Latest news with #pro-Assad
Shafaq News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Syrian Observatory: Three Alawites killed, homes burned in Latakia raids
Shafaq News/ Syrian security forces killed three Alawite men and set fire to homes and vehicles during a violent raid Wednesday night on two villages in the western province of Latakia, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday. The Observatory described a wave of 'widespread security chaos' that erupted after sudden assaults by General Security units on the villages of Bayt Aana and Al-Daliya, located in the Jableh countryside. In Bayt Aana, security personnel reportedly torched dozens of homes, a school, a commercial center, and a sports club. Two young men — one of them with special needs — were shot dead during the operation. A third body, belonging to a man from the nearby village of Batmoush, was later discovered with a gunshot wound, likely also killed during the raid. In Al-Daliya, forces burned three homes and detained several young men. Authorities in Latakia confirmed a 'security operation' had taken place, claiming it targeted individuals involved in an attack on a telecommunications center in Al-Daliya. Officials announced the arrest of 'many of those responsible.' The raids came just one day after eight Alawites were gunned down at a security checkpoint in Hama, following the earlier discovery of five corpses near Damascus, the Observatory reported. Since the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad late last year, attacks on religious minorities — including Alawites, the sect to which Assad belonged — have posed a growing challenge to the new leadership, despite its promises to safeguard all communities. In March alone, over 1,700 people, most of them Alawites, were killed in violent outbreaks along the coast. Authorities blamed pro-Assad loyalists for igniting the bloodshed by launching deadly ambushes on security personnel.
Time of India
6 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Germany jails Syrian pro-Assad fighter over war crimes
Germany jails Syrian pro-Assad fighter over war crimes A court in the southern German city of Stuttgart on Tuesday sentenced a Syrian man to life in prison for war crimes it said he committed during Syria's civil war while fighting for the country's former dictator, Bashar Assad. The trial, which began last October, involved testimony from 30 witnesses, most of them Syrian nationals now living around the world. The court said the verdict could be appealed. What was the man accused of? The 33-year-old was found guilty of leading a Hezbollah-backed militia that committed atrocities against Sunni Muslim civilians in his home town of Busra al-Sham in southern Syria. The Lebanese Iranian-backed Shiite group Hezbollah gave its support to Assad during the civil war. Among other things, the court found that in 2012, the militia raided and plundered the house of an unarmed 21-year-old student, shooting him dead. The victim's mother and brother were among the witnesses for the prosecution. The court also said that in 2013, the militia beat three people with Kalashnikovs before handing them over to Assad's military intelligence, which tortured them and held them captive under inhumane conditions. The court verdict also said the group in 2014 forced a 40-year-old man and his family from their home, after which the man was tortured to such extent that he was unable to walk owing to his injuries. The man was arrested in December 2023 in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, of which Stuttgart is the capital. Trials under universal jurisdiction German prosecutors have made use of universal jurisdiction laws to seek trials for several suspects believed to have committed atrocities during Syria's civil war. In 2022, a German court handed a life sentence to ex-intelligence officer Anwar Raslan for murder, rape and crimes against humanity committed at the notorious Al-Khatib jail in 2011 and 2012, the first conviction for state-backed torture committed during Syria's civil war. Several other cases relating to crimes committed during the Syrian civil war are being heard by German courts, as well as in France and Sweden. Syria's civil war, which began after a crackdown by Assad's regime on peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011, ended only in late 2024 when the autocratic leader was ousted in an Islamist-led rebel offensive.
