SAS soldiers in UK arrested over Syria war crimes allegations

SAS soldiers in UK arrested over Syria war crimes allegations
The allegations concern the killing about two years ago of a Daesh fighter who SAS soldiers believed was about to carry out an attack using a suicide vest. (FILE/SHUTTERSTOCK)
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Updated 06 March 2024
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SAS soldiers in UK arrested over Syria war crimes allegations

SAS soldiers in UK arrested over Syria war crimes allegations
  • Special forces members accused of excessive, unjustified force in killing Daesh fighter
  • SAS also faces scrutiny over claims that its soldiers summarily executed up to 80 Afghans

LONDON: Five members of Britain’s elite SAS special forces unit have been arrested on suspicion of committing war crimes during a deployment to Syria.

The allegations concern the killing about two years ago of a Daesh fighter who SAS soldiers believed was about to carry out an attack using a suicide vest.

After the fighter was killed by the soldiers, a primed bomb vest was found nearby but not on the slain man’s body, leading to allegations that the SAS unit had used excessive and unjustified force, the Daily Mail reported.

Senior officers have argued that the British troops, who are still serving, should have made attempts to arrest the Daesh fighter.

An investigation into the killing was carried out by the UK’s Defence Serious Crimes Unit. As a result, British military chiefs sent documents urging the filing of murder charges against the five SAS soldiers to the military equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service.

It is believed that the arrests are the first to involve UK personnel who were deployed in operations against Daesh.

Special forces units from the UK have carried out a range of duties in Syria and Iraq over the past decade during the campaign against Daesh.

Troops have identified ground targets for UK aerial forces, including drones and jets, to attack.

Highly secretive rescue missions to recover children with British citizenship from Daesh territory have also taken place.

The arrests come as the SAS faces scrutiny over allegations that its soldiers summarily executed up to 80 Afghans during the more than decade-long war against the Taliban.

A public inquiry is researching claims that SAS soldiers falsified mission reports to hide the extrajudicial killings of Afghans in Helmand province between 2010 and 2013.

One special forces unit deployed to Afghanistan is alleged to have had a policy of executing “fighting-aged males” who posed no threat, during encounters with civilians.

Senior officers in the UK Ministry of Defence are also alleged to have prevented a credible investigation into the claims.

Last month, Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer told the inquiry that he “did not want to believe the reports” but was unable to find “something to disprove these allegations.”

He was reportedly told by a special forces soldier in 2017 that units carried “drop weapons” to plant false evidence around the bodies of Afghans in order to falsify mission reports.

The MoD refused to comment on the arrests of the SAS soldiers accused of war crimes in Syria.

A spokesman said: “We hold our personnel to the highest standards and any allegations of wrongdoing are taken seriously.

“Where appropriate, any criminal allegations are referred to the service police for investigation.”


Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says
Updated 47 sec ago
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Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says
GENEVA: More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official said.
“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he added, and then a portion will travel to Romania.

Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions
Updated 05 November 2024
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Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions
  • In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security

DUBAI: Two French citizens detained in Iran since May 2022 are in good health and being held in good detention conditions, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Last month, France’s foreign ministry said the conditions that three of its nationals were being held in by Iran were unacceptable.
“According to the relevant authorities, these two people have good conditions in the detention center and are in good health, so any claim regarding their conditions being abnormal is rejected,” Jahangir said.
The spokesperson was referring to Cecile Koehler and Jacques Paris, who he said were arrested on charges of espionage and will have their next court hearing on Nov. 24.
Jahangir did not mention the third French national detained in Iran. French media have disclosed only his first name, Olivier.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.


Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say
Updated 05 November 2024
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Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say
  • Airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 30, Palestinian medics and media say
  • Israeli military says it ‘eliminated terrorists’ in latest operations

CAIRO: Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 30 Palestinians since Monday night, Palestinian media and medics said on Tuesday, as the Israeli army tightened its siege on northern areas of the enclave.
An airstrike damaged two houses in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where the army has carried out new operations since Oct. 5, and killed at least 20 people late on Monday, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA and Hamas media said.
The Gaza health ministry did not immediately confirm the toll. Four other people were killed in the central Gazan town of Al-Zawayda around midnight on Monday, medics said.
Palestinian health officials said six people had also been killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah in the central area of the narrow enclave.
The Israeli military said, without giving details, that its forces had “eliminated terrorists” in the central Gaza Strip and Jabalia area. Israeli troops had also located weapons and explosives over the past day in the southern Rafah area, where “terrorist infrastructure sites” had been eliminated, it said.
Palestinians said the new attacks and Israeli orders for people to evacuate were aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp to create buffer zones.
Israel says its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military infrastructure in Jabalia in the past month.
More than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza, the authorities in Gaza say, and much of the territory has been reduced to ruins.
The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.


Sudan paramilitaries kill 10 civilians: activists

Sudan paramilitaries kill 10 civilians: activists
Updated 05 November 2024
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Sudan paramilitaries kill 10 civilians: activists

Sudan paramilitaries kill 10 civilians: activists

PORT SUDAN: Ten civilians were killed in the central Sudanese state of Al-Jazira, pro-democracy activists said on Tuesday, in an attack they blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The Madani Resistance Committee, one of hundreds of volunteer groups coordinating aid across the country, said the RSF carried out the killings on Monday night in the village of Barborab, about 85 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of the state capital Wad Madani.


Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms
Updated 05 November 2024
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Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms
  • Washington told Israel on Oct. 13 it had 30 days to take steps to address humanitarian crisis in Gaza
  • Israel on Monday announced cancelling agreement with UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)

WASHINGTON: Israel has taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but has so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation in the enclave, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday, as a deadline set by the US to improve the situation approaches.
The Biden administration told Israel in an Oct. 13 letter it had 30 days to take specific steps to address the dire humanitarian crisis in the strip, which has been pummeled for more than a year by Israeli ground and air operations that Israel says are aimed at rooting out Hamas militants.
Aid workers and UN officials say humanitarian conditions continue to be dire in Gaza.
“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around. We have seen an increase in some measurements. We’ve seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met,” Miller said.
Miller said the results so far were “not good enough” but stressed that the 30-day period had not elapsed.
He declined to say what consequences Israel would face if it failed to implement the recommendations.
“What I can tell you that we will do is we will follow the law,” he said.
Washington, Israel’s main supplier of weapons, has frequently pressed Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza since the war with Hamas began with the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
The Oct. 13 letter, sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, said a failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing the measures on aid access may have implications for US policy and law.
Section 620i of the US Foreign Assistance Act prohibits military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance.
Israel on Monday said it was canceling its agreement with the UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), citing accusations that some UNRWA staff had Hamas links.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had scaled back the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip to an average of 30 trucks a day, the lowest in a long time.
An Israeli government spokesman said no limit had been imposed on aid entering Gaza, with 47 aid trucks entering northern Gaza on Sunday alone.
Israeli statistics reviewed by Reuters last week showed that aid shipments allowed into Gaza in October remained at their lowest levels since October 2023.