Syria: Reports of civilian deaths in US-led strikes

At least 28 civilians have reportedly been killed and several wounded in US-led air strikes on the suburbs of the northern Syrian city of Manbij, according to a monitoring group.

The reports on Friday come a day after the US-led coalition announced it had enough evidence of civilian casualties from its attacks on the same area last week to launch a formal investigation.

Syria: Assad offers pardon to surrendering Aleppo rebels

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'Death corridors'

US to investigate coalition strikes on Syrian civilians

A correspondent for the AFP news agency in east Aleppo said streets were empty with residents holed up indoors and shops shuttered.
Ahmad Ramadan, from the opposition Syrian National Coalition, accused Russia and the Syrian regime of forcing civilians to flee through continued bombing raids.
"Aleppo residents are calling the corridors that Russia is talking about 'death corridors'," he told AFP.
The SOHR also said that Syrian government air strikes killed at least eight civilians in two eastern areas of Aleppo, warning the death toll could rise as more were trapped under the rubble.
UN: Leave Aleppo corridors to us

Thursday night's air strikes targeted the town of al-Ghandour, controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which documents daily human rights abuses in Syria.

The SOHR said the civilian death toll included seven children. Thirteen more people died in the same attack, but their identity remained unclear, the group added.

Al-Ghandour lies 23km northwest of Manbij in the Aleppo governorate, a strategic waypoint between Turkey and the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital for ISIL, also known as ISIS.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, said late on Thursday it had "initiated an assessment following internal operational reporting that a strike today near Manbij, Syria may have resulted in civilian casualties," confirming that there had been coalition air strikes there in the past 24 hours.

Last week, a separate coalition attack targeting the Tokhar area of Manbij killed at least 56 Syrian civilians, according to SOHR and local activists, in one of the highest death tolls from coalition air strikes yet.

READ MORE: Syria war- Dozens killed in 'US-led strikes' on Manbij

After examining "internal and external information" following the strikes, the coalition determined that there was sufficient credible evidence of civilian deaths to open a formal inquiry, spokesman Colonel Chris Garver said on Wednesday.

"The US coalition knows that it is very important for it to be seen as trying to respond to these allegations," Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, DC, said.

"This is the third such investigation in the past 11 days."

The reports of further civilian deaths from coalition air strikes emerged amid setbacks to attempts by the US and Russia to cooperate militarily in the fight against ISIL.

Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, supported by Russia, made a strategic advance in recent days by shutting the last remaining supply route into the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo.

Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, also announced a joint plan on Thursday to open up three passages to give rebels willing to surrender, and the more than 300,000 civilians in Aleppo, a way out.

Responding to the plan, however, the US said on Friday that Syria's peace process could be derailed if Russia's motives surrounding humanitarian corridors were not genuine. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the announcement "has the risk, if it is ruse, of completely breaking apart the level of cooperation", but also added it could "open up some possibilities" if an agreement on the way forward was reached in US-Russia talks about Syria in the Swiss city of Geneva on Friday.  

According to SOHR, only a dozen of Aleppo residents trickled out through one of the passages on Friday, while others wanting to flee were turned back by opposition fighters.

Also responsing to Russia's plan, UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura urged Moscow to let the UN take charge of any humanitarian corridors created in the divided city.

"Our suggestion is to Russia to actually leave the corridors being established at their initiative to us," de Mistura told reporters, at a press conference in Geneva on Friday.

"The UN and humanitarian partners know what to do."

De Mistura also echoed calls by UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien for a 48-hour truce to allow life-saving supplies into the city's rebel-held east, which has been surrounded by pro-government forces since July 17.

"How can you expect people to want to walk through a corridor, thousands of them, while there is shelling, bombing fighting," the UN envoy said.

Reporting from Gaziantep, on the Turkish side of the Syria-Turkey border, Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom said de Mistura's comments "echoed what we've heard from opposition activists up until this point.