NDTV
03-06-2025
- General
- NDTV
Assad Regime Detained US Journalist Austin Tice In Syria: Report
Washington: For over a decade, the disappearance of American journalist Austin Tice remained one of the most haunting mysteries of the Syrian civil war. A former Marine turned freelance war correspondent, Tice went missing near Damascus in August 2012, days after celebrating his 31st birthday. Now, newly uncovered top secret intelligence files and testimony from former Syrian officials have confirmed for the first time what many feared: Tice was imprisoned by the now-deposed Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad. The revelations came from a year-long BBC investigation that took reporters into the heart of Syria's dark intelligence apparatus. Accompanying a Syrian investigator into a deserted regime facility, journalists discovered a cache of documents, some stamped "top secret", bearing Austin Tice's name. In 2012, the former Georgetown law student was last seen near the Damascus suburb of Darayya, a known flashpoint during the conflict. Weeks later, a disturbing video showing him blindfolded, hands bound, and forced to recite Islamic verses surfaced. He was never seen again. Many initially assumed it was the work of a jihadist group. American officials quickly cast doubt, suggesting the scene may have been staged like a performance, possibly designed to mislead. What Happened The BBC investigation reveals that Tice was detained by Assad's own machinery of control and not militants. Communications between branches of Syrian intelligence confirm that he was held in Damascus in 2012. A senior intelligence officer and a Syrian official both corroborated that Tice was imprisoned in a facility called Tahouneh, controlled by the pro-Assad National Defence Forces (NDF). The files also describe his condition. Tice reportedly fell ill with a viral infection and received medical treatment at least twice. A man who visited the facility and saw him told the BBC, "He looked sad, and that the joy had gone from his face." Former regime insiders said Tice was treated somewhat better than Syrian detainees but always with a purpose in mind. One former NDF member explained, "Austin's value was understood," adding he was a card that could be played in diplomatic negotiations with the US. Did Austin Tice Escape Syria? At one point, Austin Tice managed a brief escape, squeezing through a window in his cell, only to be recaptured. He was interrogated at least twice by Syrian intelligence officers, sometime between late 2012 and early 2013. Then, he vanished into the system. Throughout the years, the Assad regime denied any knowledge of his whereabouts. No group ever claimed responsibility. In December 2024, after Assad's government collapsed, former US President Joe Biden said he believed Austin Tice was still alive. Two days before that, Tice's mother had publicly shared that a "significant source" had confirmed her son was alive and "being treated well." But when the regime's prisons were thrown open after Assad's fall, Tice was not among the freed. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Roya News
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
Leaked files confirm Assad regime held missing US journalist Austin Tice
For over a decade, the fate of American journalist Austin Tice remained one of the most enduring mysteries of the Syrian conflict. Now, previously unseen intelligence documents obtained by the BBC provide the first concrete confirmation that Tice was held by Syrian authorities under the leadership of Bashar Al-Assad. The classified materials, verified by both the BBC and law enforcement sources, include internal communications between Syrian intelligence branches. They explicitly name Tice and detail aspects of his imprisonment following his 2012 abduction near Damascus. The findings, along with corroborating testimony from former Syrian officials, offer long-sought clarity about what happened to him in the early days of his disappearance. Tice, a freelance journalist and former US Marine, vanished in August 2012 near Darayya, a suburb of the Syrian capital, just days after turning 31. He had entered the country to report on the escalating civil war. Roughly seven weeks later, a video surfaced online showing Tice blindfolded and reciting an Islamic declaration while surrounded by armed men. Though the clip suggested extremist movements' involvement, US analysts at the time raised doubts about its authenticity, with one official stating the video "may have been staged." Despite years of speculation, no entity ever claimed responsibility for holding Tice. The Syrian government, under Assad, repeatedly denied having any knowledge of his whereabouts. That narrative has now been definitively challenged. One of the documents, stamped 'top secret,' places Tice in a government-run detention facility in Damascus in 2012. Sources familiar with the site identified it as Tahouneh prison. A former high-ranking Syrian intelligence officer confirmed to the BBC that Tice was held there by the National Defence Forces (NDF), a pro-Assad paramilitary group. A Syrian official told the BBC that Tice