Syrian Druze say govt mission of peace devolved into rampage
Syria’s defense minister had declared a ‘complete ceasefire’ in Sweide late Tuesday morning, but locals said the announcement had little effect on the ground
Thousands of the city’s residents fled, seeking safety nearer the Jordanian border
Updated 15 July 2025
AFP
SWEIDA: The mainly Druze residents of the Syrian city of Sweida had hoped the arrival of government forces on Tuesday would spell an end to deadly sectarian clashes with local Bedouin tribes.
Instead they spoke of executions, looting and arson as government troops and their allies rampaged through Druze neighborhoods, prompting thousands from the religious minority to flee.
“Government forces entered the city on the pretext of restoring order... but unfortunately they indulged in savage practices,” said Rayan Maarouf, editor in chief of the Suwayda 24 news website.
“There have been cases of civilians being killed... dozens of them... but we don’t have precise figures,” he added, blaming government fighters and their allies.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government forces executed 12 civilians in a guesthouse in the city, in just one incident among many said to have taken place in the area.
Syria’s defense minister had declared a “complete ceasefire” in the city late Tuesday morning, but locals said the announcement had little effect on the ground.
An AFP correspondent who entered Sweida shortly after government forces reported dead bodies left lying on deserted streets as sporadic gunfire rang out.
“I’m in the center of Sweida. There are executions, houses and shops that have been torched, and robberies and looting,” one Sweida resident holed up in his home told AFP by phone.
“One of my friends who lives in the west of the city told me that they entered his home, chased out his family after taking their mobile phones and then set fire to it,” added the resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
AFP correspondents saw smoke rising over several areas of the city of some 150,000 people.
Another resident said he had seen armed men in civilian clothes “looting shops and setting fire to them.”
“They’re firing indiscriminately, I am afraid to leave the house,” he said, adding that he regretted “not leaving before they arrived.”
On Tuesday, government forces entered Sweida with the stated aim of ending the sectarian violence that had claimed more than 100 lives earlier this week.
But the Observatory, Druze leaders and witnesses said they entered the city accompanied by Bedouin fighters, and joined with them in attacking the Druze.
One AFP video showed Bedouin fighters riding through the streets on a government tank, brandishing their weapons in celebration.
The fighters toppled several statues in public squares, AFP images showed. Hard-line Islamists believe such representations of the human form to be idolatrous.
Unverified video footage circulating on social media showed armed men forcibly shaving off the moustache of an elderly Druze, a grave insult in the community.
The Israeli military said it had carried out several air strikes on the forces that entered Sweida.
An AFP correspondent saw one Syrian army vehicle in the city center that had taken a direct hit. Several bodies were left dangling over its sides.
The Israeli military said it was acting to protect the Druze, although some analysts have said that was a pretext for pursuing its own military goals.
Thousands of the city’s residents fled, seeking safety nearer the Jordanian border, Maarouf said.
In the nearby village of Walgha, an AFP correspondent found a group of displaced civilians sheltering in a mosque.
Israeli army landed special force on strategic hilltop near Damascus in brief operation — Syrian army sources
Updated 3 min 24 sec ago
Reuters
AMMAN: A unit of the Israeli army conducted an airborne landing on a strategic hilltop southwest of Damascus and carried out a two-hour operation before leaving the area, two Syrian army sources said.
They said the troops landed near Jabal Manea, which was once a major air defense base operated by Iran before being destroyed by Israel prior to the fall of Bashar Assad’s rule.
A number of troops from the new Syrian army are positioned at the base.
Iraqi Kurdish PUK security force alleges plot to kill party leader
The escalation has raised concerns among regional officials and analysts that violence could threaten the relative stability long enjoyed by Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region
Updated 32 min 20 sec ago
Reuters
BAGHDAD: A security agency controlled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region said on Wednesday that they had uncovered a plot to assassinate PUK leader Bafel Talabani, sharing a video that purported to show six guards saying they had received an order to kill him.
