Syria state media say US forces ‘kidnapped civilians’ near Deir Ezzor
Syria state media say US forces ‘kidnapped civilians’ near Deir Ezzor/node/1985996/middle-east
Syria state media say US forces ‘kidnapped civilians’ near Deir Ezzor
American soldiers stand during a joint exercise with Syrian Democratic Forces at the countryside of Deir Ezzor in northeastern Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. (AP)
Syria state media say US forces ‘kidnapped civilians’ near Deir Ezzor
The American forces landed in the town of Busayra and "kidnapped a number of civilians"
The Pentagon said US-led coalition forces had carried out an operation with the Syrian Democratic Forces
Updated 13 December 2021
Reuters
DUBAI: US forces carried out a “large airborne operation” near Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria on Monday at dawn, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
The American forces landed in the town of Busayra, east of Deir Ezzor, and “kidnapped a number of civilians,” it said.
There was no independent confirmation of the report.
In Washington, the Pentagon said U.S-led coalition forces had carried out an operation with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Busayra that killed four Daesh fighters, including one wearing a suicide vest, but there had been no detentions.
It added that there was a separate unilateral operation by the SDF but did not say whether anyone was detained by them.
The province of Deir Ezzor, along the Iraqi border, is a strategic supply route for Iranian-backed militias who regularly send reinforcements into Syria to support President Bashar Assad against insurgents seeking to topple his family rule.
US forces are deployed at a base in the Al-Tanf region, south of Deir Ezzor, as part of a combat mission against Daesh militants who continue to wage a low-level insurgency in Iraq and Syria.
Israeli strikes kill five in Gaza, health officials say
Updated 4 sec ago
CAIRO: Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed five Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, health officials said, the latest violence to undermine a four-month-old, US-brokered truce in the enclave. In Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, an airstrike killed two people who were riding an electric bike, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in Deir Al-Balah and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, they said. Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia in north Gaza, Palestinian medics said. The violence came a day after Israeli forces killed four militants in the southern city of Rafah after they emerged from an underground tunnel and opened fire on troops. Without commenting directly on the four people killed on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had carried out attacks targeting what it described as Hamas militants in response to Monday’s incident in Rafah. In Gaza City, dozens of Palestinians rallied at the funerals of three people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the area on Monday night. One body was wrapped in a Hamas green flag, while another had a green Hamas ribbon on his forehead, signaling that the two were members of the militant group. Reuters was not able to ascertain the identities of those killed.
Trading blame
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly traded blame for violations of the ceasefire deal, a key element of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, the deadliest and most destructive in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The next phase of Trump’s plan involves Hamas disarming, Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. Hamas has long rejected calls to lay down its arms and Israeli officials say they are preparing for a return to full-scale war. At least 580 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire deal was struck, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel says four soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period. The Gaza war started with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 people since then, according to Palestinian health ministry data.