"There are far more concerns at this hour than there are any type of guarantees."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Hell Gate " Rafah Crossing "

                                                       Photo:Zouheir alNajjar

Citizens of Gaza strip suffer from the siege imposed over them by the Egyptian and Israeli authorities years ago.2016 marks ten years of Israeli siege.
 Ali,42 years old man from Gaza ,left to Europe."I reached Belgium in 2014 after a long journey of death through the sea,escaping from the illegal blockade of Gaza",said Ali.
Ali is a father for six children waiting a long their mother to cross from Rafah border towards Egypt to fly to their father in Belgium to be united again.
"Its unbelievable ,I booked my family flight tickets as they were supposed to cross the second day to Egypt,but the Egyptian authorities broke their agreement with the authorities in Gaza and didn't allow any bus to cross the following day,where I lost the tickets money too", said Ali.
 Its noteworthy that the Egyptian authorities was supposed to open the Rafah border on both sides for 2 days on 11 and 12 May.On the first day ,the Egyptian authorities allowed 7 buses to cross after a continues humiliation for the Palestinian side as usual.
I was in touch with Ali before the border opening announcement. He gave me a call and was happy that his is coming with his children." I booked their flight tickets as they are going to cross the second day,their names on the list,I am happy that will meet and reunite again",said Ali while he was full of happiness and did not realize that this happiness will turn to sadness.
"Help me ! the Egyptian authorities didnt allow any bus in till now",asked Ali.The Egyptian authorities kept the crossing gate closed till late hours the second day ,claiming that there was a problem with the computers system while in fact there was a dispute between the Palestinian and Egyptian parts.The Egyptian part was keen to let the coordination bus to pass first and the other buses afterwards.
The coordination bus is a bus contains 100 passengers where they pay at least 3 thousand USD to some certain people who are in touch with the Egyptian authorities (intelligence) and crossing officials  ,This money distributed  afterwards among them,where the crossing officials get each opening more than 600 thousand USD from those poor passengers in order to cross.

The Israeli occupation closed all crossings into the territory, keeping only the Erez Crossing open for occasional pedestrian traffic and Kerem Shalom for a few classified and highly-regulated goods. Erez has been used a trap for people trying to cross.

Egypt has been keeping the Rafah Crossing closed for most of the time. In 2015, the crossing was only open for 21 days; just 10,000 Palestinians were allowed through, among them pilgrims, patients and students.Since the beginning of 2016,its only 2 days on last 11 and 12 May where the crossing opened.Its noteworthy that there are more than 100 thousand persons including patients,students and families waiting for joining their families 

Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza has since been reporting chronic shortages of medicines and hospital disposables. “Shelves are empty due to the restrictions imposed by the Israelis on people and goods going in and out of the coastal enclave,” MOH spokesman says.

" I paid thousands of Dollars to let my family cross from Gaza to Egypt through the coordination bus in the next opening of the crossing",said Abo Ahmed,a Palestinian refugee living in Belgium waiting for his to reunite again.

Abo Ahmed,tried to bring his family through the normal procedures and list but in vain,as there thousands of people registered their names to cross from Rafah crossing but its a long list ,but the only way now is to pay thousands for Dollars through the brokers to register his family in the coordination bus.

Attempt to break the siege

The plight of the Palestinians in Gaza has aroused widespread popular support across the world and many attempts have been made to break the siege by sea.

Although a few small boats made the trip in the first few years, later and more ambitious attempts were stopped in international waters by the Israeli navy, often violently.

In May, 2010, for example, the Israeli commandos intercepted the Freedom Flotilla. Nine Turkish citizens were killed in the assault and a number of others were wounded; one died in 2014 as a direct result of his wounds. The ships were towed into and Israeli port and everyone on board was arrested.

During the siege, the Israeli occupation has launched four major military offensives against the people of Gaza, in 2006, 2008/9, 2012 and 2014; the latter was the most destructive. It lasted for 51 days and whole areas of Gaza were flattened by Israeli bombs; tens of thousands of people were displaced.

