Region

BEIRUT — Syrian regime forces have reached the outskirts of a key city on the edge of the country's last rebel-held stronghold, a monitor and a pro-government newspaper said on Sunday.

The mainly deserted city of Maaret Al Numan is a strategic prize lying on the M5 linking Damascus to Syria's second city Aleppo, a main highway coveted by the regime as it seeks to regain control of the entire country.

It is one of the largest urban centres in the beleaguered northwestern province of Idlib, the last stronghold of anti-regime forces and home to some 3 million people — half of them displaced by violence in other areas.

The regime and its Russian ally have escalated their bombardment against the extremist-dominated region since December, carrying out hundreds of air strikes in southern Idlib and the west of neighbouring Aleppo province.

Over the past 24 hours, government ground forces have seized seven villages on the outskirts of Maaret Al Numan, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

They have now reached “the edges of the city and are... within gunfire range of part of the highway”, the Britain-based war monitor added.

Pro-regime newspaper Al Watan reported that loyalist forces were “just around the corner” from the city, whose “doors are wide open”.

Idlib and nearby areas of Hama, Aleppo and Latakiya provinces are dominated by the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) extremist group, led by members of the country’s former Al Qaeda franchise.

The regime of President Bashar Assad has repeatedly vowed to reassert control over the whole of Syria, despite several ceasefire agreements. 

An AFP correspondent says Maaret Al Numan has become a ghost town.

Assad’s forces, which are also battling HTS extremists in western Aleppo province, are backed on both fronts by Syrian and Russian air strikes.

Since December 1, some 358,000 Syrians have been displaced from their homes in Idlib, the vast majority of them women and children, according to the United Nations.

The UN says an additional 38,000 people fled violence in western Aleppo between 15 and 19 January.

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday condemned the escalation in the two provinces, warning of its impact on civilians.

“Every day thousands are forced to flee, going on a perilous journey with no shelter, little food and limited healthcare,” it said on Twitter.

“All they want is to keep themselves and their children alive.”

A ceasefire announced by Moscow earlier this month was supposed to protect Idlib from further attacks, but the truce never took hold.

Aid agencies and relief groups have warned that further violence could fuel what may potentially become the largest wave of displacement seen during Syria’s nine-year-old civil war.

Syrian government forces now control around 70 per cent of the country and Assad has repeatedly vowed to retake Idlib.

ELAZIG, Turkey — Rescuers desperately attempted on Sunday to find survivors in eastern Turkey in the rubble of collapsed buildings after a powerful earthquake claimed at least 38 lives.

Nearly 4,000 rescue workers combed through debris in freezing temperatures, helped by mechanical diggers, as hope was fading as the 48th hour approached.

Three bodies were found in the city centre, nearly 40 hours after the 6.8-magnitude quake struck Friday evening.

Hours later, two more bodies were found bringing the death toll to 38 in Elazig province and nearby Malatya, state broadcaster TRT reported.

Rescuers carefully cleared the remains of the collapsed four-storey building where the bodies were found, using buckets to remove broken material as a sniffer dog was brought to the scene.

Workers were searching for two people still under the rubble, Hurriyet daily said.

Residents were still waiting to find out what had happened to their relatives. A group of women burst into tears on learning that the body of a relative had been found, while one woman fainted, an AFP photographer said.

But rescue workers have so far saved 45 people, the authorities say.

The government's disaster and emergency management agency (AFAD) said 1,607 were injured, 13 of them in intensive care.

The story of Syrian university student Mahmud Al Osman, who used only his bare hands to rescue a man and woman from underneath rubble, went viral.

Osman told state news agency Anadolu he heard voices after the quake ended while Durdane and Zulkuf Aydin said they shouted when they saw Osman's telephone light before he and others helped rescue them.

Turkey is home to 3.6 million Syrians in Turkey and although there are limited social problems, tensions have increased following an economic downturn.

There was growing concern for residents amid the bitter cold, said Hasan Duran, a 58-year-old shopkeeper, who lives in Sursuru.

"If it was summer, people could maybe resist a little longer. But with this cold, it's hard to imagine. Even we are freezing at home. May God give them strength."

'Every effort made' 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday "every effort was made to ensure citizens whose homes have collapsed or been damaged will not suffer in this winter period."

Environment Minister Murat Kurum vowed a "radical transformation project" for buildings in the region at risk in the event of another quake.

Since Friday's quake, there have been 714 aftershocks, 20 of them above four in magnitude.

