MOSUL: The return of dozens of Iraqi families suspected of links to the Daesh group from Syria to Mosul has sparked fears among residents who survived the horrors of Daesh rule.
Around 300 people from some 90 families left the Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria on Tuesday under Iraqi army escort, a Kurdish administration official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
It was the first repatriation of Iraqi families from the camp, which is home to more than 60,000 people including relatives of Daesh fighters, and came as part of an agreement between Baghdad and the multinational coalition battling the militiants.
But the move has stirred up nightmares for many Mosul residents.
For three years, Mosul was the heart of Daesh’s self-proclaimed “caliphate.”
Daesh fighters imposed a strict interpretation of Muslim “sharia” law, banning music and smoking and meting out brutal punishments, including public beheadings, for those who violated their rules.
“We are totally opposed to their return,” said Omar, a 28-year-old soldier, whose father was killed by Daesh fighter.
“Our future is dark and dangerous because the militants will live near us,” said Omar, who declined to give his surname for security reasons.
“They are a time bomb.”
Iraq formally declared victory against Daesh in late 2017, a few months after ousting the militiants from Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province.
The Syrian Kurdish administration official said the departures marked a “first wave” of Iraqi families to leave Al-Hol.
The families were sent toward Qayyarah, an area south of Mosul that is home to the Al-Jadaa camp.
That camp hosts almost 7,500 displaced people and families of jihadists in two separate areas, the Iraqi ministry for the displaced says.
“How can we accept their return while many people are still grieving for at least one member of their family who disappeared after being arrested by Daesh and whose body has never been found?” said Omar.
Syria’s Kurds have repeatedly urged the international community to repatriate foreign nationals held in the country’s northeast, but the calls have largely fallen on deaf ears.
Iraqis make up nearly half of Al-Hol’s inhabitants, according to the United Nations.
“It is the state’s duty to receive repatriated Iraqis and settle them in existing camps before integrating them into their regions of origin,” said Evan Gabro, minister for migration and the displaced.
Qayyarah district administrative director Salah Hasan Al-Jubburi sought to reassure residents.
The families “do not represent a security danger, though I understand popular opposition since they come from Al-Hol,” Jubburi said.
He said most of the arrivals were women and children, and almost all were originally from neighboring Anbar province, also a former jihadist bastion.
“There are just four or five families that are originally from Nineveh,” Jubburi said.
Ali Al-Bayati, member of Iraqi’s human rights commission, said the residents’ fears stemmed from a “lack of transparency.”
“Nobody knows if these people have been interrogated or if they were subject to an investigation,” he said.
“Before accepting them, (the authorities) should have ensured that none of them were charged or had committed crimes.”
Omar Al-Husseini, a human rights activist from Mosul, expressed skepticism.
“The government must be cautious” because the families have spent years in the Al-Hol camp under the influence of militants, he said.
“Is the state able to integrate them and above all, protect society?“
More than three years after Iraq declared Daesh defeated, nearly 1.3 million people remain internally displaced, one-fifth of them in camps, according to the UN.
Iraqi authorities have accelerated the closure of camps in recent months, but the International Organization for Migration says many residents are unable to return home as they are often accused of links to IS.
For Omar the soldier, life with the returnees will be “impossible.”
“They have kept their extremist ideas,” he said.
Fear in Iraq’s Mosul as Daesh families return from Syria
https://arab.news/b8u6r
Fear in Iraq’s Mosul as Daesh families return from Syria
- For three years, Mosul was the heart of Daesh’s self-proclaimed “caliphate”
Egypt warns against consequences of Israeli escalation in Gaza
- During talks with Ayman Al-Safadi and Fuad Hussein, FM Shoukry said that there would be negative repercussions for regional stability if Israel continued to escalate its activities in Gaza
- Discussions in Manama took place on the sidelines of an Arabian foreign ministers’ meeting being held in preparation for the Arab Summit
CAIRO: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has warned of dire consequences as a result of Israel escalating its activities in the Gaza Strip.
During talks with his Jordanian and Iraqi counterparts, Ayman Al-Safadi and Fuad Hussein, he also said there would be negative repercussions for the security and stability of the whole region.
The discussion in Manama on Wednesday took place on the sidelines of an Arabian foreign ministers’ meeting being held in preparation for the Arab Summit.
Shoukry talked about Egypt’s efforts to reach an immediate, comprehensive and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and its call for allowing immediate delivery of humanitarian aid.
He also stressed his country’s categorical rejection of any attempts to displace Gazans or kill the Palestinian cause.
He underlined the need to stop targeting civilians, halt Israeli settler violence, and allow aid access in adequate quantities “that meet the needs of our Palestinian brothers.”
During the meeting, Shoukry also reaffirmed Cairo’s support for the stability of Iraq and Jordan and emphasized the importance of implementing directives from the three countries’ leaders to boost cooperation within the framework of the tripartite mechanism.
He said Egypt viewed tripartite cooperation as a way to link the interests of the three countries and maximize common benefits. The discussion also underlined the importance of putting into effect agreed joint projects as soon as possible.