remained in custody at least until February 2013. During that time, he reportedly suffered from stomach problems and underwent medical treatment, including blood tests that revealed a viral infection. A visitor to the detention center who saw Tice recalled, "He looked sad, and that the joy had gone from his face," though he was said to be treated more humanely than Syrian inmates. In a rare account, a former NDF member with direct knowledge of Tice's detention said that his captors recognized his strategic value, stating that "Austin's value was understood" and that he was viewed as a "card" for potential diplomatic negotiations with the US. Tice allegedly made a brief escape attempt by climbing through a window, but was quickly apprehended. He is believed to have been interrogated at least twice by Syrian intelligence. The BBC's investigation is part of a long-running project that began over a year ago for a Radio 4 podcast. Reporters were granted access to a Syrian intelligence archive while working alongside a Syrian war crimes investigator. The documents they found are the first hard evidence to support long-standing US claims that Tice was in Syrian custody. When Bashar Al-Assad was deposed in December 2024, former US President Joe Biden expressed belief that Tice was still alive. Two days before, his mother Debra Tice shared that a 'significant source' had confirmed her son's survival and claimed he was being 'treated well.' Yet, when prisons across Syria were emptied following the regime's collapse, Tice was not among those released, and his current whereabouts remain unknown. The Tice family, who have led a relentless campaign for answers, are aware of the newly surfaced files, as are US officials and a Syrian group documenting human rights abuses under Assad. Tice, who once served in Iraq and Afghanistan before pursuing a law degree at Georgetown University, is now believed to be one of the longest-held American hostages. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, around 100,000 people were forcibly disappeared during Assad's rule. Tice's case, long marked by silence and uncertainty, now stands as a confirmed chapter in that broader tragedy.
Euronews
20-05-2025
- Business
- Euronews
EU lifts all economic sanctions on Syria to speed up recovery
The European Union agreed on Tuesday to lift all remaining economic sanctions on Syria, hoping the relief will ease access to financial funds and speed up the war-battered country's recovery after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship in December. "We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria. The EU has always stood by Syrians throughout the last 14 years - and will keep doing so," High Representative Kaja Kallas said at the end of a meeting of foreign affairs ministers. The bloc's decision comes less than a week after Donald Trump, during a tour to the Middle East, met with Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and announced a plan to remove all the sanctions imposed by the United States. "I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness," Trump said in Saudi Arabia. Trump's sudden move significantly accelerated the timeline in Brussels. The EU had approved a first round of relief for Syria in late February, including the energy sector, which is crucial to collecting state revenue. But several restrictions on the financial and banking sectors remained in place, despite repeated pleas from Damascus. "There is no justification for maintaining them," al-Sharaa said earlier this month after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Humanitarian organisations also asked for further relief, arguing that the Assad-era measures were creating a chilling effect that deterred risk-averse investors. The bloc completed the internal work on Tuesday evening, when foreign affairs ministers voted unanimously to abolish all economic sanctions. Upon arrival at the meeting, Kallas admitted there were "worries" about whether the new government led by al-Shara was going in "the right direction," following violent incidents in the country that involved the security forces and pro-Assad loyalists. Kallas had previously warned that the sanctions could be reintroduced if al-Shara's executive backtracked on its commitments of inclusion and diversity. "I think we don't have a choice," Kallas said when asked about sanctions relief. "We actually either give them (the) possibility to stabilise the country or we don't do that and we have something (like) we had in Afghanistan." Still, the suspension agreed on Tuesday is not a blank cheque. The bloc will retain stringent restrictions on weapons, chemicals, dual-use goods, equipment that can be used for repression and software for surveillance, as well as the extensive blacklist of people involved in Assad's autocracy. The sanctions imposed on Syria were one of the most complex regimes that Brussels had ever built and led to the collapse of EU-Syria economic relations. In 2023, Syria was ranked as the bloc's 143rd trading partner, with commercial flows worth €396 million. The EU is Syria's largest international donor, having provided nearly €37 billion since 2011.
