SOUF, Jordan: Thirteen animals that had been trapped in harsh conditions in a zoo in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo were evacuated on Friday to a wildlife reserve in Jordan.
Five lions, two tigers, two bears, two hyenas and two dogs were being released into Al-Ma’wa reserve near the town of Souf in northern Jordan.
The Austrian-based animal charity Four Paws had rescued the animals from the Magic World zoo in Aleppo with help from Turkey. The group said the zoo’s owner, who fled Syria after the 2011 outbreak of civil war there, granted permission to take the animals.
Some of the animals are fine, while others suffer from blindness as well as heart, liver and kidney disease, said Dr. Amir Khalil, a vet for the charity.
One of the lions is due to give birth within two weeks, he said.
“It was a very difficult mission,” said Khalil. “The team calls it ‘mission impossible’ because it’s one of the most dangerous and volatile places on earth, military conflict, a lot of rebels, and it’s not easy to take wild animals from such places.”
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Lions, tigers, from Aleppo evacuated to Jordan
Lions, tigers, from Aleppo evacuated to Jordan
US imposes sanctions on commanders of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group
WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on three commanders of the Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces over their role in the 18-month siege and capture of Al-Fashir, accusing the group of carrying out systematic and widespread killings.
The US Treasury Department in a statement announcing the sanctions accused the RSF of perpetrating “a horrific campaign of ethnic killings, torture, starvation, and sexual violence” during the siege and capture of Al-Fashir.
Darfur’s Al-Fashir fell to RSF forces in October 2025 after a long siege that led to mass killings.
The Treasury said that once the city was captured in October, RSF fighters accelerated systematic and widespread killings, detentions, and sexual violence, leaving no survivor, including civilians, unharmed. The Treasury accused the group of engaging in a systematic campaign to destroy evidence of mass killings by burying, burning and disposing of tens of thousands of bodies.
More than 100,000 were estimated to have fled Al-Fashir since late October after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took control there following an 18-month siege that plunged the city into famine.
Survivors reported ethnically-motivated mass killings and widespread detentions during and after the takeover. Many people remain unaccounted for in Al-Fashir and surrounding areas.
“The United States calls on the Rapid Support Forces to commit to a humanitarian ceasefire immediately. We will not tolerate this ongoing campaign of terror and senseless killing in Sudan,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.
Among those targeted by the Treasury on Thursday were an RSF brigadier general the department said filmed himself killing unarmed civilians, as well as a major general and RSF field commander.
The US Treasury Department in a statement announcing the sanctions accused the RSF of perpetrating “a horrific campaign of ethnic killings, torture, starvation, and sexual violence” during the siege and capture of Al-Fashir.
Darfur’s Al-Fashir fell to RSF forces in October 2025 after a long siege that led to mass killings.
The Treasury said that once the city was captured in October, RSF fighters accelerated systematic and widespread killings, detentions, and sexual violence, leaving no survivor, including civilians, unharmed. The Treasury accused the group of engaging in a systematic campaign to destroy evidence of mass killings by burying, burning and disposing of tens of thousands of bodies.
More than 100,000 were estimated to have fled Al-Fashir since late October after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took control there following an 18-month siege that plunged the city into famine.
Survivors reported ethnically-motivated mass killings and widespread detentions during and after the takeover. Many people remain unaccounted for in Al-Fashir and surrounding areas.
“The United States calls on the Rapid Support Forces to commit to a humanitarian ceasefire immediately. We will not tolerate this ongoing campaign of terror and senseless killing in Sudan,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.
Among those targeted by the Treasury on Thursday were an RSF brigadier general the department said filmed himself killing unarmed civilians, as well as a major general and RSF field commander.
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