Residents avoided returning to their homes because of aftershock fears. Around a thousand people were spending the night in two trains converted into emergency accommodation in Elazig station.

"There is no risk of being caught in a collapsed building here and it's warmer than a tent," Berivan Arslan, 55, said, who left her home because of cracks in the building's facade.

With her daughter and two granddaughters coping with the boredom by playing with a doll, she had spent two nights sleeping in a six-seat compartment.

There are two trains on the platform while a third is scheduled to arrive Sunday evening from Ankara, according to the Turkish National Railway Company.

Anger rising 

But with not enough emergency accommodation to cover the needs of 350,000 residents in Elazig city, tensions were rising.

In a public park in the city centre, dozens of tents have been erected, most of them accommodating Syrians, which has aroused hostility.

"So, what, this is a refugee camp? I have no tent yet I am a Turk," an elderly lady told an AFAD official, who promised more tents would arrive on Monday.

The epicentre of the quake was in the small lakeside town of Sivrice in Elazig province, but it also hit neighbouring cities and countries.

With a population of around 4,000, Sivrice is located south of Elazig city on the shores of Hazar lake — one of the most popular tourist spots in the region.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude was 6.7, slightly lower than AFAD, adding that it struck near the East Anatolian fault in an area that has suffered no documented major incidents since an earthquake in 1875.

The recent quake left many wondering how Istanbul would cope, amid heightened fears of a powerful one, which seismologists say is unavoidable.

In 1999, a devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Izmir in western Turkey, killing more than 17,000 people including about 1,000 in the country's most populous city, Istanbul.

ELAZIG, Turkey — Rescue workers raced against time Saturday to find survivors under the rubble after a powerful earthquake claimed 22 lives and left more than 1,000 injured in eastern Turkey.

The magnitude 6.8 quake struck on Friday evening, with its epicentre in the small lakeside town of Sivrice in Elazig province, and was felt in neighbouring countries.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 39 people have been rescued alive from collapsed buildings in Elazig province, with a further 22 people estimated to be trapped under the rubble. He said the death toll had risen to 22.

Among those found alive was a pregnant woman who was rescued 12 hours after the quake hit, state news agency Anadolu said, while an AFP correspondent saw an individual saved 17 hours later.

Nearly 2,000 search and rescue personnel were sent to the region while thousands of beds, blankets and tents have been provided, the Turkish presidency said.

The rescue efforts have been taking place in freezing temperatures as wood and plastic were burned to keep crowds warm.

Hundreds of people were anxiously waiting on the other side of police barriers including a man who gave his name as Mustafa.

“I have three relatives in that building: One man, his wife and her mother. They are still under the rubble,” the 40-year-old told AFP.

“May God help us, we can do nothing but pray.”

“I was home during the earthquake. It lasted for so long, it was like a nightmare. I froze in the living room when it happened, my wife and our two children were screaming and running around,” he said.

He added that some neighbours jumped out of the windows because they panicked as families including his were forced to spend Friday night on the streets.

Some 20 rescuers were on top of the remains of one collapsed building, slowly clearing the rubble one bucket at a time surrounded by broken wooden beams and concrete.

Nearby Ayse Sonmez, 48, wept in silence at the barrier. She was only able to point to one of the heavily damaged buildings and say, “My older sister”.

‘Screaming in terror’ 

Sivrice — a town with a population of about 4,000 — is situated south of Elazig city on the shores of Hazar lake — one of the most popular tourist spots in the region and the source of the Tigris river.

The lake is home to a “Sunken City”, with archaeological traces dating back 4,000 years in its waters.

The interior minister said 18 people were killed in Elazig while four died in Malatya.

Among the 1,031 people injured were residents in other provinces in the southeast including Diyarbakir, Batman, Sanliurfa, Adiyaman and Kahramanmaras, the Turkish government’s disaster and emergency management agency (AFAD) said.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 128 people were still receiving treatment including 34 in intensive care but added that no one was in a critical condition.

Tensions were high as one resident accused the government of lying.

“They [the government] claim that only four people are trapped under the rubble. It is not true. I have five relatives in that building,” Suat, a 45-year-old butcher, said.

“There are four floors and three flats per floor. If there were five people per flat, do the math. Why are they lying?”

Suat described the moment when the quake struck as he was at home in another Elazig neighbourhood and his children “were screaming in terror”.

The Ankara public prosecutor’s office later on Saturday said it had begun an investigation into “provocative” social media posts but did not give further details.

