Tag Archives: civil war

A missile fired by Houthi militants in Yemen sparked an  explosion and fire at a fuel distribution site near Jeddah on Monday. The blast took place at 3.50 a.m. and causing a fire in a fuel tank at the petroleum products distribution station, north of the city, Saudi Arabia’s energy …

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group on Monday said it fired a missile at a distribution station operated by the Saudi Aramco oil company in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea city of Jeddah and struck it. There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the claim made by the group’s military spokesman, who warned …

Syria’s President Bashar al Assad named veteran diplomat Faisal Mekdad as foreign minister on Sunday to replace Walid Moalem, who died last week, state media reported. Mekdad, 66, had been deputy foreign minister since 2006. He has also held a string of diplomatic posts, including envoy to the United Nations. …

Iran on Sunday vowed to defeat any Israeli attempt to harm its role in Syria, saying the era of “hit and run” attacks by Israel there was over, days after Israel carried out air strikes on Syrian army and Iranian paramilitary targets in the country. Israel, which views Tehran as …

Syria condemned U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to the “occupied” Golan Heights on Thursday in the “strongest language” and said it was a provocative act before U.S. President Donald Trump leaves his post, state media said. Pompeo became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit an Israeli …

Saudi Arabia has told Yemen’s Houthis in high-level back channel talks it would sign a UN proposal for a nationwide ceasefire if the Iran-aligned group agrees to a buffer zone along the kingdom’s borders, three sources familiar with the matter said. If a deal is struck, it would mark the …

Syria’s top diplomat and long-time foreign minister Walid al-Moalem, a staunch defender of Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters that sparked a decade old conflict, died on Monday, the government said. There were no details on the cause of death, but the 79-year old had been in …

Syrian President Bashar al Assad on Wednesday blamed U.S. sanctions and pressure on the United Nations and Syria’s neighbours for the reticence of more than 5 million refugees who fled the conflict there to return. “There are many hurdles,” Assad said, citing U.S. sanctions at the opening of a conference …

Up to 200,000 refugees could pour into Sudan while fleeing the deadly conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, officials say, while the first details are emerging of largely cut-off civilians under growing strain. Long lines have appeared outside bread shops in the Tigray region, and supply-laden trucks are stranded at …

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on officials, entities and individuals it accused of providing support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as Washington continued its efforts to cut off funds for Assad’s government. The action, which also targeted the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, aims to push …

The United States revealed on Thursday it had seized Iranian missiles shipped to Yemen and sold 1.1 million barrels of previously seized Iranian oil that was bound for Venezuela, in the Trump administration’s latest move to increase pressure on Tehran less than a week before Nov. 3 election. The unsealing …

The mother of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist and former U.S. Marine officer who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, on Monday accused U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of undermining efforts to free her son. In a statement released ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. election, Debra Tice …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said the United States will not change policy toward Syria to obtain the release of U.S. journalist Austin Tice and other detained Americans. “Our ask is that the Syrians release Mr. Tice, tell us what they know. They have chosen not to …

A White House official traveled to Damascus earlier this year for secret meetings with the Syrian government seeking the release of at least two U.S. citizens thought to be held there, a Trump administration official said on Sunday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, named the official as …

Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) has detained Abdalrahman al-Milad, a coastguard commander sanctioned by the United Nations for alleged human trafficking and migrant smuggling, its interior ministry said on Wednesday. The ministry said it had detained Milad at the request of the U.N. Security Council and that …

Bombing of civilians by Syrian and Russian armed forces during a campaign against the last rebel bastion in northwest Syria may amount to crimes against humanity, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Thursday. The global rights group said it investigated dozens of “unlawful” air and ground …

Two U.S. nationals held by Houthi rebels in Yemen have been released, Omani state media said on Wednesday, in what may have been part of a prisoner swap, with Oman sending flights to Sanaa to return 250 Yemenis from the Gulf state and abroad. “Under the directions of Sultan Haitham …

Lawyers representing victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria say they have filed criminal complaints with Germany’s federal public prosecutor against Syrian officials they blame for the deaths of hundreds of civilians in rebel-held areas. Germany, which is home to 600,000 Syrians, has “universal jurisdiction” laws that allow it to …

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan of being the main instigator in the deadliest fighting between Armenian and Azeri forces for more than 25 years. In an interview published on Tuesday that is likely to exacerbate international frictions over the clashes in the South Caucasus region, Assad …

Despite claims that the South Caucasus is the new flashpoint for Turkey and Russia, the recent military reinforcements in Syria hint that the balance in the province is still fragile and could provoke a regional crisis. On Friday, a Turkish military convoy, with.  more than 25 armored vehicles and trucks …

Yemeni security forces, backed by the Arab coalition, killed three Al-Qaeda militants and captured two others in a raid on their hideout on Friday in Al-Ghaydah city, the capital of the western province of Mahra, local media and residents said. Large explosions rocked many districts in the city of Al-Ghaydah …

Armenia and Azerbaijan accused one another on Tuesday of firing directly into each other’s territory as the worst regional fighting since the 1990s raged for a third day and civilian deaths mounted. Both reported firing from the other side across their shared border, well to the west of the breakaway …

