DAMASCUS: Renewed sectarian clashes in southern Syria’s Druze-majority Sweida province killed at least four people on Sunday, as Damascus accused local groups of violating last month’s ceasefire.
The province witnessed deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouins in July that drew the intervention of government forces and tribal fighters who came to support the Bedouins.
A ceasefire put an end to the week of bloodshed — which killed 1,400 people — but the situation remained tense, flaring into violence again on Sunday.
Three Syrian security forces personnel were reportedly killed as clashes erupted with local factions around Tal Hadid in the western Sweida countryside.
A “local fighter” was also reported as dead.
Tal Hadid, controlled by government security forces, is a control point at a relatively high altitude, allowing whoever holds it to overlook neighboring areas.
Fighting also erupted around the city of Thaala, following bombardment of the area with shells and heavy weapons launched from areas under the control of government forces, while the sound of explosions and gunfire was heard in various parts of Sweida city.
Syrian state-run news agency SANA accused Druze groups loyal to influential spiritual leader Hikmat Al-Hijri of breaching the ceasefire by attacking government troops in Tal Hadid, killing one security forces officer and injuring others.
In a statement, the Syrian interior ministry accused local groups of “launching treacherous attacks against internal security forces in several locations and striking some villages with rockets and mortars, resulting in the killing and wounding of a number of security personnel.”
A security source told Syrian state television that government forces regained control of Tal Hadid and other areas that were attacked on Sunday.
Renewed sectarian clashes in south Syria kill four
https://arab.news/25jzb
Renewed sectarian clashes in south Syria kill four
- SANA accused Druze groups loyal to influential spiritual leader Hikmat Al-Hijri of breaching the ceasefire by attacking government troops in Tal Hadid
US lawmakers press Israel to probe strike on reporters in Lebanon
- “The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said
- Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured
WASHINGTON: Several Democratic lawmakers called Thursday for the Israeli and US governments to fully investigate a deadly 2023 attack by the Israeli military on journalists in southern Lebanon.
The October 13, 2023 airstrike killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six other reporters, including two from AFP — video journalist Dylan Collins and photographer Christina Assi, who lost her leg.
“We expect the Israeli government to conduct an investigation that meets the international standards and to hold accountable those people who did this,” Senator Peter Welch told a news conference, with Collins by his side.
The lawmaker from Collins’s home state of Vermont said he had been pushing for answers for two years, first from the administration of Democratic president Joe Biden and now from the Republican White House of Donald Trump.
The Israeli government has “stonewalled at every single turn,” Welch added.
“With the Israeli government, we have been extremely patient, and we have done everything we reasonably can to obtain answers and accountability,” he said.
“The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said, referring to the Israeli military, adding that it has told his office its investigation into the incident is closed.
Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured.
“But I’d also like them to put pressure on their greatest ally in the Middle East, the Israeli government, to bring the perpetrators to account,” he said, echoing the lawmakers who called the attack a “war crime.”
“We’re not letting it go,” Vermont congresswoman Becca Balint said. “It doesn’t matter how long they stonewall us.”
AFP conducted an independent investigation which concluded that two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area in Israel.
The findings were corroborated by other international probes, including investigations conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.
Unlike Welch’s assertion Thursday that the Israeli probe was over, the IDF told AFP in October that “findings regarding the event have not yet been concluded.”
