Latest news with #siege
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
‘They executed him then called his wife to brag': Inside the Druze city ravaged by militias
Dr Talat Amer, a surgeon at Sweida National Hospital in southern Syria, worked tirelessly for three days as bombs fell and the building came under siege from government and militia forces. On the fourth day of fighting in the Druze-majority city, Dr Amer was shot in the head as he tried to return to work. 'He was dressed in scrubs and they executed him. Then they called his wife on his phone and bragged about it,' Sami, a surgeon at the hospital, told The Telegraph. Witnesses reported it was regime forces wearing Islamic State badges on their military fatigues. The fighting that has consumed the region started on July 13 as a local dispute between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes but quickly escalated into deadly clashes. Syrian government forces deployed to the region to quell the violence instead became embroiled in it, drawing in Israeli intervention. Syrian soldiers, many of whom came from former jihadist ranks, are accused of aligning with other militias and attacking Druze fighters and civilians, carrying out a bloody rampage across the city. After six days of terror, the death toll is estimated to be more than 900, but confirmation will take time as bodies are recovered and identified. Despite an 'immediate and comprehensive' US-brokered ceasefire being declared between Syria and Israel on Saturday in Sweida – it is failing to hold. Multiple witnesses say militias are still attacking villages and the city. Sami, who is currently hiding with his family and speaking under a pseudonym for fear of retribution, was working at the hospital on Tuesday when he said government forces attacked. 'We saw the soldiers and the bombs were landing on the hospital, we hid but then tried to continue treating patients. Then we lost electricity and water,' he recounted. He was not there on Wednesday when Syrian soldiers were alleged to have detained the doctors and nurses in the operating rooms. 'They killed a maintenance man and told the doctors they would be executed at 6pm.' The soldiers were forced to withdraw and his colleagues escaped, Sami said, but he still does not know how many staff were killed during the attack on the hospital. Videos filmed inside the building show corpses piled up in hallways, blood-soaked floors, rooms stacked with body bags and a chaotic makeshift morgue set up outside. When Sami reached the hospital on Thursday, passing civilian bodies littering the roads nearby, he found a Syrian tank at its front entrance – and more bodies. 'It looked like a massacre,' he said. 'The hospital was partly destroyed, there were a lot of bodies put on top of each other. We still do not know who is dead. I haven't been able to make contact with all of my colleagues.' The surgeon estimates that there are 400 bodies at the hospital. Most are piled outside in the back yard because the morgue ran out of space. 'I think they will reach 1,000 soon. We do not have time to identify them or bury them' he said. Syria's leadership has vowed to punish those who committed 'heinous acts' against Druze civilians, but its control appears shaky and Sweida's residents fear authorities are unable to provide security. Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Syrian president has vowed to protect the Druze minority, but his forces have been accused of executing them in the street. Nawaf Al-Shabli, a medical doctor who lives on the outskirts of Sweida, described feeling powerless as he heard that his friends and colleagues might be being killed inside the National Hospital. He is trapped inside his own village on the outskirts of Sweida, which he said is still under attack from neighbouring Bedouin tribes and Arab militia groups. 'You cannot imagine the horrors,' Dr al-Shabli, who is also a prominent peace activist, told The Telegraph. 'These are my friends, they were so innocent. All the world will be shocked when it comes to light what happened,' he said. Dr al-Shabli has been distributing food and aid to his neighbours. 