Saudi Arabia warned the UN Security Council on Wednesday that an “oil spot” had been seen in a shipping transit area 31 miles (50 km) west of a decaying tanker that is threatening to spill 1.1 million barrels of crude oil off the coast of Yemen. The Safer tanker has …

France backed on Wednesday a proposal made by Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician to end a deadlock preventing the formation of a cabinet to lead the nation out of its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Paris has been pressing Lebanese politicians to form a government quickly but the …

The US on Tuesday called on Houthi militants in Yemen to stop launching attacks on Saudi Arabia. The State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by the Iran-backed group’s aggression, including attacks on Marib city. The statement comes after the militants have increased drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia …

Turkey’s agreements and cooperation with Libya’s internationally recognised government will continue despite Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj’s desire to quit, Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin was quoted as saying on Monday. In June, Turkish military support helped Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) repel an assault on Tripoli by Khalifa Haftar’s eastern-based …

In an exclusive interview with Arab News on Wednesday, the head of Lebanon’s Maronite church, Bechara Al-Rai, called for all of the many political factions in the country — which has just marked its centenary — to support his call to adopt ‘active neutrality,’ describing it as “part of the …

Turkish and Russian officials will meet in Ankara this week for a new round of talks on developments in Syria and Libya, where the two countries back opposing sides, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday. “Consultations between Turkish and Russian interagency delegations on Libya and Syria will continue at a …

Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker said his group opposed the way the prime minister-designate was forming a new cabinet and that it would not join on those terms, but that he would still cooperate to stabilise the nation in crisis, his office said. The office of Nabih Berri, head of the Muslim …

Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar has committed to ending a months-long blockade of oil facilities, the U.S. embassy in the country said in a statement on Saturday, but it was unclear if oil fields and ports would reopen. The statement said the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) had conveyed “the personal …

At the center of Yemen’s capital Sanaa, a city battered by years of war and months of pandemic, a row of young girls in red, white and black white uniforms pummel punching bags and practice self defense. In the corner a mother looks on in pride as a female instructor …

A large fire erupted at Beirut port on Thursday, sending a huge column of smoke over the Lebanese capital weeks after a massive blast devastated the port and surrounding residential area. The blaze began in the shattered duty free zone of the port, prompting some residents to flee the city …

It is necessary to implement a unified Arab policy towards Turkey’s destructive actions in the Arab region, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Wednesday during his Arab League ministerial committee meeting. Shoukry said Turkey’s practices and interference in multiple Arab countries’ internal affairs shape threats against the Arab national security. …

The Houthi administration in Yemen has suspended all United Nations and humanitarian flights to the capital Sanaa as its Saudi-led coalition foe blocks commercial vessels in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. The Iran-aligned Houthis took over Sanaa and most cities in 2014 after ousting the Saudi-backed government of Abd-Rabbu …

A military spokesman for Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said that the group targeted Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport with a number of drones. Yahya Sarea wrote on Twitter “the continuous attack of the drones on Abha International Airport led to disabling it for several hours”. In related developments a Yemeni court in …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad and Syria’s foreign minister, the RIA news agency reported. Following his meeting with the Syrian president Lavrov said that Syria needed international help to rebuild its economy. For his part Syrian President Bashar al Assad …

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sacked two royals and referred them along with four military officers for investigation into corruption at the defence ministry in a royal decree issued early on Tuesday and carried by state media. The decree said Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud would be removed …

Two people were killed and at least three wounded in clashes in a town south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Thursday evening, the state news agency and a security source said, as several political parties urged calm. The Lebanese army said on its Twitter account that it had deployed …

A small number of U.S. troops were injured during an interaction with Russian forces in Syria, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday. While such interactions between American and Russian forces are not rare, the incident highlights the risks of troops from both countries operating in close proximity in northern …

A Russian armoured vehicle was attacked during a joint Russian-Turkish patrol in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, Russia’s Defence Ministry said, according to the Interfax news agency, adding that two servicemen had been injured. Turkey’s Defence Ministry said on Twitter a convoy vehicle had been lightly damaged due to an explosion …

Armed men fired in the air to disperse several hundred protesters demonstrating over living conditions and against the government in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Sunday, a Reuters witness said. Protesters marched to the headquarters of the Government of National Accord (GNA) to voice anger over what they called a …

An explosion on the Arab Gas Pipeline -a natural gas pipeline originating in Arish in the Sinai Peninsula was built to export Egyptian natural gas to Jordan, and Syria – has caused a power blackout in Syria and initial indications point to an attack, the energy minister told state-run television …

Israel’s military said on Saturday that one of its drones fell inside Lebanon during “operational activity” along the frontier, and the armed Lebanese group Hezbollah said it shot it down. The drone, which was downed near the border town of Aita al-shaab, was now in the group’s possession, the Iran-backed …

Syrian President Bashar al Assad said on Wednesday that sweeping new U.S. sanctions amounted to a new stage of economic warfare against his government and were part of long-standing U.S. efforts to “choke” the living standards of Syrians. In a speech to deputies at the presidential palace, Assad also blamed …