Big diplomatic win for India's global outreach as US declares TRF a terror group
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NDTV
2 minutes ago
- NDTV
"It's Ethnic Cleansing": Syria's Druze To NDTV As Violence Escalates
In Syria's southern province of Al-Suwayda, the Druze community is facing what its members have described as an "ethnic cleansing campaign" amidst a rapidly deteriorating security situation that has claimed the lives of hundreds over the past week. Reports of targeted killings, forced religious humiliations, and sectarian clashes are emerging from a region that has seen continual tensions following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. "This is not a conflict anymore, this is extermination," Majd Al-Shaer, a 21-year-old Druze man, told NDTV. "They are humiliating our elderly, killing our women and children. This is a campaign to wipe us out. An ethnic cleansing campaign is taking place against the Druze." In Al-Suwayda, a cycle of tit-for-tat detentions between Sunni and Druze civilians escalated quickly. It began with the beating and robbery of a Druze vegetable vendor by Sunni men, spiralling into violence across the region. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that more than 940 people had been killed in Suwayda province in the past week. The dead include 326 Druze fighters, 262 Druze civilians (165 of whom were summarily executed), 312 government security personnel, and 21 Sunni Bedouins - including three civilians allegedly executed by Druze gunmen. "It started when a group of Sunnis detained a Druze vegetable driver, beat him, and stole his car and money. Then a group of Druze detained a group of Sunnis, and vice versa. Then the Sunnis began to provoke the Druze by insulting the prisoners, which sparked the war, and the government and Sunnis from all over Syria began to attack the Druze," Al-Shaer told NDTV. Sectarian Fault Lines The Druze -- a religious and ethnic minority with distinct beliefs rooted in Islamic, Greek and other philosophical traditions -- are concentrated primarily in Suwayda and the mountainous Jabal al-Druze region. While the group maintained an uneasy relationship with the Syrian state under Assad, they had been largely spared from targeted violence during the country's civil war. That changed this month. Despite reports of a ceasefire agreement last night, brokered by the Syrian Government in Damascus, major clashes between Druze-majority militias and the Bedouin/tribal militias are continuing in and around Suwayda in Southern Syria. Forces from the Syrian Defense and Interior… — OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 19, 2025 Following the collapse of Assad's regime in December 2024 and the rise of interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa -- a former terrorist known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani -- Suwayda has become a flashpoint. Al-Sharaa's past leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a terror group, has heightened fears among Syria's minorities. The Druze, in particular, see him as a threat. "Al-Sharaa is seen as a terrorist by the Druze," Al-Shaer NDTV. "His government is now participating in attacks on us." Targeted Attacks Druze civilians have reported a series of deliberate acts intended to insult their identity. One common practice, according to multiple eyewitnesses and videos shared on social media, has involved the forced shaving of elderly Druze men's moustaches. "It's not just killing," Al-Shaer said. "They shave our moustaches to humiliate us. They record it on camera." Such acts, he said, are part of a campaign of degradation aimed at "erasing the Druze" from Syria. Videos circulating online also depict public executions. In one particular video, Druze men are being lined up on a street and then fired at using machine guns. Suwayda Military Council NDTV had reported back in March when armed Druze factions in Suwayda declared the formation of the Suwayda Military Council. The coalition, led by Tareq al-Shoufi, comprised various local self-defence units and sought to coordinate protection for civilians and prevent incursions by government forces or Islamist factions. The council says its objectives include the protection of public property, the restoration of regional stability, and the promotion of a secular Syrian state. In public statements, it has called for integration into a new national army based on democratic principles. "The situation during Assad's rule was bad economically, but these attacks had never happened before," Al-Shaer told NDTV. However, the council has not received universal support from the Druze community. Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, the spiritual leader of Syria's Druze, condemned the council as a separatist group. Israeli and US Involvement As reports of mass killings, executions, and sectarian abuses mounted, Israel launched airstrikes against Syrian government positions in Suwayda and Damascus. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited the need to protect Druze civilians as justification. "We demand the full demilitarisation of southern Syria. We will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria." Israel's actions drew criticism from Damascus. Syrian President al-Sharaa, in a televised address on Saturday, denounced the Israeli strikes as interference. Yet just hours later, a US-brokered ceasefire was announced by Tom Barrack, Washington's envoy to Turkey and Syria. According to Mr Barrack, the ceasefire agreement was reached in coordination with Turkey, Jordan, and Israel. "We call upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons and, together with other minorities, build a new and united Syrian identity," he said. Al-Sharaa confirmed the ceasefire in his own address, stating that the Syrian state remained committed to protecting minorities, though he appeared to shift blame for the violence onto Druze militias. In response to the violence, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called for an immediate end to the violence. "The US has remained heavily involved over the last three days with Israel, Jordan and authorities in Damascus on the horrifying & dangerous developments in southern Syria. The rape and slaughter of innocent people which has and is still occurring, must end," Mr Rubio said in a statement. "If authorities in Damascus want to preserve any chance of achieving a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria free of ISIS and of Iranian control they must help end this calamity by using their security forces to prevent ISIS and any other violent jihadists from entering the area and carrying out massacres. And they must hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks. Furthermore the fighting between Druze and Bedouin groups inside the perimeter must also stop immediately," he said. On Friday, Israeli officials confirmed they had allowed limited Syrian troop deployments into Suwayda for 48 hours under the terms of the ceasefire. The Syrian interior ministry claimed the area had been "cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters" by Saturday evening. Still, reports of mortar attacks and looting continued to emerge. The UN estimates that over 87,000 people have been displaced from Suwayda in recent days. For many within the Druze community, the events of the past week have confirmed long-standing fears of ethnic cleansing.
