds. Images from the scene published in local media showed several bodies on the street covered in white said they found at least 40 pieces of ballistic evidence at the said witnesses reported the men shouted "active wolves" - a possible reference to a local gang who has vied for control of drug trafficking routes. Guayas has been on the frontline of worsening violence between drug traffickers.A week ago, nine people were killed while playing pool in a bar in the tourist resort of Playas, also in the same Guayas region as the latest shooting. Police said those killed in the earlier incident had been "collateral victims" and not the intended Daniel Noboa declared war on organised crime last year. Since then, the nation has become one of the most violent in the region, with a homicide rate of 38 per 100,000 people in the first five months of 2025, Ecuador recorded 4,051 homicides, according to official to official sources, nearly three quarters of the world's cocaine production passes through Ecuador.
Arab News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Five civilians, three gunmen killed in ‘terrorist' attack in southeast Iran
TEHRAN: Gunmen killed five civilians during a 'terrorist attack' on a judiciary building in southeast Iran on Saturday before being killed themselves, state media reported. 'Unknown gunmen attacked the judiciary center in Zahedan,' the capital of southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, the judiciary's Mizan Online said. 'Five people have been killed and 13 injured in this terrorist attack,' the report said while adding that the counts are 'preliminary' and the toll may rise. Separately, the official IRNA news agency reported that three of the attackers were killed during the assault, citing the regional headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to Alireza Daliri, deputy police commander of Sistan-Baluchistan province, the attackers attempted to enter the building disguised as visitors. The assailants threw a grenade into the building, Daliri said, killing several people inside, including a one-year-old baby and the child's mother. Jaish Al-Adl (Arabic for 'Army of Justice'), a Baloch militant group operating from the borderlands between Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, mainly the Sistan-Balochistan triangle, but active inside Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack. Located about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran, the restive province shares a long border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. The area has been the scene of recurring clashes between Iranian security forces, including the IRGC, and rebels from the Baluch minority, radical Sunni groups, and drug traffickers. In one of the deadliest incidents in the region, ten police officers were killed in October in what authorities also described as a 'terrorist' attack.