'I am trying to help, but there is nothing, no electricity, no clean water, no medicine. All the villages have been burnt around us.' When the violence broke out last week, he said many villagers fled to Sweida, where they believed they would be safe. Some were killed, he said, and those that returned are traumatised. 'They came from all directions, all roads, with all resources and heavy weaponry. They wanted to destroy the Druze, they oppose our beliefs.' The Druze, whose religion is rooted in Islam but do not identify as Muslim have faced a history of persecution. The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly one million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military. In Syria, the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country's new leaders, with some advocating for integrating into the new system while others have remained suspicious of the authorities in Damascus and pushed for an autonomous Druze region. 'We are peaceful,' he said. 'We do not usually fight, we want to help others. Our saying is to 'hurt no one, love all, serve all'.' Inside the city, residents are pleading for help from the outside community, saying that aid is not reaching them as militias have blocked all the roads. 'The situation is very bad, this is a disaster, we are asking for a humanitarian corridor to open up,' Kinan Azzam, a dentist who lives in the east of Sweida city, told The Telegraph. He described seeing bodies all over the streets and hearing of Druze women and children kidnapped, while parents were killed in their homes in front of their children. On Friday, Mr Azzam learnt that his friend, an engineer, had been taken by regime forces and killed. 'He was a very good person, they kidnapped him and killed him in a bad way and left him.' Now, he said the fresh ceasefire agreement – the second this week after an earlier agreement on Wednesday quickly collapsed – is being broken continuously. 'Please we need help, time is running out, why isn't anyone helping us?' Burcu Ozcelik, a Middle East security analyst at the Rusi think tank, told The Telegraph: 'The ceasefire remains extremely fragile.' She said a range of armed groups, operating beyond the control of the government and driven by divergent agendas, are converging on the area 'in anticipation of renewed conflict'. Ms Ozcelik added: 'This escalation must be urgently contained.' There have also been reports of attacks on the small Bedouin communities, – who are predominantly Sunni Muslim – in Sweida and what Syrian media outlets called massacres by 'outlaw groups'. The deadly violence, the worst in this corner of Syria since the height of the country's nearly 14 year civil war, has underscored the challenge the new Islamist regime is facing stabilising the country and exerting centralised rule. The interim government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, has tried and so far failed to unite Syria's diverse religious and ethnic factions since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad in December. The former al-Qaeda leader turned statesman has promised tolerance and acceptance, authorities have been accused repeatedly of trampling over the rights of the country's diverse minorities. Col (res) Hamada Ganem, a Druze former commander of the IDF's Northern Brigade in the Gaza Strip, questioned why the Druze militias would heed their de-facto control of Sweida to the government. 'Why would they put down their arms when they cannot trust the unstable regime to protect them? Everyone takes the law into their own hands and the Druze are suffering,' he told The Telegraph. 'The Druze want peace, they want to be part of Syria, but they need protection. Al-Sharaa speaks two languages: one of peace and accountability, while the other is spoken by his forces that attack the Druze.'
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Israel bombs Gaza, Syria amid alarm over rise in starving children
The United Nations agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, says one in 10 children screened in its clinics in Gaza are malnourished as Israel's siege of the enclave triggers a man-made starvation crisis. Israeli forces pound Gaza after killing at least 61 Palestinians on Tuesday, including 23 people in the Shati refugee camp and two others near the notorious US-backed GHF site in Rafah.