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First Post
32 minutes ago
- First Post
Satellite images hint India struck Pakistan's nuclear-linked Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor: Report
Over two months after India denied striking Pakistan's nuclear-linked Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor, new satellite images tell a different story. Geo-intelligence expert Damien Symon has shared visuals showing possible missile impact at the site, along with signs of damage and quick repair read more No radiation leak from any nuclear facility in Pakistan, says IAEA amid buzz after Indian strikes in Sargodha. Image Courtesy: X More than two months after India denied striking Pakistan's sensitive nuclear-linked Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor, new satellite imagery analysed by geo-intelligence expert Damien Symon appears to contradict the official stance. The visuals show evidence of a missile strike and damage at the facility. Fresh images from Google Earth, captured in June 2025, indicate an impact site in the Kirana Hills region of Pakistan's Sargodha district. Symon, who analysed the data, shared the findings on X, pointing out visible damage at the suspected strike location. He also highlighted signs of recently repaired runways at the nearby Sargodha airbase, suggesting it, too, sustained damage during the operation. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Imagery update from Google Earth of the Sargodha region, Pakistan, captured in June 2025, shows - 1 - the impact location of India's strike on Kirana Hills in May 2025 2 - repaired runways at Sargodha airbase post India's strikes in May 2025 — Damien Symon (@detresfa_) July 18, 2025 India launched Operation Sindoor on the night of May 9–10 in retaliation for the killing of tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam by Pakistan-backed terrorists. The Indian Air Force reportedly targeted several high-value Pakistani military sites in the operation. Kirana Hills is a high-security area believed to be part of Pakistan's nuclear weapons infrastructure. It reportedly houses underground storage facilities and was a site for subcritical nuclear tests in the 1980s. Its strategic value is amplified by the presence of radar stations, military tunnels, and its close proximity to the Sargodha (now Mushaf) airbase. When asked about Kirana Hills at a press briefing on May 12, Director General of Air Operations Air Marshal A.K. Bharti responded with a hint of sarcasm: 'Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installations. We did not know about it. We have not hit Kirana Hills. I did not brief in my briefing yesterday.' His peculiar smile while answering the question sparked speculation online, with the clip going viral across social media platforms. The satellite imagery also showed that runways at the Sargodha airbase had been quickly repaired, reinforcing its status as a high-priority strategic site. The damage suggested a direct hit during the Indian strikes. During the strike, India reportedly launched around 15 BrahMos missiles and other precision-guided munitions. The operation damaged 11 out of Pakistan's 13 major airbases, severely impacting its air defence and military infrastructure. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The scale of the damage revealed in the imagery suggests that the Pakistani military was caught off guard and may have been forced to seek an immediate ceasefire through Director General of Military Operations (DGMO)-level talks to prevent further escalation.
