Clock is ticking in the hunt for Assad's stash of chemical weapons
The 36-year-old tradesman stops, murmurs a prayer and begins pulling weeds from the earth around the sun-bleached gravestones. He points to them one by one: 'My cousin, my wife Sana, both of my children — the twins — another cousin and his daughter, two more cousins and one of his sons, both of my brothers Yasser and Abdul Karim and their children.'
The list continues, an unrelenting rhythm of grief. Not a mass grave, but a mass death, all felled by a single, silent killer. On April 4, 2017, a sarin-laced rocket dropped
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Reuters
17 hours ago
- Reuters
Iran executes two members of opposition group for attacking infrastructure
DUBAI, July 27 (Reuters) - Iran executed two members of the banned Mujahideen-e-Khalq group for attacking civilian infrastructure with homemade projectiles, the judiciary news outlet Mizan said on Sunday, amid criticism from Amnesty International over a "grossly unfair" trial. Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, identified as "operational elements" of the MEK, were sentenced to death in September 2024 - a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court, which denied their request for a retrial, Mizan said. "The terrorists, in coordination with MEK leaders, had ... built launchers and hand-held mortars in line with the group's goals, fired projectiles heedlessly at citizens, homes, service and administrative facilities, educational and charity centres," the report said. The defendants were indicted with "moharebeh", - an Islamic term meaning waging war against God - destroying public property and "membership in a terrorist organisation with the aim of disrupting national security." Amnesty International said that Ehsani-Eslamloo and Hassani were arrested in 2022 and maintained their innocence during a trial which the rights group called "grossly unfair and marred by allegations of torture and forced confessions.' "According to informed sources, agents interrogated them without lawyers present and subjected them to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings and prolonged solitary confinement, to extract self-incriminating statements," it said in January. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of people executed in Iran rose to at least 901 in 2024, the highest number since 2015. The MEK, known in English as People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, was a powerful leftist-Islamist group that staged bombing campaigns against the shah's government and U.S. targets in the 1970s but ultimately fell out with the other factions of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since then, the MEK has opposed the Islamic Republic and its leadership in exile has been Paris-based. The group was listed as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. and the European Union until 2012.
Reuters
17 hours ago
- Reuters
Left with bloodstains and bullet holes, Syria's Druze grieve loved ones
SWEIDA, Syria July 27 (Reuters) - Hatem Radwan stared at the bloodstained floor and cushions in the Al-Radwan guest house in Syria's Druze city of Sweida, still wondering how he survived the shooting spree more than a week ago that killed his relatives and friends. "I'm not sleeping. I wish I would have died; it would have been better for me," the 70-year-old told Reuters, saying two of his sons-in-law and his daughter's father-in-law were killed when armed men stormed into the guesthouse on July 16. Hundreds of people were killed in days of sectarian violence in Syria's Sweida province, where government forces were sent to quell clashes between Druze factions and Bedouin tribes. Syria's defence ministry on July 22 said it would investigate reports of an "unknown group" in military fatigues committing "shocking and gross violations" in Sweida, and hold the perpetrators accountable. The interior ministry condemned "the circulating videos showing field executions carried out by unidentified individuals in the city of Sweida," and also pledged to conduct a probe. Residents, monitoring groups and reporters in the province said the violence intensified after security forces deployed, reporting several cases of execution-style killings. One of the most gruesome was the Al-Radwan guesthouse. Radwan said armed men entered the guesthouse on July 15 as he was gathered there with Druze friends and relatives. The fighters smashed up the room, took the keys of a car that was parked outside and turned to leave. Radwan said he then heard one fighter say, "let's kill them so they don't recognise us." He collapsed onto the floor as the shooting started. "I don't know whether it was a bullet or what that hit me, but I fell down. I thought, 'it's over, I'm going to die,'" he told Reuters. A video posted online and verified by Reuters as being in the Al-Radwan guest house showed more than a dozen bodies, several with gunshot wounds to the chest, slumped over one another. Reuters could not verify the date the video was filmed. Reuters reporters at the guest house on Friday saw bullet holes in the walls and bloodstains on red-striped cushions and on the concrete floor. Nearby, another family was still grieving their loss. Members of the Saraya family spoke in hushed tones in their home, its walls pockmarked by bullet holes. Older women dressed in black except for white headscarves sat in silence. Seven of their relatives were killed with an eighth friend in an execution-style killing in Tishreen Square after being taken from their homes last week by armed militants, according to relatives and friends. One of them, Hosam Saraya, was a 35-year-old Syrian-American citizen who had lived in Oklahoma. Videos verified by Reuters showed eight men in civilian clothes walking in a single file accompanied by armed militants. Reuters was able to identify the location as west of Tishreen Square, in the heart of Sweida, but could not independently verify the date the video was filmed. A separate video shows militants opening fire on the same unarmed men kneeling in the dirt of the roundabout in Tishreen Square. Reuters verified the video's location from the statue in the square. A friend of the family, Moatassem Jabahi, said the fate of the men was unknown until he received a phone call from someone who saw the bodies in the square. "We called everybody we know and went to Tishreen square and we saw them. Their bodies were torn with bullets. It was not a normal killing. It was a criminal killing," he told Reuters.
Daily Mirror
19 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
TikTok star death mystery as body found at home while police make two arrests
Sumeera Rajput has been found dead in her home in Pakistan, with her 15-year-old daughter claiming she was given poisonous tablets by people pressuring her into a forced marriage An up-and-coming TikTok star has been found dead in her home in mysterious circumstances and police have made two arrests. Sumeera Rajput, who had thousands of followers and over a million likes on the social media platform, was discovered in the Bago Wah area of Ghotki, in northern Sindh, Pakistan, in yet another case of violence against women content creators in the country. According to Pakistani media, Sumeera's 15-year-old daughter has alleged that she was murdered by individuals who had been coercing her into a forced marriage. She claimed her mum was given poisonous tablets, which led to her death, reports say. Sumeera's brother has also made the same accusation. Police have taken two suspects into custody and authorities are currently investigating whether foul play was involved. According to reports, an autopsy has been ordered, but the results are yet to be confirmed. Sumeera's death comes weeks after police in Pakistan said TikTok sensation Sana Yousaf, 17, was murdered in her own home following "repeated rejections" of a man who had tried to "reach out to her time and again." A 22-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder after had been spotted lingering outside Sana's residence for hours. Police said the teenager became the victim of the "gruesome and cold-blooded murder" in Islamabad, Pakistan, following the rejections, which went on for some time. During a press briefing, Islamabad police chief Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said: "It was a gruesome and cold-blooded murder... It was a case of repeated rejections. The boy was trying to reach out to her time and again." Sana had more than one million TikTok followers. She used the platform to share comedy clips, lip-sync performances, skincare tips, and to promote beauty products. Her final post on both Instagram and TikTok, dated Monday, June 2, captured her birthday celebrations in a montage featuring cake-cutting, time with friends, the venue, and the food enjoyed on her special day. The tragic passing of Sana has captured the hearts of her followers and netizens alike, prompting an outpouring of grief on her social media accounts. On her Instagram profile, Waliya Najib, a renowned Pakistani actress and social media influencer, penned a heartfelt message: "This doesn't feel real. "You were glowing, just being 17. I'm so sorry this world didn't protect you. Rest in peace, sweetheart [broken-heart emoji]." Another devastated individual shared: "This news shook me, you deserved the world Sana. Rest in peace."