Al Mayadeen
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
IOF turn West Bank's Sinjil into 'big prison' amid ongoing aggression
A towering five-meter metal fence now slices through the eastern edge of Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, reducing it to what residents call an open-air prison, Reuters reported on Friday. All but one route in and out of the town has been sealed by heavy gates and roadblocks, closely watched by Israeli soldiers. "Sinjil is now a big prison," said Mousa Shabaneh, 52, a father of seven. He watched in despair as the fence was installed across his nursery, where he once grew and sold trees, his only source of income. "Of course, we're now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost," Shabaneh indicated. "In the end, they cut off our livelihood." Read more: Egypt condemns Israeli annexation calls, West Bank violations Walls, fences, and military checkpoints have long defined life for the nearly 3 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. But since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Palestinians say the number and intensity of these barriers have increased dramatically, leaving many towns under de facto siege. The fence around Sinjil is one of the most visible examples. The Israeli occupation military claims it was erected to protect the Ramallah-Nablus highway, citing "recurring terror incidents." Residents are now forced to traverse narrow, winding streets to the only permitted exit. Many walk past blockades on foot to reach parked cars. Bahaa Foqaa, Sinjil's deputy mayor, said 8,000 residents are confined to just 10 acres of space, fenced off from 2,000 acres of their privately owned land. "This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people," he said. "Israel" justifies these actions as protective measures for settlers in the occupied territory. Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council overseeing 47 settlements in the region, alleged that Sinjil's residents had attacked Jewish vehicles, claiming that unrestricted access would "encourage the mass murder of Jews." Approximately 700,000 settlers now live in land occupied since 1967. Most of the international community considers these settlements illegal under international law. Since October 2023, "Israel" has intensified its military presence across the occupied West Bank. Overnight roadblocks of earth and stone appeared, followed by brightly painted metal gates. New permanent and flying checkpoints now dot the landscape. For many, this has severely disrupted daily life. Sana Alwan, a 52-year-old personal trainer in Sinjil, said her commute to Ramallah now takes up to three hours each way and unpredictable delays have caused her work to decline. "Half of our life is on the roads," she said. While spared the full-scale war seen on Gaza, life in the occupied West Bank has grown increasingly difficult. A ban on Palestinian workers entering the 1948-occupied Palestinian territories cut off livelihoods for tens of thousands. A crackdown on refugee camps displaced thousands earlier this year. Mohammad Jammous, who lives in Ramallah and grew up in Areeha, said he now visits his family only once a month, due to travel times stretching to several hours. "Israel" claims its measures are necessary due to the "complex security reality," justifying the placement and relocation of checkpoints to monitor threats. However, Palestinian Authority officials argue the increasing restrictions are intentional efforts to suppress the population and destabilize everyday life. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa warned, "They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people." Read more: IOF demolish 1,000+ homes, turn West Bank camps into 'lifeless zones' Meanwhile, 11 Palestinians were injured early Friday morning following coordinated assaults by Israeli settlers and occupation forces in the village of Beita, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, in a systematic escalation targeting Palestinian villages. BREAKING: Right now, at 1 a.m. Palestine time, Israeli settlers are attacking the village of Beita, Nablus—firing at civilian homes and defenseless Palestinians trying to push them have been reported, and ambulances are rushing to the scene. sources reported that a group of settlers attacked a home in the Qamas area, adjacent to Jabal Sbeih in Beita, attempted to set it on fire, and brutally assaulted three residents who tried to defend it. Shortly after, Israeli occupation forces stormed the village, firing live ammunition, toxic gas canisters, and sound grenades extensively, resulting in eight additional Palestinians suffering from suffocation due to gas inhalation. In a related development, settlers from the Yitzhar settlement cut down dozens of fruit-bearing trees on farmland in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, specifically targeting the village's southern outskirts. Israeli settler militias uproot olive trees from indigenous Palestinian land in the Burin town southern Nablus in the occupied West Bank. assault follows a similar attack just days earlier on the same house in Beita, where settlers threw stones at it and set up a tent nearby, as part of a broader pattern of violations aimed at intimidating Palestinian residents and imposing new settlement realities on the ground. On Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces issued demolition notices for 104 homes and buildings in the Tulkarm refugee camp, citing 'military purposes'. Residents were given 72 hours to evacuate their belongings. Read more: 'Israel' establishes first civilian court in West Bank settlement