The video, broadcast by a PUK-affiliated security service in the Kurdistan region, showed the fighters describing plans to rent an apartment in a high-rise building near the PUK leader’s headquarters. Footage included snipers with silencers positioned near a window overlooking the party leader’s office.
The guards in the video say they received their orders from Lahur Talabani, a prominent Kurdish politician who is the cousin of Bafel Talabani and leader of the rival People’s Front party.
Lahur Talabani’s office was not immediately available for comment. A member of the People’s Front accused the PUK of using judicial and security institutions to suppress political rivals.
Lahur Talabani was arrested on Friday by PUK-controlled forces after they raided a hotel in Sulaymaniya late on Thursday and clashed for four hours with fighters loyal to him. Police and hospital sources said three PUK commandos and two of Lahur Talabani’s fighters were killed in the fighting.
Security officials said more than 160 of Lahur Talabani’s loyalists were detained alongside him.
A court in Sulaymaniya had issued an arrest warrant for Lahur Talabani on charges of attempted murder and destabilizing the city’s security, judicial officials said. Sources familiar with the situation said the arrest was part of a broader struggle for control over Sulaymaniya, a key stronghold of the PUK.
Lahur Talabani was previously joint president of the PUK until a power struggle led to his ousting in 2021.
“Deploying tanks and hundreds of armored vehicles to arrest a party leader is absolutely unrelated to legal or democratic methods,” said the People’s Front representative, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fear of arrest.
The confrontation marks the most serious internal armed conflict among Kurdish factions in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The escalation has raised concerns among regional officials and analysts that violence could threaten the relative stability long enjoyed by Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, which has largely remained insulated from the broader unrest affecting other parts of the country.
Why families uprooted by Sudan conflict are weighing safety abroad against perilous returns
Despite ongoing violence, hundreds of thousands are heading back, driven by necessity, family ties, and the dream of rebuilding
Families returning often find ruined homes, shattered infrastructure, and limited aid, yet cling to resilience and hope for renewal
Updated 21 min 10 sec ago
KHALED AL-KHAWALDEH
DUBAI: Osama Al-Tayeb had barely left his home country before the war. Born and raised in Sudan, the 29-year-old lived a life rooted in familiarity, unaware that one day he would be forced to flee entirely.
The conflict, which erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, has displaced millions, forcing people like Al-Tayeb onto long, uncertain journeys.
After months of instability in Khartoum, Al-Tayeb left the capital, first traveling to Al-Jazira state before undertaking a four-day journey along the Red Sea coast to the north, eventually crossing into Egypt via Aswan and settling in Cairo.
“The situation in Cairo was good, the people there were good, but at the end of the day, it was of course difficult to be away from your home,” Al-Tayeb told Arab News.
A Sudanese man shows his train ticket that reads "We are back, Thanks Egypt", as families displaced by conflict voluntarily return. (Reuters)
Despite Egypt’s relative stability and safety, he felt constrained, unable to move forward with his life. Two years on from his departure, he decided to return — driven by a resolve to rebuild his life and country.
“I had to stop waiting. I had no job, so I felt I had to travel back to Sudan as the situation was getting better there.”
Now living in Port Sudan, Al-Tayeb’s return is emblematic of both opportunity and uncertainty. Though he arrived with tempered expectations, he was surprised by what he found.
“I was expecting the situation in Sudan to be more difficult than it was. However, public services, healthcare, and even electricity — despite some cuts, which were normal even before the war — were there,” he said.
Robaika Peter holds her severely malnourished child at the pediatric ward of the Mother of Mercy Hospital in Gidel, South Kordofan, Sudan, on June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Observing improvements in government operations and available work, he expressed cautious optimism. He knew of many preparing to return to Khartoum and Al-Jazira, areas far more heavily damaged by the war.
Stories like Al-Tayeb’s are becoming increasingly common, despite the conflict still raging in many parts of the country.
