Tag: syria

Singapore detains alleged sponsor of Malaysian IS fighter

SINGAPORE (AFP) — A Singaporean man who gave financial support to a Syria-based Islamic State (IS) militant from Malaysia has been detained under the city-state’s tough internal security laws, authorities said Friday. The arrest highlights the continued influence of Southeast Asian militants fighting with IS in Iraq and Syria in radicalizing people back home, even as the jihadists face defeat in the Middle East. Singaporean businessman Mohamed Kazali bin Salleh, 48, is suspected of being […]

Canadian woman jailed for attack in name of IS group

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A Canadian woman found guilty of terror crimes for trying to join the Islamic State group and in its name attacking staff at a department store was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison. Rehab Dughmosh, 34, was arrested in June 2017 and later convicted of leaving the country for the purpose of joining a terror group, and assaults with a golf club and a butcher knife, and carrying an archery […]

Acting Pentagon chief makes surprise Baghdad visit

by Sylvie Lanteaume Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit Tuesday for talks on the sensitive issue of a continued troop presence following withdrawal from neighboring Syria. Shanahan is keen to reassure Iraqi leaders after President Donald Trump angered many by saying he wanted to keep troops at the Al-Asad airbase, northwest of Baghdad, to keep an eye on Iran. The acting defence secretary, […]

Displaced Syrian children sift through trash to buy bread

by Aaref Watad Agence France Presse KAFR LUSIN, Syria (AFP) — Outside a camp for the displaced in northwest Syria, 15-year-old Sabaa al-Jassim hacked away at a mountain of trash hoping to find scraps to sell for food. Using a hooked metal rod, he stabbed at acrid household waste in the village of Kafr Lusin, looking for plastic to trade for a few dollars to feed his 11-member family. “I go to the dump to […]

Israel says strikes Iranian targets in Syria after rocket

by Mike Smith Agence France Presse JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel struck what it said were Iranian targets in Syria on Monday in response to missile fire it blamed on Iran, sparking concerns of an escalation after a report that 11 fighters were killed. Israel announced the strikes against facilities it said belonged to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force as they were occurring, continuing its recent practice of speaking more openly about such raids. […]

Israeli bombardment in Syria kills 11: monitor

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Israeli strikes that hit several targets in Syria overnight to Monday killed at least 11 pro-regime fighters including two Syrians, a war monitor said. Israel’s military said it had targeted a number of Iranian installations in the country early on Monday, hours after intercepting a rocket fired from Syrian territory. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said they were the deadliest Israeli strikes in Syria since May last […]

Turkey ready to ensure security of north Syria city: Erdogan

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey is ready to take over ensuring the security of Manbij in northern Syria in order “not to lose time,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a phone call with US counterpart Donald Trump. Manbij, controlled by Kurdish fighters supported by the US military, had been hit on Wednesday by an attack claimed by the Islamic State group (IS) which killed 19 people, including four Americans. In their second phone conversation […]

Deadly IS-claimed suicide attack hits US forces in north Syria

by Delil Souleiman with Tony Gamal-Gabriel in Beirut Agence France Presse QAMISHLI, Syria (AFP) — A suicide attack killed four US personnel in northern Syria Wednesday, costing Washington its worst combat losses in the war-torn country since 2014 as it prepares to withdraw. The bombing, claimed by the Islamic State group, comes after US President Donald Trump’s shock announcement last month that he was ordering a full troop withdrawal from Syria because the jihadists had […]

Winter weather killed 15 displaced children in Syria: UN

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Freezing temperatures and the lack of medical care have killed at least 15 displaced Syrian children in recent weeks, the United Nations reported on Tuesday. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said eight of them had died as a result of the cold in the Rukban camp in southeastern Syria and seven others during the displacement from the jihadist bastion of Hajin, further north. “Freezing temperatures and harsh living conditions in Rukban… […]

Turkey to set up Syria ‘security zone’ after Trump call

by Fulya OZERKAN Agence France-Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Ankara would set up a “security zone” in northern Syria suggested by US President Donald Trump. Erdogan’s comments came a day after he had a telephone conversation with Trump to ease tensions after the US leader threatened to “devastate” the Turkish economy if Ankara attacks Kurdish forces in Syria. Turkey has welcomed Washington’s planned withdrawal of some 2,000 US […]

Winter weather killed 15 displaced children in Syria: UN

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Freezing temperatures and the lack of medical care have killed at least 15 displaced Syrian children in recent weeks, the United Nations reported on Tuesday. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said eight of them had died as a result of the cold in the Rukban camp in southeastern Syria and seven others during the displacement from the jihadist bastion of Hajin, further north. “Freezing temperatures and harsh living conditions in Rukban… […]

Erdogan, Trump consider creating security zone in Syria

by Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi and Raziye Akkoc Agence France Presse ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US counterpart Donald Trump mooted Monday the creation of a “security zone” in northern Syria as tensions rose over the fate of Kurdish fighters in the war-torn country. In a telephone conversation, the leaders “discussed the idea of creating a security zone cleared of terrorism in the north of the country,” the Turkish presidency said in […]