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
RSF storms cattle market and prison in 'death trap' Sudanese city
The Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed the besieged city of el-Fasher on Friday in a battle that raged for seven hours, witnesses told the BBC. RSF fighters managed to capture a cattle market, a prison and a military base while broadcasting videos of their members walking around empty stockyards. It was the first time RSF fighters had entered the city in large numbers since the siege of el-Fasher - an ongoing battle for control of the western Darfur city - began 15 months ago. On Saturday morning, the army retaliated and succeeded in pushing the RSF back beyond el-Fasher's limits. But Mathilde Vu, from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), described the city as a "death trap". "What we're hearing is stories of horror and terror and weekly shelling, attacks on civilian infrastructure," Ms Vu told the BBC Newshour programme. "There are local volunteers - they are really struggling, risking their lives every day to try and provide a little bit of food for people who are mostly starving." Siddig Omar, a 65-year-old resident of el-Fasher, told the BBC the RSF entered the city on Friday from the south and south-west. The RSF, whose fighters have been mustering in trenches dug around the city, frequently attack el-Fasher. According to the army, this was their 220th offensive. But this time, during a battle that raged for seven hours, they managed to take control of the city's livestock market, which has been closed for business for several months. From here, they broadcast videos of their fighters walking around empty stockyards. They also briefly held Shalla prison and the headquarters of the military's Central Reserve Forces. On Saturday morning, the army retaliated and succeeded in pushing the RSF back beyond the city limits, saying it had inflicted "heavy losses" on the paramilitary group. But Mr Omar said RSF shelling - using drones - continued throughout Saturday. "One of the shells hit a civilian vehicle near my house resulting in the death of five civilians who were inside the car," he said. Sudan plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious struggle for power broke out between its army and the RSF. It has led to a famine and claims of a genocide in the western Darfur region. More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis. El-Fasher is the only city in Darfur now controlled by the military. But a communications blackout makes it difficult to confirm information from the besieged city, as only those with satellite internet connections are contactable. Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening Sudan in danger of self-destructing as conflict and famine reign BBC smuggles in phones to el-Fasher to reveal hunger and fear The latest RSF offensive followed weeks of artillery and drone attacks. The group recently started using large drone aircraft. The army accuses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of funding the RSF, an allegation the oil-rich Gulf state denies. This weekend's attack comes three months after the RSF overran Zamzam camp on the outskirts of el-Fasher. It had been the largest displacement camp in the country and many of its residents either escaped into el-Fashir or tried to make it to Tawila, 60km (about 40 miles) away. Ms Vu, NRC's advocacy manager in Sudan, said the team in Tawila has continued to hear horrific stories as people desperately try to find safety. "People fleeing at night by foot, on donkeys - trying to escape armed men targeting them, maybe raping them," she said. "We're getting people arriving into Tawila who are thirsty, who haven't eaten for weeks." Nearly 379,000 people have now fled to Tawila, where they are facing an outbreak of cholera and expected heavy rain is likely to destroy makeshift shelters. This week, residents of el-Fasher told the BBC Arabic's emergency radio programme more about their dire situation. "Right now, we are suffering deeply, and everyone around us is facing the same hardship," one man said. "There is no bread, no food, and no work to be found. Even if you have money, there's nothing available in the markets to buy. "When someone gets sick, we can't find any medicine or treatment. "There are no medicines in hospitals. The situation here is truly terrible." Another man said until recently, residents had been relying on something called "ombaz", a food waste left over after pressing oil from peanut shells. "We are in a very critical situation," he said. "Even ombaz is no longer available, as the peanut factories have stopped working. "We are calling out for help - please, we urgently need assistance." Ms Vu bemoaned the international community's apathy when it came to engaging with the warring parties and their backers. "The funding is completely decreasing and the consequence is that you can see it on the ground," she said. "People [in el-Fasher] just rely on the solidarity of others. "If they have a little bit of food, they will be sharing it among themselves." Last week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in Darfur. Allegations of war crimes have persisted throughout the past two years, and in January 2025 the US determined that the RSF and allied militias had committed a genocide against the region's non-Arab population. 'I lost a baby and then rescued a child dodging air strikes in Sudan's civil war' Last surgeons standing in el-Fasher A photographer's 11-day trek to flee war-torn Sudan Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Focus on Africa This Is Africa
