Category: News

WASHINGTON — American citizen Travis Timmerman has been flown out of Syria, where he was imprisoned before being released by rebels this week, U.S. officials said on Friday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Timmerman had been transferred to Jordan and was currently with State Department officials.

A second official said that Timmerman had been handed to U.S. troops at Tanf garrison, which is near the intersection of the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan, and was flown out from there.

Timmerman went missing in June, according to his parents. He was freed from prison earlier in the week after Syrian rebel groups ousted the country’s longtime President Bashar al-Assad.

The White House on Thursday said that the United States had no prior indication that the American was in Syria.

Assad fled to Russia after a 13-year civil war and more than five decades of his family’s autocratic rule, during which Syria ran one of the most oppressive police states in the Middle East.

Following his ouster, Syrians flocked to the infamous prisons where the Assad regime is estimated to have held tens of thousands of detainees.

Austin Tice, another U.S. citizen who was abducted in Syria over a decade ago, has still not been found.

Tice, a former U.S. Marine and freelance journalist, was 31 when he was kidnapped in August 2012 while reporting in Damascus.

REUTERS

KHARTOUM — In central Sudan, at least 42 civilians were killed in a landmine explosion in Sinnar State on Friday and two attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Gezira State over the past two days, local volunteer groups reported Friday.

The Al-Suki Emergency Room, a volunteer group in Al-Suki city in Sennar State, said in a statement that “13 people from the Al-Suki area were killed and many others injured when a landmine exploded in their pickup truck in the Jebel Moya area.”

The victims were on a trip to search for cars and equipment that had been stolen from Al-Suki to Jebel Moya, it added.

On Oct. 5, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said it had retaken the strategic Jebel Moya area in Sinnar, a crossroads linking Gezira, White Nile, and Sinnar states. The recapture of Jebel Moya enabled the SAF to besiege the RSF fighters in Sinnar and cut off their supply lines.

Meanwhile, 29 civilians were killed on Wednesday and Thursday in RSF attacks on several villages in Gezira State, volunteer groups said.

“The RSF militia attacked the village of Wad Hussein Al-Halaween in Al-Housh area south of Gezira State yesterday (Thursday),” the Gezira Conference, a local non-governmental group monitoring violations in central Sudan, said in a statement.

“The militia bombarded the village before storming it and killing five citizens, including two who were run over by a vehicle while they were tied up,” the group said.

The Gezira Conference, as well as another local volunteer group Nidaa Al-Wasat Platform, both reported that armed RSF forces riding motorcycles and combat vehicles also attacked several villages in the Al-Huda Administration of Al-Managil locality in Gezira on Wednesday, killing 24 civilians and injuring about 30 others.

The RSF has not commented on these incidents.

Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023.

The deadly conflict has resulted in more than 28,700 deaths and displaced over 14 million people, either inside or outside Sudan, according to latest estimates by international organizations.

XINHUA

DAMASCUS — Israeli fighter jets carried out fresh airstrikes late on Friday, targeting at least six military positions in the countryside of Damascus and Sweida provinces in southern Syria, according to a war monitor.

Loud explosions rocked southern Sweida as Israeli jets hovered overhead. The strikes hit areas around Tel al-Qalib and near the village of Al-Kafr, where Syrian military barracks are positioned along the Sweida road, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Columns of smoke were seen rising from the barracks following the bombings, the Britain-based watchdog group added.

Meanwhile, in rural Damascus, Israeli missiles reportedly struck locations associated with Syria’s electronic warfare operations, including Branch 295 and the 1st Regiment under the Electronic Warfare Directorate, as well as fuel depots near the town of Najha, said the observatory.

In addition, residents in the southern Daraa province reported Israeli warplanes flying over the Yarmouk Basin in the western countryside, heading east.

These attacks mark the latest in a series of Israeli air raids that have targeted military sites belonging to the dissolved Syrian army following a political upheaval in Syria, during which militant groups overthrew former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government on Dec. 8.

XINHUA

ROME — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to humanitarian aid in Gaza and the two-state solution during her meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas here Friday.

According to a statement released by Meloni’s government, during their discussions, Meloni underscored Italy’s strong support for mediators working toward ending hostilities in Gaza and securing the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Meloni reiterated Italy’s dedication to a durable political solution based on a two-state framework, “Israel and Palestine can co-exist side by side in peace, with security for both,” said the statement.