The strict siege and wars have shattered the Palestinian economy in Gaza, economic commentator Maher al-Tabaa told Quds Press. “The unemployment rate in Gaza stands at 42 per cent, with the blockade deepening the economic crisis,” he explained.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the unemployment rate in Gaza is the highest in the world and there are more than 200,000 unemployed people in Gaza.

Many international organisations have issued similar warnings due to the effects of the oppressive Israeli measures, which are regarded as collective punishment and are illegal in international law.

Thousands of Palestinians waiting for the next opening of the crossing with hope to join families abroad,students to get back to their universities.patients to get their cure in the hospitals.They are full of hope that the crossing will open by the holy month of Ramadan.

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Some of the information in the article from Days of Palestine

Yemen's children: Between psychological trauma and physical starvation

As she has every night for many weeks past, six-year-old Fatima al-Khadi wakes up in the middle of the night calling for her parents.

And as in every one of those nights, the ever-present backdrop to her cries are sounds of explosions and the rumbles of firing guns, their shrieks engulfing Yemen's capital and Fatima's home.

The psychological effects of war on Fatima have been severe, her father tells The New Arab.

"We live by the city's international airport, which has come under severe and continuous bombardment since the Saudi-led coalition started targeting it," he said.

With airstrikes now a consistent feature of life both day and night in the capital, nightmares now puncture every one of Fatima's attempts to sleep at night.

Accounts of the physical and psychological trauma of children are flooding out of Yemen's regions as the now one-year-old war shows no real signs of abating.

Yemeni families find themselves unable to hide their children away from the violence that has taken over the country since the Saudi-led coalition began heavy aerial bombardments of Yemen in an attempt to drive away Houthi rebels from the capital city.

The impoverished nation of Yemen, a country of 26 million, which imports 90 percent of its food, had one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world before the war.

Meanwhile, in another Yemeni home, the skeletal body of a clearly malnourished five-month-old baby lay completely still.

Udai Faisal's limbs are as thin and delicate as twigs, his cheeks sunken in and his eyes dry.

At least six million children in Yemen are in danger [Getty]

"He didn't cry and there were no tears," his mother said, the baby just "turned stiff."

"I screamed and fainted." Intissar Hezzam said about the final momemts of her childs life.

The impoverished nation of Yemen, a country of 26 million, which imports 90 percent of its food, had one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world before the war.

But in the past year cases of malnutrition and starvation have leaped.

Ten of the country's 22 provinces are classified as one step away from famine.

The conflict is deepening poverty and deprivation, keeping children locked in a vicious cycle of violence, loss and uncertainty. - UNICEF

Where before the war around 690,000 children under five suffered moderate malnutrition, now the number is 1.3 million.

Even more alarming are the rates of severe acute malnutrition among children - the worst cases where the body starts to waste away - doubling from around 160,000 a year ago to 320,000 now, according to UNICEF estimates.

"The scale of suffering in the country is staggering," UNICEF said in its recent report released on Tuesday.

The violence "will have an impact for generations to come" it adds.

The report also found that if children survive the bombs and bullets, the impact of the violence remains detrimental.

"The conflict is deepening poverty and deprivation, keeping children locked in a vicious cycle of violence, loss and uncertainty," the UNICEF found.

With 50 percent of Yemen's population under 18-years of age, at least six million children are in danger.

"Living in violent environments, children experience what no child should witness. The destruction of their homes or the death of their parents, siblings or friends," UNICEF warned.

The fighting in Yemen has killed more than 900 children and wounded over 1,300, 61 percent of them in airstrikes, according to UNICEF.

Coalition airstrikes appear to be "responsible for twice as many casualties as all other forces put together." - Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein

Eight-year-old Asma al-Safyani used to play outside everyday with her friends from the neighbourhood. But since the start of the war, her mother does not let her leave the house.

