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The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Over 1,400 were killed in sectarian violence in coastal Syria in March, committee says
More than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, were killed in several days of sectarian violence on Syria 's coast earlier this year, a government committee tasked with investigating it said Tuesday. The violence was the first major incident to emerge after the ouster of longtime President Bashar Assad in December. It said there was no evidence that Syria's new military leaders ordered attacks on the Alawite community there, to which Assad belonged. Nearly 300 people suspected of committing crimes including murder, robbery, torture and looting and burning of homes and businesses were identified during the four-month investigation and referred for prosecution, and 37 people have been arrested, officials told journalists. They didn't say how many suspects were members of security forces. The committee's report came as Syria reels from a new round of sectarian violence in the south, which again has threatened to upend the country's fragile recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war. The violence on the coast began on March 6 when armed groups loyal to Assad attacked security forces of the new government, killing 238 of them, the committee said. In response, security forces descended on the coast from other areas of the country, joined by thousands of armed civilians. In total, some 200,000 armed men mobilized, the committee said. As they entered neighborhoods and villages, some — including members of military factions — committed 'widespread, serious violations against civilians,' committee spokesperson Yasser al-Farhan said. In some cases, armed men asked civilians whether they belonged to the Alawite sect and 'committed violations based on this,' the spokesperson said. The committee, however, found that the 'sectarian motives were mostly based on revenge, not ideology,' he said. Judge Jumaa al-Anzi, the committee's chair, said that 'we have no evidence that the (military) leaders gave orders to commit violations.' He also said investigators had not received reports of girls or women being kidnapped. Some rights groups, including a United Nations commission, have documented cases of Alawite women being kidnapped in the months since the violence. There have been ongoing, although scattered, reports of Alawites being killed, robbed and extorted since the violence. Tens of thousands of members of the minority sect have fled to neighboring Lebanon. There have been echoes of the coastal violence in the new clashes in southern Sweida province over the past two weeks. Those clashes broke out between Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and armed groups of the Druze religious minority, and government security forces who intervened to restore order ended up siding with the Bedouins. Members of the security forces allegedly killed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes. Druze armed groups launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. Hundreds have been killed, and the U.N. says more than 128,500 people have been displaced. The violence has largely stopped as a ceasefire takes told. The committee chair said the violence in Sweida is 'painful for all Syrians' but 'beyond the jurisdiction' of his committee. 'Time will reveal what happened and who is responsible for it,' he said. ___ Associated Press writer Malak Harb in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Reuters
11 minutes ago
- Reuters
No aid supplies left and staff are starving in Gaza, says Norwegian Refugee Council
GENEVA, July 22 (Reuters) - The Norwegian Refugee Council told Reuters on Tuesday its aid stocks are completely depleted in Gaza, with some of its staff now starving, and accused Israel of paralysing its work. "Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left," Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the council told Reuters in an interview via video link from Oslo. The council's comments echo those made earlier on Tuesday by the head of the Palestinian refugee agency, who said UNRWA's staff were fainting on the job from hunger and exhaustion. The NRC says that for the last 145 days it has not been able to get its hundreds of truckloads containing tents, water, sanitation, food and education materials into Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, and Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel's military has previously told Reuters that it is working to facilitate aid entry in coordination with the international community. It has denied accusations it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza and has accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing food, which Hamas denies. "Hundreds of truckloads have been sitting in warehouses or in Egypt or elsewhere, and costing our Western European donors a lot of money, but they are blocked from coming in… That's why we are so angry. Because our job is to help," Egeland said. "Israel is not yielding. They just want to paralyse our work," he added. The NRC has 64 Palestinian and two international staff on the ground in Gaza. On Sunday the NRC had to move 33 of its staff out of Deir al Balah following Israeli evacuation warnings. The NRC said its supplies of safe drinking water, which have reached 100,000 people in central and northern parts of Gaza in recent weeks, are also running out, as fuel availability to run desalination plants reaches its limit.
Western Telegraph
12 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
1,400 killed in sectarian violence in coastal Syria in March, committee says
The violence was the first major incident to emerge after the ousting of long-time President Bashar Assad in December. It said there was no evidence that Syria's new military leaders ordered attacks on the Alawite community there, to which Mr Assad belonged. Nearly 300 people suspected of committing crimes including murder, robbery, torture and looting and burning of homes and businesses were identified during the four-month investigation and referred for prosecution, and 37 people have been arrested, officials told journalists. Fighting has also taken place near Sweida city in southern Syria (Omar Sanadiki/AP) They did not say how many suspects were members of security forces. The committee's report came as Syria reels from a new round of sectarian violence in the south, which again has threatened to upend the country's fragile recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war. The violence on the coast began on March 6 when armed groups loyal to Mr Assad attacked security forces of the new government, killing 238 of them, the committee said. In response, security forces descended on the coast from other areas of the country, joined by thousands of armed civilians. In total, some 200,000 armed men mobilised, the committee said. As they entered neighbourhoods and villages, some – including members of military factions – committed 'widespread, serious violations against civilians', committee spokesperson Yasser al-Farhan said. In some cases, armed men asked civilians whether they belonged to the Alawite sect and 'committed violations based on this', the spokesperson said. The committee, however, found that the 'sectarian motives were mostly based on revenge, not ideology', he said. Judge Jumaa al-Anzi, the committee's chairman, said that 'we have no evidence that the (military) leaders gave orders to commit violations'. He also said investigators had not received reports of girls or women being kidnapped. Some rights groups, including a United Nations commission, have documented cases of Alawite women being kidnapped in the months since the violence. There have been ongoing, although scattered, reports of Alawites being killed, robbed and extorted since the violence. Tens of thousands of members of the minority sect have fled to neighbouring Lebanon. There have been echoes of the coastal violence in the new clashes in the southern province of Sweida over the past two weeks. Those clashes broke out between Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and armed groups of the Druze religious minority, and government security forces who intervened to restore order ended up siding with the Bedouins. Members of the security forces allegedly killed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes. Druze armed groups launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. Hundreds have been killed, and the UN says more than 128,500 people have been displaced. The violence has largely stopped as a ceasefire takes told. The committee chairman said the violence in Sweida is 'painful for all Syrians' but 'beyond the jurisdiction' of his committee. 'Time will reveal what happened and who is responsible for it,' he said.
