Latest news with #insurgents
Reuters
4 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Insurgents overrun Mali base, killing dozens of soldiers, sources say
BAMAKO, June 2 (Reuters) - An Al Qaeda-linked rebel group active in West Africa's Sahel region has claimed responsibility for an attack on a military base in Mali on Sunday that two sources said had killed more than 30 soldiers. More than 400 soldiers have reportedly been killed by insurgents since the start of May in bases and towns in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, an unstable region prone to coups. The jihadist group, Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), said in a statement on Sunday that it had seized the base in Boulkessi in central Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso. The Malian army said it had been forced to pull back. "Many men fought, some until their last breath, to defend the Malian nation," its statement said, without giving any casualty numbers. A spokesperson did not respond to a question about the toll, but two security sources said more than 30 soldiers had been killed. A municipal source at Mondoro, near the base, said the insurgents "cleared the camp" and that there were many dead. Videos shared online showed dozens of insurgents overrunning the base. One showed militants stepping on the bodies of soldiers who had fallen between sandbags. Reuters could not immediately authenticate the videos. JNIM has claimed responsibility for a host of recent attacks in the region. On May 24, it said it had attacked a base in Dioura, central Mali, killing 40 soldiers. Last Friday, it said it had seized a base in Sirakorola in southwestern Mali, although the army said it had repelled the attack. It did not provide a toll for that incident either. In neighbouring Burkina Faso, JNIM claimed attacks on military positions and the town of Djibo in mid-May in which it said it had killed 200 soldiers. And in Niger, more than 100 soldiers were killed in two attacks in the Tahoua region on May 24 and the Dosso region on May 26, security sources said. Neither Burkina Faso nor Niger has published an official death toll. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are all ruled by juntas that seized power between 2020 and 2023, citing the inability of civilian governments to stamp out jihadist insurgencies. All have cut ties with Western nations and turned to Russia for military support, but are still struggling to contain violence that has displaced millions.
BreakingNews.ie
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Syria's driest winter in decades triggers severe water crisis in Damascus
Syria's capital is suffering from its worst water shortages in years as a result of the lowest rainfall in more than six decades. The Ein al-Fijeh spring in the Barada Valley is almost dry, leaving many people to rely on buying water from tankers that fill from wells. Advertisement The spring is the main source of water for five million people, supplying Damascus and its suburbs with 70% of their water. Government officials are warning that things could get worse in the summer and are urging residents to economise in water consumption while showering or washing dishes. 'The Ein al-Fijeh spring is working now at its lowest level,' said Ahmad Darwish, head of the Damascus City Water Supply Authority, adding that the current year witnessed the lowest rainfall since 1956. The spring is the main source of water for Damascus (Omar Sanadiki/AP) The channels that have been there since the day of the Romans two millennia ago were improved in 1920 and then again in 1980, he said. Advertisement Mr Darwish said the water comes mainly from rainfall and melted snow off the mountains along the border with Lebanon, but because of this year's below-average rainfall 'it has given us amounts that are much less than normal'. The spring also feeds the Barada River that cuts through the capital. It is mostly dry this year. During Syria's 14-year conflict, Ein al-Fijeh was subjected to shelling on several occasions, changing between forces of then-president Bashar Assad and insurgents over the years. In early 2017, government forces captured the area from insurgents and held it until December when the five-decade Assad dynasty collapsed in an offensive by fighters led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, of current President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Advertisement Tarek Abdul-Wahed returned to his home near the spring in December nearly eight years after he was forced to leave with his family and is now working on rebuilding the restaurant he owned. It was blown up by Mr Assad's forces after he left the area. Mr Abdul-Wahed said: 'The Ein al-Fijeh spring is the only artery to Damascus. Now it looks like a desert.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Syria's driest winter in decades triggers severe water crisis in Damascus
Syria's capital is suffering from its worst water shortages in years as a result of the lowest rainfall in more than six decades. The Ein al-Fijeh spring in the Barada Valley is almost dry, leaving many people to rely on buying water from tankers that fill from wells. The spring is the main source of water for five million people, supplying Damascus and its suburbs with 70% of their water. Government officials are warning that things could get worse in the summer and are urging residents to economise in water consumption while showering or washing dishes. 'The Ein al-Fijeh spring is working now at its lowest level,' said Ahmad Darwish, head of the Damascus City Water Supply Authority, adding that the current year witnessed the lowest rainfall since 1956. The channels that have been there since the day of the Romans two millennia ago were improved in 1920 and then again in 1980, he said. Mr Darwish said the water comes mainly from rainfall and melted snow off the mountains along the border with Lebanon, but because of this year's below-average rainfall 'it has given us amounts that are much less than normal'. The spring also feeds the Barada River that cuts through the capital. It is mostly dry this year. During Syria's 14-year conflict, Ein al-Fijeh was subjected to shelling on several occasions, changing between forces of then-president Bashar Assad and insurgents over the years. In early 2017, government forces captured the area from insurgents and held it until December when the five-decade Assad dynasty collapsed in an offensive by fighters led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, of current President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Tarek Abdul-Wahed returned to his home near the spring in December nearly eight years after he was forced to leave with his family and is now working on rebuilding the restaurant he owned. It was blown up by Mr Assad's forces after he left the area. Mr Abdul-Wahed said: 'The Ein al-Fijeh spring is the only artery to Damascus. Now it looks like a desert.'