"Two of the children she played with were killed in an airstrike," Asma's mother told The New Arab. "She has been very sad and she hardly smiles, but I just cannot take the risk."

Coalition airstrikes appear to be "responsible for twice as many casualties as all other forces put together," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, UN's high commissioner for human rights said.

The Saudi-led coalition argues that Houthi rebels often use civilians and civilian locations as shields for their fighters.

It also disputes the UN figures on how many deaths are caused by strikes, saying they are based on statistics from the Houthis.

Yet, many of Yemen's children will carry these emotional burdens into adulthood - if they live to make it that far.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Syrian opposition rejects Assad's call for unity government

New Alarab

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday reiterated his call for a national unity government, amid rejection by the opposition and the White House saying his inclusion would make any such proposal a "non-starter".

In an interview published Wednesday, Assad told Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency it would be "logical for there to be independent forces, opposition forces and forces loyal to the government represented" in the new authorities.

But he pushed back against opposition demands that it should be put in place without his participation, insisting that the transitional body they are calling for is "illogical and unconstitutional".

"Neither in the Syrian constitution nor in the constitution of any other country in the world is there anything that could be called a transitional body of power," Assad said.

"It is the national unity government that will prepare a new constitution," Assad said.

Talks led by the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura paused last week with the warring sides deadlocked over the fate of Assad, whom the opposition insists must leave power before a transitional government is agreed.

Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee flatly rejected the demand from Assad for any transitional government to include his regime.

"International resolutions speak of... the formation of a transitional body with full powers, including presidential powers," HNC senior member Asaad al-Zoabi said, adding "Assad should not remain for even one hour after the formation" of this body.

The form of the executive body that would lead Syria until its elections the UN says should be held in 18 months is the main bone of contention between the two sides.

UN Security Council Resolution 2254 vaguely suggests the establishment of a body to head the political transition.

For the regime, this amounts to a government reshuffle in which the opposition is included, but for the opposition it would be a tranitional body with presidential powers in which Assad has no role.

Assad has been buoyed after his forces recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State (IS) militants over the weekend, in an advanced backed by Russian air strikes and special forces on the ground.

A ceasefire between Damascus and non-jihadist opposition forces has broadly held since February 27, prompting a glimmer of hope that a political solution might be on the horizon in the conflict that has claimed over 270,000 lives.

Agencies contributed to this report

Turkey detains 16 suspected Nusra Front militants

Turkey on Wednesday detained 16 members of al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front in a major police operation in the east of the country, reports said.

The suspects were detained in raids on 20 addresses in the eastern region of Adiyaman north of the Syrian border, the state-run Anadolunews agency reported.

It said the raids targeted people believed to be connected to fighting in Syria, without giving further details. Their nationalities were not disclosed.

The police failed to find four more suspects at their homes. At least two of those detained at previously been to Syria, it said.

The al-Nusra Front shares some of the aims of the Islamic State (IS) militant group but has also on occasion fought against it.

This was one of the first times there has been a report of a major operation against suspected members of the group in Turkey.

Turkey has been accused in the past by its Western allies of not doing enough in the fight against IS and al-Nusra, although it has noticeably tightened border security in recent months and detained dozens of IS suspects.

Ankara has also been charged by some commentors on occasion of even collaborating with al-Nusra Front as a useful ally in its drive to oust President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Turkey bitterly rejects the claims, saying it categorises the al-Nusra Front - like IS - as a terror outfit.

Abadi to present new cabinet lineup by Thursday deadline

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he would present his new cabinet lineup to the parliament on Thursday, meeting a deadline set by the legislature earlier in the week.

"Parliament must make up its mind and proceed with reforms including the cabinet reshuffle which it and citizens have been calling for," he said in a statement posted on his website on Wednesday.

It was unclear whether the parliament would approve the new cabinet lineup.

