QAMISHLI: Dozens of mourners filled a church Tuesday for the funeral of an Armenian Catholic priest and his father killed by the Daesh group in northeastern Syria.
Men, women dressed in black and children gathered to celebrate the lives of Joseph Hanna Ibrahim and his father in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli.
Clerics led prayers in Armenian and Aramaic before congregation members lined up to say their farewells by coffins decorated with flowers and lit candles.
Ibrahim and his father were slain on Monday on the road to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor where they were to inspect a church being restored, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Their killing came the same day as a triple bombing in a market and near a school in Qamishli killed six civilians, the Britain-based war monitor said.
The France-based association L’Oeuvre d’Orient said Ibrahim had worked on “reconstruction projects” as well as to support displaced people in eastern Syria.
Around a million Christians live in Syria, including in Qamishli where Kurdish forces and others loyal to the Syrian regime both ensure security.
Kurdish fighters led the US-backed battle against Daesh in Syria, expelling the Sunni extremists from the last scrap of their self-proclaimed “caliphate” in March.
But the militants have continued to claim deadly attacks in northeastern and eastern Syria.
Syria’s war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions from their homes since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
In the latest phase of the conflict, a Turkish-led cross-border operation in northeast Syria against Kurdish fighters expelled hundreds of thousands from their homes last month.
But a fragile Turkish-Russian cease-fire deal has more or less halted that offensive and seen Kurdish forces withdraw from areas along the Turkish border, except Qamishli.
Dozens attend funeral of Daesh-slain priest in northeast Syria
Dozens attend funeral of Daesh-slain priest in northeast Syria
- Men, women dressed in black and children gathered to celebrate the lives of Joseph Hanna Ibrahim and his father in Qamishli
- Ibrahim and his father were slain on Monday on the road to Deir Ezzor
Israel military says Iran fires new wave of missiles at country
- Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday that it detected missiles heading toward the country from Iran and had activated air defenses, as it pressed a “wave” of strikes against Iran and Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said on its official Telegram account.
AFP journalists heard air raid sirens sounding in Jerusalem and the sound of explosions in the distance.
A short time later, Israel’s military said it was permitted to leave shelters.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services reported no immediate injuries following the missile fire, but said its teams were treating “a small number of people who were injured on their way to protected areas.”
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a satellite communications center in Haifa, along with military bases in Israel, and US targets elsewhere in the Middle East including Iraqi Kurdistan and the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain.
“We will continue our sustained attacks with purpose and power, and in this war, we contemplate nothing but the enemy’s complete surrender,” the Guards said on their website Sepah News.
