(Eagle News) — Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday, Sept. 5, said the Department of National Defense has no jurisdiction over him. In a press conference, Trillanes said this was because as of 2007, he was already considered a civilian. Defense officials, however, already said that even if this was the case, Trillanes could still be court-martialled as he violated the Articles of War as a soldier. “Pursuant to Section 66 of the Omnibus Election […]
Tag: civilian
Argentines protest against cancelation of benefits for disabled
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) – Hundreds gathered in downtown Buenos Aires on Thursday (June 15) after the Argentine government announced cuts to pensions that could affect citizens living with disabilities. Conservative President Mauricio Macri is looking to trim government debt and spending. But protesters say any austerity measures that target citizens with disabilities go too far. According to the government, 70,000 people receiving the disability pension have been affected after they missed this month’s welfare […]
“Staggering” civilian deaths from U.S.-led air strikes in Raqqa, U.N. says
GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) — Intensified coalition air strikes supporting an assault by U.S.-backed forces on Islamic State’s stronghold of Raqqa in Syria are causing a “staggering loss of civilian life”, United Nations war crimes investigators said on Wednesday (June 14). The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by a U.S.-led coalition, began to attack Raqqa a week ago to take it from the jihadists. The SDF, supported by heavy […]
IS shelling kills 14 civilians in east Syria city: monitor
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Fourteen civilians were killed late Monday when Islamic State group jihadists shelled a government-controlled neighborhood of Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor city, a monitor said. Three children were among the dead in the regime-held Al-Joura district, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The shelling hit just before families were gathering to break the Ramadan fast,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Besieged by IS since early 2015, the regime-controlled third […]
US-led strikes kill 35 civilians in east Syria: monitor
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — United States-led coalition air strikes on Thursday killed at least 35 civilians in an eastern Syrian town held by the Islamic State group, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit a series of residential buildings in Mayadeen, a town in Syria’s oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor. “Among the dead are at least 26 relatives of IS fighters, many of them women and children, including […]
US-led strikes against IS have killed 352 civilians: Pentagon
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — United States-led strikes aimed against the Islamic State group have “unintentionally” killed 352 civilians since the offensive began in 2014, according to the US military. The tally from the Combined Joint Task Force did not include findings from an investigation the coalition said it had launched into one allegedly particularly deadly strike on March 17 in west Mosul. US General Stephen Townsend had said coalition forces “probably had a role […]
Coalition falling short of protecting Mosul civilians: Amnesty
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Amnesty International said Tuesday the United States-led coalition was not doing enough to protect civilians in the battle to retake Iraq’s Mosul with cases of entire families killed in their homes. Iraqi authorities launched the battle to retake the second city from the Islamic State group in October with support from coalition air strikes, recapturing its eastern side from the jihadists in January. Amnesty’s Donatella Rovera said field research in east […]
Mosul civilian deaths a ‘terrible tragedy:’ US military chief
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The top commander for US military forces in the Middle East on Sunday called recent civilian deaths in the Iraqi city of Mosul a “terrible tragedy,” but stopped short of taking responsibility. “We are investigating the incident to determine exactly what happened and will continue to take extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians,” General Joseph Votel, who heads US Central Command, said in a statement. “We will continue to prioritize […]
More than 150,000 Iraqis fled west Mosul fighting: ministry
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi authorities said Thursday that more than 150,000 people have fled fighting in and around west Mosul since security forces launched an operation to retake it from jihadists last month. The International Organization for Migration released displacement figures on Wednesday indicating that nearly 100,000 had fled, but those statistics included fewer people residing outside of camps. According to Iraq’s ministry of migration and displaced, 152,857 people have fled the west Mosul […]
Iraqi forces in west Mosul aim for key bridge
by Sara Hussein Agence France Presse MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi forces battled jihadists in west Mosul on Sunday, aiming to build a floating bridge across the Tigris to establish an important supply route linked to the recaptured east bank. A week into a major push on the western side of the city, where an estimated 2,000 holdout jihadists and 750,000 civilians are trapped, government forces made steady progress. But after relatively easy gains on […]
Syria rebels announce new evacuation deal for Aleppo
by Rim Haddad and Karam al-Masri Agence France Presse ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — Syrian rebels announced a new evacuation deal for Aleppo civilians and the injured on Wednesday, after shelling and air strikes sent terrified residents running through the city’s streets. However a source close to Syria’s government denied the development, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said hostilities were ongoing after an earlier agreement collapsed. Under the initial plan, thousands of civilians and […]
Syria rebels to leave Aleppo under evacuation deal
by Rim Haddad Agence France Presse ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — Civilians and rebel fighters were to start evacuating from Syria’s Aleppo Wednesday under a deal that would end years of opposition resistance in the city. The evacuations which were expected to begin at 0300 GMT, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, had yet to commence more than half an hour after the time had passed, an AFP correspondent in the city said. […]