She also emphasized Italy’s readiness to play a leading role in stabilizing and rebuilding Gaza while supporting the reform and strengthening of Palestinian institutions.

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JERUSALEM — Undercover forces from the Israel Border Police and the Israel Defense Forces killed a Palestinian in the southern West Bank, the Israel Police said Friday in a statement.

The man killed was wanted for involvement in “terrorist” activities, according to the statement.

He was shot dead after the forces perceived a threat during an operation directed by the Israel Security Agency to apprehend wanted Palestinians in the town of Beit Awa, near the city of Hebron, it said.

Another suspect was arrested during the operation and taken in for investigation, it added.

XINHUA

JUBA — The South Sudanese government has ramped up efforts to prevent the spread of cholera following the deaths of at least 60 people since the outbreak in late October, a government official said on Friday.

Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services Michael Makuei Lueth said that 60 deaths have been reported so far, along with 6,000 cases recorded nationwide.

Makuei told journalists in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that efforts are underway to procure more vaccines after the first batch, sufficient to treat 150,000 people, was dispatched to northern Renk County in Upper Nile State.

The first cholera case was reported on Oct. 28 at the Renk transit center for refugees and returnees fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan.

Makuei said that most of the cholera cases have been reported among refugees in Renk County, Rubkona County in Unity State, and Aweil town in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State, as well as recently in Juba.

Minister of Health Yolanda Awel Deng recently announced that an additional one million vaccine doses are needed to target vulnerable populations across the country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), refugees, returnees and residents are the most affected by the outbreak, particularly children under the age of five and the elderly.

The WHO said that contributing factors include limited access to clean water, poor sanitation, open defecation, and overcrowding in transit centers and camps.

South Sudan requires 32 million U.S. dollars to sustain the first three months of the emergency response to the cholera outbreak, the WHO reported. The funds will be used to strengthen current operations, deploy response teams to newly identified hotspots, maintain essential health services, and procure and distribute additional emergency supplies.

XINHUA

NEW DELHI — At least seven people, including a toddler, were killed after a fire broke out at a private hospital in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, police said Friday.

The fire broke out Thursday night in the hospital in Trichy Road in Dindigul district, about 430 km west of Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu.

“Last night a fire broke out in the reception area of City Hospital, an orthopaedic care hospital and immediately engulfed the whole building. In the blaze, seven people, including a child, were killed due to suffocation,” a police officer said. “The fire possibly triggered by a short circuit spread to all four floors.”

Police said six people who were stuck inside a lift were rescued.

“They have suffered suffocation but were taken to hospital where they became stable after the treatment,” the officer said.

It took several hours for firefighters to douse the flame and bring it under control.

Chances of fire in Indian buildings are usually high as people often ignore safety standards.

XINHUA

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s Meteorological Services Department (MSD) on Friday announced that the country is on high alert for the potential impacts of Tropical Cyclone Chido, which is currently affecting the northeastern parts of Madagascar and is expected to bring rainfall to some areas of Zimbabwe starting Sunday.

Despite posing a significant threat to areas along its path, the cyclone is projected to have a reduced impact upon reaching southern Africa, including Zimbabwe, MSD Head of Forecasting James Ngoma said during a press conference in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

“The spin speed will decrease from 200 km/h to 50 km/h. The trajectory will also change once it reaches the Comoros. It could shift south, north or west,” he said.

Ngoma noted that rainfall is expected to begin Sunday in the provinces of Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Masvingo, Midlands and Harare, with widespread rainfall across the country anticipated by Monday.

As a precautionary measure, the Department of Civil Protection is advising residents in low-lying areas to prepare for potential evacuations if necessary.

In 2019, Tropical Cyclone Idai caused widespread destruction in Zimbabwe, with floods sweeping away scores of people and severely damaging infrastructure.

XINHUA

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani military said on Friday evening that 43 terrorists have been killed in separate military operations in different parts of the country.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military, said that the terrorists were killed by security forces in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and southwest Balochistan province.

Since Dec. 9, a total of 18 terrorists have been killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 25 terrorists eliminated in Balochistan, it said.

XINHUA