The war has displaced nearly 4 million people across international borders and at least 12 million internally.
owever, the UN Development Programme estimates that roughly 1.5 million refugees have returned to Sudan, with another half a million expected over the next six months.
Their return is not without peril. Luca Renda, the UNDP resident representative in Sudan, told Arab News that while Port Sudan has been relatively stable, the situation remains fragile.
He said recent drone attacks on airport facilities in the city and a surge in cholera cases elsewhere underscored that volatility.
“It’s important to understand that there have been parts of Sudan that have been relatively stable since the beginning of the conflict, and definitely Port Sudan is one of those areas,” Renda said.
Displaced Sudanese queue to receive humanitarian aid upon their arrival in the capital Khartoum on July 28, 2025. (AFP)
For refugees dependent on aid abroad, returning to a place like Port Sudan — a relatively unscathed coastal city and the de facto capital of the SAF-led government — can feel comparatively better.
Yet in other parts of the country, specifically Khartoum and Al-Jazira, where most refugees come from, the damage is extensive if not catastrophic.
“For the great majority of Sudanese, they will find that their home has been occupied or ransacked or looted, but the extent of the damage may differ from simple looting to being completely burned down,” he said.
“In most cases, people will find that all their possessions — whatever they had of any value — have been taken. The level and extent of the repair for many families is enormous.”
Flood water inundates a main street in Sudan's capital Khartoum following heavy rain on August 27, 2025. (AFP)
Thuraya Saleh, a Sudanese writer and editor at Andariya, a magazine focused on East Africa, shared a similar story. Now based in Cairo, she spoke of her aunt, a university professor, who returned to Khartoum this year for work and was confronted with a much harsher reality.
“My aunt is a university professor, and her university demanded she go back because they’re reopening. She was told she either needs to go back or lose her job,” Saleh said.
“However, it’s fair to say that the reality there was shocking to her.”
Located in an area heavily affected by fighting, her aunt’s home had been looted and completely destroyed. Damage to local infrastructure meant basic services like water and electricity were severely limited.
A general view shows smoke rising after what military sources told Reuters is a Rapid Support Forces drone attack in Port Sudan targeting fuel storage facilities in Port Sudan on May 5, 2025. (REUTERS)
“She basically couldn’t live in her home. She had to live with another relative in a safer area that did not witness a lot of fighting,” Saleh said.
Those who returned to Khartoum reported receiving just nine hours of electricity per day, while disease outbreaks were worsened by Sudan’s rainy season. Saleh said cholera cases in her aunt’s area were surging.
For Saleh herself, a return to Sudan is not yet an option.
“For me, my mom is older. She has many chronic diseases. She requires some sort of stability in life, and we need to be able to have a functioning hospital in case she needs urgent care,” she said.
“We keep saying, however, that maybe if things got more stable, then we could consider returning.”
Vendors fill tanks on donkey carts with drinking water for sale during a shortage in Khartoum, Sudan, on Aug. 26, 2025. (AP)
Saleh considers herself fortunate, with the financial means to remain abroad. Many others do not have that option. Pressure to leave Egypt is growing as the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is forced to reduce financial support following cuts by USAID and other donors.
Financial concerns are not the only motive for returning.
“There are people who are going back for sentimental reasons, just because they want to live in their home,” Saleh said. “A couple of days ago, a friend told me that his aunt, who is very old, just went back because she wanted to die and be buried there.
“For others, it’s simply because they can’t afford living in Cairo any longer.”
Renda of UNDP said refugees in Egypt, the single biggest host of Sudanese refugees, are among the luckier ones, benefiting from better aid and support.
Cholera infected patients receive treatment in the cholera isolation center at the refugee camps of western Sudan, in Tawila city in Darfur, on August 14, 2025. (AFP)
By contrast, at least a million Sudanese in Chad face far more precarious conditions. He stressed that before any mass return could occur, the country needed to resolve the conflict.