During a separate meeting with Iraqi minister Hussein, Shoukry reiterated the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to develop relations between the two countries in various fields.
The Iraqi minister highlighted close historical ties with Egypt that required continued coordination on the various challenges plaguing the region. Hussein also hailed the key role played by Egypt to bring about an end to the crisis in Gaza.
Houthis claim 2 attacks on ships in Red Sea
- Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said that the militia’s naval forces launched an “accurate” missile strike on the US Navy destroyer USS Mason in the Red Sea
- Statement comes a day after US Central Command said that the USS Mason shot down an incoming anti-ship ballistic missile launched by the Houthis
AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia claimed responsibility on Wednesday for two drone and missile attacks on a US warship and a commercial ship in the Red Sea, vowing to continue striking ships in international seas, mostly near Yemen’s borders, in support of Palestinians.
In a televised broadcast, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said that the militia’s naval forces launched an “accurate” missile strike on the US Navy destroyer USS Mason in the Red Sea, as well as a combined attack on the Destiny in the Red Sea. Sarea did not specify when Houthis forces assaulted the two ships, or if the militia caused any human casualties or damage. The statement comes a day after US Central Command said that the USS Mason shot down an incoming anti-ship ballistic missile launched by the Houthis from areas under militia control in Yemen on Monday evening.
According to marinetraffic.com, which provides information on ship locations and identities, the Destiny is a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier that left Bangladesh’s Port of Chittagong on March 31 and landed at the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah on April 17. The Houthis said they attacked the ship when it reached Israel’s Eilat on April 20, defying militia warnings to ships sailing the Red Sea to avoid the port.
The Houthis have sunk one ship, seized another and launched hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones, and explosive-laden drone boats at International commercial and naval ships in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and, more recently, the Indian Ocean. The militia claimed its strikes were intended to push Israel to cease its blockade of the Gaza Strip, and that they targeted US and UK ships after the two nations blasted Houthi-controlled regions of Yemen.
On Tuesday, Houthi media said that jets from the US and the UK had launched four strikes on Hodeidah airport in the Red Sea city, the second round of airstrikes on the same airport this week. The US and UK replied to the Houthi Red Sea campaign by unleashing hundreds of airstrikes on Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah and other Houthi-controlled Yemeni regions. According to the two nations, the strikes prevented many Houthi missile, drone, or drone boat assaults on ships in international seas while significantly weakening Houthi military capabilities.
The US-led Combined Maritime Forces said on Tuesday that Lebanon and Albania joined the international marine coalition as the 44th and 45th members, respectively. “It is a pleasure to welcome both Lebanon and Albania to the Combined Maritime Forces,” US Navy Vice Admiral George Wikoff, the CMF commander, said in a statement. The Bahrain-based CMF is made up of five task teams that protect major maritime waterways such as the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
Netanyahu says he hopes Israel can get aid, overcome US disagreements
- Sources said the US State Department moved a $1 billion weapons aid package for Israel into the congressional review process
WASHINGTON: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped to receive US military aid and to overcome US President Joe Biden’s pause on certain weapons, vowing to fight Hamas without American support amid what he called a disagreement with Washington.
On Tuesday, sources said the US State Department moved a $1 billion weapons aid package for Israel into the congressional review process. Asked in a CNBC interview that aired on Wednesday if he could confirm the $1 billion package movement, Netanyahu declined to say but added that he appreciates US assistance.
Blinken says Israel needs a clear and concrete plan for Gaza’s future
- “We do not support and will not support an Israeli occupation. We also of course, do not support Hamas governance in Gaza...” Blinken said
- Israel says it intends to keep overall security control and has baulked at proposals for the Palestinian Authority to take charge
KYIV: Israel needs a clear and concrete plan for the future of Gaza where it faces the potential for a power vacuum that could become filled by chaos, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
Washington and its ally Israel say Hamas cannot continue to run Gaza after militants from the group ignited the conflict with attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7.
“We do not support and will not support an Israeli occupation. We also of course, do not support Hamas governance in Gaza... We’ve seen where that’s led all too many times for the people of Gaza and for Israel. And we also can’t have anarchy and a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos,” Blinken said during a press conference in Kyiv.
The US top diplomat has held numerous talks with Israel’s Arab neighbors on a post-conflict plan for Gaza since Israel vowed to root out Hamas from the Palestinian enclave more than seven months ago.
But Israel says it intends to keep overall security control and has baulked at proposals for the Palestinian Authority, which governs with partial authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to take charge.
“It’s imperative that Israel also do this work and focus on what the future can and must be,” Blinken said. “There needs to be a clear and concrete plan, and we look to Israel to come forward with its ideas.”
Turkiye tells US that Israel’s attack on Rafah unacceptable, Turkish source says
- Fidan also told Blinken that it was important to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible
ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his US counterpart Antony Blinken in a call on Wednesday that Israel’s attack on the Gazan city of Rafah is unacceptable, a Turkish diplomatic source said.
Fidan also told Blinken that it was important to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible, while emphasising that obstacles to the access of humanitarian aid into the enclave must be removed, the source said.
