أرشيف الوسم : syria

The United States on Thursday expressed its concern that undeclared chemical weapons in Syria could be seized by extremist group Islamic State (IS). The concerns were raised by US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, as a joint UN and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons mission is about to end its drive to get rid of Syria’s chemical …

The head of the UN agency mandated to defend press freedom today expressed shock at the killing of American journalist Steven Sotloff and called for the immediate release of all civilian hostages held by militant groups in Syria. “I condemn deeply the execution of Steven Sotloff,” said UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova in a statement to the press in which she also expressed …

Militants from the Islamic State (IS) on Tuesday released a video of a masked militant beheading an American journalist and threatened to kill a British national they have captive. The footage, found on private terrorism monitor SITE, shows 31-year-old freelance journalist Steven Sotloff clothed in orange and kneeling on his knees against the desert backdrop. Miami-born Sotloff had written for …

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday announced tough measures against Britons intending to fight in Syria and Iraq, and against battle-hardened extremists who might return to the UK. The British premier said that his government will draw up plans to ban suspected British national extremists returning to the UK, while the police will get additional powers to temporarily seize …

The United Nations on Friday said that there are now over three million Syrian refugees due to the civil war in Syria, as US President Barack Obama revealed that the US government has no strategy in place to tackle the advancing extremists. António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in Geneva that Syria has become the “biggest …

Two natives of Calgary have joined extremist group Islamic State (IS), as global worry over foreign fighters in the Middle East continues to grow. The two brothers, Collin and Gregory Gordon, had converted to Islam recently and became known to Muslims in Calgary as Khalid and Abdul Malik. Sometime between 2011 and 2012, they lived in an apartment in a …

Extremists from the Islamic State have executed over 160 Syrian soldiers fleeing from them, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday. The assault is the latest of several human rights abuses in the country which have alarmed Western powers, who are afraid of a global escalation of terror. The killings come as US President Barack Obama is reportedly …

A United Nations probe on Wednesday said that lashings, amputations, mock crucifixion and public executions are all regularly performed in extremist-controlled parts of Syria, and accused the Syrian government of using chemical agents on civilians repeatedly. “Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays” in Syrian territory controlled by extremist group Islamic State (IS), the independent Commission …

Over 191,000 people have been killed in Syria, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Friday before lashing out at “international paralysis” on the conflict in Syria. Pillay, who will end her six-year-stint as the UN’s humanitarian chief later this month, has called out global leaders for their lethargy on several conflicts worldwide. After admonishing the UN …

The Australian immigration department has been desperately trying to repatriate traumatized Syrians seeking asylum in Australia detained in offshore detention centers, British daily the Guardian reported on Tuesday. Several emails it obtained under Australia’s freedom of information laws suggested that the Syrians detained had told immigration officials that they will be killed if they go back to Syria, but the …