“Sudan needs a comprehensive solution,” he said. “We need to start with a ceasefire, access people in need, and then hopefully initiate some kind of transitional process that can lead to a peaceful conclusion.”
Renda highlighted some progress by authorities, aid agencies, and the UN, such as mine clearance, restoration of health facilities, containment of cholera outbreaks, and infrastructure repairs.
Cholera infected patients receive treatment in the cholera isolation centre at the refugee camps of western Sudan, in Tawila city in Darfur, on August 14, 2025.
However, he acknowledged that UNDP had received just over $1 billion of its requested $4.2 billion, hampering its humanitarian response. He believes the conflict is still far from resolved.
“We can see maybe some partial recovery while the situation remains catastrophic in some areas,” he said. “In other parts of Sudan, particularly in the east and increasingly around Khartoum, there is gradual, slow recovery.”
Renda warned that Sudan is at risk of becoming an invisible crisis, lacking both the political engagement and financial support necessary to resolve the conflict.
Nevertheless, for young Sudanese like Al-Tayeb, the chance to rebuild his life — and his country — outweighs the uncertainties.
“For Sudanese and non-Sudanese, instead of sitting in suffering, why not come here and work here and rebuild your country?”
All UN Security Council members, except US, say famine in Gaza is ‘man-made crisis’
14 council members called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and a substantive surge of aid throughout Gaza
Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea questioned the credibility and integrity of the IPC report, saying it ‘doesn’t pass the test on either’
Updated 38 min 45 sec ago
Reuters
UNITED NATIONS: All United Nations Security Council members, except the United States, on Wednesday said the famine in Gaza was a “manmade crisis” and warned that the use of starvation as a weapon of war is banned under international humanitarian law.
In a joint statement, the 14 council members called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, a substantive surge of aid throughout Gaza, and for Israel to immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on aid delivery.
“Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately,” they said. “Time is of the essence. The humanitarian emergency must be addressed without delay and Israel must reverse course.”
Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine, and it will likely spread, a global hunger monitor determined on Friday. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system said 514,000 people — nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza — are experiencing famine and that is due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
Israel asked the global hunger monitor on Wednesday to retract the assessment. Israel dismissed the findings as false and biased, saying the IPC had based its survey on partial data largely provided by Hamas, which did not take into account a recent influx of food.
At a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza on Wednesday, acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea questioned the credibility and integrity of the IPC report, saying it “doesn’t pass the test on either.”
“We all recognize that hunger is a real issue in Gaza and that there are significant humanitarian needs which must be met. Addressing those needs is a priority for the United States,” she told the 15-member council.
Muslim jurists attend meeting in Malaysia organized by Islamic Fiqh Council
The forum, titled “Teaching Islamic Fiqh and Cultivating the Faqih: Guiding Principles and Frameworks,” was organized by the Islamic Fiqh Council of the MWL
Updated 27 August 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: The Secretary-General of the Muslim World League Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa inaugurated the First Forum for Fiqh Scholars in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Fiqh is an Arabic term that refers to Islamic jurisprudence and encompasses the understanding and interpretation of Islamic law based on the Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.
The forum, titled “Teaching Islamic Fiqh and Cultivating the Faqih: Guiding Principles and Frameworks,” was organized by the Islamic Fiqh Council of the MWL under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim.
Senior Saudi and Malaysian scholars, as well as jurists from the Islamic world and minority countries, also participated in the forum’s sessions.
In a speech delivered on behalf of the Kingdom’s Grand Mufti, the Secretary-General of the Council of Senior Scholars Sheikh Fahad bin Saad Al-Majid expressed hope that the forum would examine the curricula for teaching jurisprudence in universities across the Islamic world, and their strength and impact in producing jurists capable of research, deliberation, and the study of emerging issues and problems.
Meanwhile, Al-Issa said that Islamic jurisprudence has been and remains the legal reference for knowledge of practical rulings derived from detailed evidence, enlightening Muslims about their religion in accordance with the guidance of Islamic law.
