DAMASCUS: A blast targeting a bus in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Thursday killed at least five defense ministry personnel, an official from the ministry told AFP.
“An explosive device detonated as a bus carrying oil facility guards affiliated with the defense ministry passed by, killing five of them and wounding 13 others, including civilian bystanders,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
State television said a blast hit a bus on the road between the cities of Deir Ezzor and Mayadeen, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) away.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but a human rights observatory said the perpetrators were “likely affiliated with a Daesh group cell.”
Daesh militants, once in control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria, were territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 in a battle spearheaded by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with support from an international coalition.
The militants still maintain a presence, particularly in Syria’s vast desert, launching attacks mostly on Kurdish-controlled areas in the country’s northeast.
During Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011, Daesh carried out similar attacks on buses targeting the forces of former ruler Bashar Assad.
Since the new Islamist-led authorities took power after Assad’s December ouster, militant attacks on government-controlled areas have been scarce.
In May, Daesh claimed its first attack on the new forces, with the Observatory saying one member of Syrian army personnel was killed and three others wounded.
The following month, authorities accused Daesh of being behind a deadly suicide attack in a Damascus church that killed 25 people, though the group never claimed responsibility.
Syria bus blast kills five defense ministry personnel: official
https://arab.news/8nvee
Syria bus blast kills five defense ministry personnel: official
- “An explosive device detonated as a bus carrying oil facility guards affiliated with the defense ministry passed by,” the official said
- No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack
Israel spied on US forces at Gaza aid base: Sources
- US commander summoned Israeli counterpart to say: ‘Recording has to stop here’
- Staff, visitors from other partner countries have also raised concerns about Israeli surveillance
LONDON: Israel conducted widespread surveillance of US forces involved in an aid mechanism for Gaza, The Guardian reported.
The Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel was launched in October as a joint body to monitor the ceasefire and oversee the entry of aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
But sources with knowledge of internal disputes told The Guardian that open and covert recordings of meetings at the CMCC had prompted disputes between the two partners.
Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, the US commander of the center, summoned his Israeli counterpart to explain that “recording has to stop here.”
Other countries, including the UK and UAE, are also involved in the CMCC. Staff and visitors from partner countries have likewise raised concerns about Israeli surveillance activities at the center.
When the CMCC began operations, media in the US and Israel reported that the latter was handing over authority to American forces.
Yet Israel still retains effective control over what enters the territory despite Washington’s considerable leverage, according to one US official.
US forces who arrived at the CMCC, including logistics experts, were keen to increase the flow of aid into Gaza.
But they soon discovered that Israel had implemented a wide range of controls on purported “dual-use” goods, creating a larger impediment than any engineering challenge relating to aid delivery. These included basic goods such as tent poles and chemicals used for water purification.
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel has said he was briefed at the center on “one of the dual-use barriers that was being lifted as a result of the conversations (there).”
It came in response to growing awareness that Israeli restrictions on deliveries stood as the biggest barrier to the entry of aid into Gaza.
Israeli authorities had also restricted basic items such as pencils and paper — required by Palestinian students for school — without explanation.
There is widespread hesitancy among aid organizations and diplomats over joining the CMCC’s efforts, despite being invited to do so.
The center lacks any Palestinian representation, and even US efforts to schedule video calls with Palestinian officials were vetoed by Israeli staff there.
