BEIRUT: Syria’s defense ministry said an Israeli air strike Wednesday killed a girl and wounded 10 civilians on the country’s coast, with a war monitor reporting another raid killed three pro-Hezbollah fighters.
“The Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of Lebanon, targeting a central site and a residential building in Baniyas city in the coastal region, killing a girl and wounding 10 civilians,” a ministry statement said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the girl was killed after an Israeli missile and Syrian air defense missile exploded and then fell on the coast.
“Two explosions resonated... in the coastal city of Baniyas, killing a girl,” said the Britain-based monitor, which put the number of civilians wounded higher at 20.
The Observatory said “the explosions resulted from an Israeli missile and a Syrian air defense missile falling.”
The Observatory also said the Israeli strike on central Syria killed three Syrian fighters working with Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
“Three Syrian fighters working with the Lebanese Hezbollah group were killed in an Israeli strike targeting a military site... in the eastern countryside of Homs,” said the Observatory.
Earlier on Wednesday, state media had said air defenses intercepted Israeli “targets” over central Syria, and the Observatory reported an Israeli attack on a military site.
“Syrian air defense intercepts enemy targets in the skies of the city of Homs,” the official SANA news agency reported.
The Observatory said the Israeli strikes targeted “at least one military site... in the eastern countryside of Homs, causing plumes of smoke to rise.”
The monitor, which has a network of sources inside Syria, said the area also housed members of Iran-backed groups including Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah.
On Saturday, an Israeli drone strike in central Syria, near the border with Lebanon, killed two Hezbollah fighters, the Observatory had said.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria but has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the outbreak of the civil war in its northern neighbor, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters including from Hezbollah.
The strikes have increased since Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, when the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group launched an unprecedented attack against Israel.
Syria’s war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more since it erupted in 2011 after Damascus cracked down on anti-government protests.
Syria says Israeli strike kills girl, wounds 10 civilians
https://arab.news/g8cjb
Syria says Israeli strike kills girl, wounds 10 civilians
- The girl was killed after an Israeli missile and Syrian air defense missile exploded and then fell on the coast
- The Observatory said the Israeli strikes targeted “at least one military site... in the eastern countryside of Homs, causing plumes of smoke to rise“
Baghdad traders protest new customs tariffs
- The demonstrators gathered outside the General Customs Directorate on Sunday, chanting slogans against corruption and rejecting the new fees
BAGHDAD: Hundreds of traders and owners of customs clearance companies protested in central Baghdad on Sunday, demanding that Iraq’s government reverse recently imposed customs tariffs they say have sharply increased their costs and disrupted trade.
The new tariffs that took effect on Jan. 1 were imposed to reduce the country’s debt and reliance on oil revenues, as oil prices have fallen.
Iraq faces a debt of more than 90 trillion Iraqi dinars ($69 billion) — and a state budget that remains reliant on oil for about 90 percent of revenues, despite attempts to diversify.
But traders say the new tariffs — in some cases as high as 30 percent — have placed an unfair burden on them. Opponents have filed a lawsuit aiming to reduce the decision, which Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court is set to rule on Wednesday.
The demonstrators gathered outside the General Customs Directorate on Sunday, chanting slogans against corruption and rejecting the new fees.
“We used to pay about 3 million dinars per container, but now in some cases they ask for up to 14 million,” said Haider Al-Safi, a transport and customs clearance company owner.
“Even infant milk fees rose from about 495,000 dinars to nearly 3 million.”
He said that the new tariffs have caused a backlog of goods at the Umm Qasr port in southern Iraq and added that electric vehicles, previously exempt from customs duties, are now subject to a 15 percent fee.
“The main victim is the citizen with limited income, and government employee whose salary barely covers his daily living, those who have to pay rent, and have children with school expenses — they all will be affected by the market,” said Mohammed Samir, a wholesale trader from Baghdad.
Protesters also accused influential groups of facilitating the release of goods in exchange for lower unofficial payments, calling it widespread corruption.
Many traders, they said, are now considering routing their imports through the Kurdistan region, where fees are lower.
The protests coincided with a nationwide strike by shop owners, who closed markets and stores in several parts of Baghdad to oppose the tariff increase.
In major commercial districts, shops remained shut and hung up banners reading “Customs fees are killing citizens.”
