US-led coalition strikes kill 20 civilians in Syria, says monitor

This image made from militant video posted online on Tuesday by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, purports to shows destroyed houses following a U.S.-led coalition strike in the eastern Syrian town of Boukamal, on the Iraqi border. (AP)
Updated 19 April 2017
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US-led coalition strikes kill 20 civilians in Syria, says monitor

BEIRUT: Airstrikes by the US-led coalition fighting Daesh killed 20 civilians in Syria’s eastern Deir Ez Zor province, a monitor said on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths came in two separate incidents on Monday.
It also reported 10 civilians, among them nine children, were killed in a suspected Russian airstrike on Tuesday on a town in the opposition-controlled province of Idlib.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.
The Britain-based monitor said a US strike on Monday night on the Deir Ez Zor town of Albu Kamal had killed 13 civilians, among them five children.
The strike also killed three members of Daesh, which controls the town by the Syria-Iraq border, the monitor said.
Earlier Monday, a US-led coalition strike killed seven civilians, including a child, in the village of Husseinyeh, the monitor said.
The US-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against Daesh in Syria since 2014 and is providing air support for a Kurdish-Arab alliance advancing on the terrorist bastion of Raqqa.
Last month, the coalition said its campaign against Daesh in Syria and Iraq had unintentionally killed at least 220 civilians, but monitors say the real number is far higher.
Most of the oil-rich province of Deir Ez Zor, in Syria’s east, is held by Daesh, including parts of the provincial capital, Deir Ez Zor city.
The terrorists have besieged the remaining regime-held parts of Deir Ez Zor city, trapping civilians inside with limited access to supplies.
More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-regime protests in March 2011.

Lebanon PM Nawaf Salam says he will not allow anyone to drag the country into new conflicts

Updated 6 sec ago
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Lebanon PM Nawaf Salam says he will not allow anyone to drag the country into new conflicts

  • Salam said Hezbollah can threaten to become further involved between Iran, Israel and the US, but the Lebanese government has full control

DUBAI: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that Lebanon has had enough ventures in the past and that he would not allow anyone to drag the country into new conflicts.

Speaking at the World Governments Summit on Tuesday, Salam said Lebanon has been involved in the war on Gaza over the last couple of years, and the damage it has cost them has been massive.

Salam said Hezbollah can threaten to become further involved between Iran, Israel and the US, but the Lebanese government has full control over the southern region and will not allow further involvement. 

“For the first time since 1996, the Lebanese government through the Lebanese Armed Forces … has full control over the south of the country,” he said.

“No one is ready to involve the country in further adventures which could cost us more and will not engage in further ventures and conflicts,” he added.

“We are aware that we are in one of the most tense regions in the world. We need to fortify ourselves by working on restoring the decision on peace and war in Lebanon,” he added.

Salam said Lebanon’s goal was to reform its sovereignty and attract global investment.

“People only focus on reforms in financial institutions, but reforms are much wider than that for my government, which of course means financial reform, but administrative reforms are also important and needed,” he added.

Salam said that attracting investment requires achieving a sense of security in the country, not only for the Lebanese people but for the world.

“Reform and sovereignty go hand in hand. We need to restore the Lebanese state and the confidence in our people,” he explained.

Salam emphasized his country’s position in achieving judicial, security and financial reforms and said he will not allow anyone to do their work for them. 

“All we want from our brothers here is to support our journey, but not take our place or play our role,” he said, referring to countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The minister said there would be a conference soon to support the Lebanese Armed Forces, and he invited all Arab leaders to participate in this event, adding that it was a way to enhance Lebanon’s security.