On Tuesday, Abadi appealed to lawmakers for guidance on whether to appoint party politicians or independent technocrats to the cabinet, but parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri said on Wednesday it was for Abadi to decide.

Influential Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who started a sit-in near parliament on Sunday and leads a bloc with three ministers in the current government, is pushing Abadi to appoint nominees unaffiliated with political parties.

A separate sit-in staged by his supporters has locked down central Baghdad for most of the past week.

On Sunday, Sadr entered Baghdad's Green Zone to continue the sit-in as his 24-hour deadline to the government came to an end.

"Today we are at the entrance of the Green Zone and tomorrow we will be within it," the cleric warned, as he entered the gates.

More than six weeks ago, Abadi announced his intention to replace current ministers with independent technocrats, but his announcement was faced with resistance from rivals who fear it could weaken the political patronage networks that have sustained their wealth and influence for more than a decade.

Failing to deliver on long-promised anti-corruption measures could weaken Abadi's government just as Iraqi forces are gearing up to try and recapture the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State militants.

EgyptAir hostages home safe as Russia delays resuming flights

The new Arab

The drama of Tuesday's EgyptAir hijacking has continued with Egyptian hostages returning back to Egypt after their ordeal and with the "unstable" hijacker due in a Cypriot court.

Meanwhile, security at Egypt's airports has received further scrutiny from Russian officials, who have announced a delay of resumption of flights to Egypt suspended since a Russian jetliner was blown up over Sinai in October.

The hijacking saga came to a peaceful end on Tuesday afternoon, after an Egyptian hijacker diverted a plane, originally travelling from Alexandria to Cairo, to Cyprus demanding to see his ex-wife, sparking a dramatic six-hour standoff.

He had claimed to have explosives strapped to his waist but none were discovered. He then gave himself up at Larnaca airport and was arrested.

On Tuesday evening, all the Egyptian hostages and air cabin crewreturned safely to Egypt, where they were greeted at Cairo airport by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.

"There was panic at the beginning, but the crew told us to be quiet. They did a good job to keep us all quiet so the hijacker wouldn't do anything rash," passenger Farah al-Dabani told the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV in a telephone interview.

	The hijacker gave the victory sign to journalists [Getty]

She added that the hijacker was seated in the back of the aircraft and that it was the crew who told passengers that the plane was being hijacked.

Meanwhile, the hijacker was remanded into police custody for eight days during his first court appearance on Wednesday.

Police told the court in Larnaca that 58-year-old Egyptian Seif al-Din Mostafa faces possible charges of hijacking, kidnapping people with the aim of taking them to an unknown destination, reckless and threatening behaviour and offences that breach the anti-terror law.

As Mostafa left in a police car, he gave the victory sign to journalists attending the hearing at the courthouse, which is less than a kilometre away from Larnaca airport where the hijacking unfolded.

Cyprus authorities have described Mostafa as "psychologically unstable" and said the case was not "terrorism-related".

The incident has brought back to the fore questions of security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft was blown up over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula

Egypt's airport security questioned

The incident has brought back to the fore questions of security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft was blown up over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Islamic state group militants have claimed they smuggled a bomb on board.

Russian authorities have ruled out an early resumption of flights to Egyptian tourist destinations in light of the hijacking, after links were cut following the downing of the plane.

The Kremlin's spokesperson Dimitry Peskov said that a full investigation into the events must be made before determining whether to restore or hold-off flights.

"This is a very sensitive and serious case. Guaranteeing the safety of Russians is our priority," Peskov added.

Oleg Safonov, head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation, said the hijacking must be taken into account when determining whether to restore flights.

Russian parliamentarian Franz Klintsevich echoed Russian concerns, saying talks must be put on hold in light of the hijacking, as Egyptians are not ready to ensure the security of Russian tourists.

Egyptian tourism authorities, however, have denied "media reports" that Moscow was backing out of resuming flights as a result of the incident.