BBC News
7 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Sudan civil war: RSF storms cattle market and prison in 'death trap' city
The Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed the besieged city of el-Fasher on Friday in a battle that raged for seven hours, witnesses told the BBC. RSF fighters managed to capture a cattle market, a prison and a military base while broadcasting videos of their members walking around empty stockyards. It was the first time RSF fighters had entered the city in large numbers since the siege of el-Fasher - an ongoing battle for control of the western Darfur city - began 15 months ago. On Saturday morning, the army retaliated and succeeded in pushing the RSF back beyond el-Fasher's limits. But Mathilde Vu, from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), described the city as a "death trap". "What we're hearing is stories of horror and terror and weekly shelling, attacks on civilian infrastructure," Ms Vu told the BBC Newshour programme."There are local volunteers - they are really struggling, risking their lives every day to try and provide a little bit of food for people who are mostly starving." Siddig Omar, a 65-year-old resident of el-Fasher, told the BBC the RSF entered the city on Friday from the south and RSF, whose fighters have been mustering in trenches dug around the city, frequently attack el-Fasher. According to the army, this was their 220th this time, during a battle that raged for seven hours, they managed to take control of the city's livestock market, which has been closed for business for several here, they broadcast videos of their fighters walking around empty stockyards. They also briefly held Shalla prison and the headquarters of the military's Central Reserve Saturday morning, the army retaliated and succeeded in pushing the RSF back beyond the city limits, saying it had inflicted "heavy losses" on the paramilitary group. But Mr Omar said RSF shelling - using drones - continued throughout Saturday. "One of the shells hit a civilian vehicle near my house resulting in the death of five civilians who were inside the car," he plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious struggle for power broke out between its army and the has led to a famine and claims of a genocide in the western Darfur than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian is the only city in Darfur now controlled by the military. But a communications blackout makes it difficult to confirm information from the besieged city, as only those with satellite internet connections are war: A simple guide to what is happeningSudan in danger of self-destructing as conflict and famine reignBBC smuggles in phones to el-Fasher to reveal hunger and fearThe latest RSF offensive followed weeks of artillery and drone attacks. The group recently started using large drone aircraft. The army accuses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of funding the RSF, an allegation the oil-rich Gulf state weekend's attack comes three months after the RSF overran Zamzam camp on the outskirts of el-Fasher. It had been the largest displacement camp in the country and many of its residents either escaped into el-Fashir or tried to make it to Tawila, 60km (about 40 miles) Vu, NRC's advocacy manager in Sudan, said the team in Tawila has continued to hear horrific stories as people desperately try to find safety."People fleeing at night by foot, on donkeys - trying to escape armed men targeting them, maybe raping them," she said."We're getting people arriving into Tawila who are thirsty, who haven't eaten for weeks." Nearly 379,000 people have now fled to Tawila, where they are facing an outbreak of cholera and expected heavy rain is likely to destroy makeshift shelters. This week, residents of el-Fasher told the BBC Arabic's emergency radio programme more about their dire situation."Right now, we are suffering deeply, and everyone around us is facing the same hardship," one man said."There is no bread, no food, and no work to be found. Even if you have money, there's nothing available in the markets to buy. "When someone gets sick, we can't find any medicine or treatment."There are no medicines in hospitals. The situation here is truly terrible."Another man said until recently, residents had been relying on something called "ombaz", a food waste left over after pressing oil from peanut shells."We are in a very critical situation," he said."Even ombaz is no longer available, as the peanut factories have stopped working. "We are calling out for help - please, we urgently need assistance."Ms Vu bemoaned the international community's apathy when it came to engaging with the warring parties and their backers."The funding is completely decreasing and the consequence is that you can see it on the ground," she said. "People [in el-Fasher] just rely on the solidarity of others. "If they have a little bit of food, they will be sharing it among themselves."Last week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in of war crimes have persisted throughout the past two years, and in January 2025 the US determined that the RSF and allied militias had committed a genocide against the region's non-Arab population. You may also be interested in: 'I lost a baby and then rescued a child dodging air strikes in Sudan's civil war'Last surgeons standing in el-FasherA photographer's 11-day trek to flee war-torn Sudan Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