Scroll.in
32 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
Why the Supreme Court's new push to regulate social media threatens free expression
This week, three separate benches of the Supreme Court spoke of restricting freedom of speech on social media. On Monday, a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Justice KV Viswanathan was hearing a petition by Kolkata-based Wazahat Khan seeking the consolidation of first information reports registered against him in Assam, Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana over his social media posts. In his posts, Khan had made allegedly offensive remarks about Hindu deities and festivals. Since last month, he has been under arrest for the posts by the West Bengal Police. The bench continued the interim protection the court had granted Khan from arrest in the cases registered outside Bengal. But during the hearing, Nagarathna called for citizens to 'regulate themselves' on social media and exercise 'self restraint … to enjoy' the right to free speech and expression. She noted that the 'abuse of that freedom' was leading to the 'clogging of courts' – without providing any data to support this claim. She then called for 'guidelines to be issued to the citizens to comply'. Over Monday and Tuesday, another bench of the court comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Arvind Kumar heard an anticipatory bail plea by Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya. Malviya had been booked in May for hurting religious sentiments. His offence? Posting on social media a cartoon he had made in 2021 depicting a satirical situation featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a man dressed in what may appear to some as the uniform of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Earlier this month, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had not only rejected his application for anticipatory bail but also called for his arrest. The bench of Dhulia and Kumar granted Malviya interim protection from arrest. However, it called his cartoons 'inflammatory', 'immature' and 'offensive'. Describing this as a widespread problem, Dhulia said on Tuesday that the court would 'have to do something on this', adding that 'there should be a test', presumably about what may be permitted to be posted online. That same day, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi heard three petitions that it was hearing together. Two of the petitions were by YouTubers Ranveer Allahbadia and Ashish Chanchlani to club the FIRs filed against them in parts of the country and one by charitable organisation SMA Cure Foundation against comedians Samay Raina, Vipun Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar for making jokes about persons with disabilities. During the hearing, Kant told the attorney general that any guidelines framed by the government to regulate online content must 'balance' freedoms and duties. To be clear, under India's constitutional framework, fundamental duties are not grounds to restrict the freedom of speech and expression – or any other fundamental right. In February, while hearing Allahbadia's petition, Kant had first nudged the government to regulate obscene content on YouTube and said that the court 'would like to do something' and not 'leave this vacuum'. Each of these cases illustrates judicial overreach. In none of these cases had the parties sought regulations on online speech. Ideally, the court would have restricted itself to the actual subject of the petitions and adjudicated on them. Instead, it went into the tone and tenor of specific items of online content – not whether these constituted criminal offences – and has called for an online censorship regime. This trend does not bode well for free speech in India. It has revived the Union government's efforts to push for a sweeping Broadcasting Bill. Last year, it had mooted such a bill ahead of the Lok Sabha elections but withdrew it in August amid allegations by news associations and civil society organisations that it impinged on free speech online. It also leads to the right to free speech being circumscribed by public outrage and the sensibilities of judges. The Supreme Court, and all other courts, would do well to remember the judgement delivered in March by a bench comprising Justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan. Quashing an FIR registered against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi for an Instagram post, the judgement, written by Oka, said: 'Sometimes, we, the judges, may not like spoken or written words. But, still, it is our duty to uphold the fundamental right under Article 19 (1)(a).' Here is a summary of the week's top stories. Opposition leader's son held. The Enforcement Directorate arrested Chaitanya Baghel, the son of Chhattisgarh's former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in a liquor scam case. The action came after the central agency conducted searches at their home in Durg district. The agency has alleged that a syndicate of officials, politicians and others ensured a state-run firm bought liquor only from select distributors who paid a commission. This action, the authorities alleged, resulted in over Rs 2,000 crore being diverted from the state exchequer between 2019 and 2022. Chaitanya Baghel received the proceeds of crime generated from the bootlegging of alcohol, claimed the Enforcement Directorate. Bhupesh Baghel claimed on Friday that the agency's action was an attempt to stop him from asking questions in the Assembly about the trees being allegedly felled by the Adani Group. Respite for Indian nurse. Yemeni authorities agreed to postpone the execution of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya, which had been scheduled for Wednesday. No new date has been announced. This came a day after the Union government told the Indian Supreme Court that it could not do much more to prevent the action. Hailing from Kerala's Palakkad, Priya was imprisoned in Yemen for the alleged murder of Yemeni citizen Talal Abdo Mehdi in July 2017. In 2020, Priya had been sentenced to death by a trial court in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. On December 30, news reports claimed that Rashad al-Alimi, the chairperson of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, had approved the sentence. Assam eviction drive turns violent. A 19-year-old was killed and several injured after the Assam Police opened fire at protesters amid clashes at the site of an eviction drive in the Betbari area of Goalpara district. At least two police personnel were among the injured. Ten persons were arrested in connection with the violence. Authorities had cleared 140 hectares of land in the Paikan Reserve Forest on Saturday, displacing 1,080 families, most of whom were Muslims of Bengali origin. Since then, the displaced families have been living in tents and tarpaulin huts, which officials had asked them to dismantle. The clashes broke out on Thursday after authorities dug up the road that provided connectivity to the settlement. The state blames the police. Karnataka Police officers acted like 'servants' of the Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the state government told the High Court hearing the case about the stampede outside Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium. Eleven persons were killed during the stampede on June 4. The state government also told the court that police officers had started making arrangements for celebrations after the team's victory in the league without ascertaining who had permitted the event. Further, the government claimed that the cricket team had submitted an application proposing a celebration even before the final match. The government defended the suspension of Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, accusing him of failing to do his duty and causing 'public embarrassment'.