Tremors felt elsewhere 

The tremor was felt in several parts of eastern Turkey near the Iraqi and Syrian borders as well as in Iran, Lebanon and Syria, local media reported.

Environment and Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum told reporters in Elazig that five buildings collapsed following the quake while others were badly or lightly damaged.

The US Geological Survey assessed the magnitude as 6.7, slightly lower than AFAD, adding that it struck near the East Anatolian Fault in an area that has suffered no documented large ruptures since an earthquake in 1875.

According to AFAD, there have been nearly 400 aftershocks following Friday’s quake including 12 that were above four in magnitude.

In 1999, a devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Izmit in western Turkey, leaving more than 17,000 people dead including about 1,000 in Istanbul.

Experts have long warned a large quake could devastate the city of 15 million people, which has allowed widespread building without safety precautions.

Such fears were acutely awakened in September last year when a 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook Istanbul, causing residents to flee buildings in the economic capital.

RAMALLAH — After US President Donald Trump's announcement that he will finally launch his long-awaited Middle East peace plan this week, the response among many Palestinians Friday was a collective shrug.

Trump said the plan, which has been delayed multiple times, would finally be released by next Tuesday when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival Benny Gantz will meet him in Washington.

But the Palestinian leadership was not invited, amid a series of rows between President Mahmoud Abbas and Trump over the US leader's pro-Israel stance.

In the heart of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian government is based, many people entering a mosque for Friday prayers were not even aware of Trump's announcement the previous day.

Others said they did not expect anything positive from a president they see as totally biased.

"Trump represents no one but himself, and this is a crazy president," said Munther Abu Awad, clutching a blue prayer mat.

"What he announced is in favour of Israel."

Hossam Abdul Raheem, 57, said he expected the plan to be announced and then forgotten.

"This deal will fail completely," he predicted.

"Whatever they do will not affect us as we have nothing to lose."

During prayers, the mosque's sheikh condemned the Trump peace plan, which Palestinians sarcastically label the "deal of the century".

'Working in Israel's interests' 

Nasser Nassar, 57, works as a teacher by day and bus driver by night to pay the bills. 

He had little positive to say about the peace push.

“Trump considers himself the president of the world and not only the United States, and the fact is he is working in Israel’s interests.”

But he blamed the Palestinian leadership as much as the Israelis for the conditions in the Palestinian territories, where around a quarter of the population lives in poverty.

“The leadership drove us to a place where we are chasing a living and we forgot all important causes.”

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank since the 1967 war.

More than 600,000 Israelis now live there in settlements considered illegal under international law.

Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and Abbas cut ties with Trump after he recognised the city as Israel’s capital.

The Republican president has taken a series of other steps that have thrilled right-winger Netanyahu but appalled Palestinians.

Israeli media reported what they said were leaks of parts of Trump’s plan, including that it could grant full sovereignty to Israel over Jerusalem and West Bank settlements.

In exchange the Palestinians would get some kind of a demilitarised statehood in the remaining territory.

Trump later tweeted that the reports were merely “speculative” and that the full details would be revealed later.

‘How do you respond?’ 

Both Israeli and Palestinian analysts were sceptical Friday as to whether the plan could be implemented.

Nour Odeh, a Palestinian political analyst in the West Bank, said the details, if confirmed, would be impossible for any Palestinian leader to accept.

“Trump wants the Palestinians to join Likud [Netanyahu’s party], that’s basically the requirement.

“There is nothing to engage with. I think for the Palestinians and the world, the question becomes how do you respond?”

Ofer Zalzberg, an Israeli analyst at the International Crisis Group think-tank, said while the plan was designed to support Netanyahu’s right-wing agenda, it could cause tension with some of his allies.

DUBAI — Houthi rebels have gained ground east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in what the defence minister acknowledged as a "tactical withdrawal" by government loyalists. 

Renewed fighting, which entered its ninth day on Saturday, allowed the rebels to retake loyalist positions, loyalist commanders told AFP. 

"Some of these positions had been under government control for three years", one of the commanders said, on condition of anonymity.

Defence Minister General Mohammed Ali Al Maqdishi implicitly recognised the rebels' advance in the Nihm area, in comments published by the official Saba news agency.

Maqdishi spoke of a “tactical withdrawal from some positions”, during a meeting on Friday with loyalist commanders. 

The loyalist forces would be redeployed to open a new front against the rebels, Maqdishi said, claiming that “the battle to liberate Sanaa has become inevitable”.

The rebel advance came despite extensive air support for government forces from its allies in a Saudi-led coalition.

Coalition planes “attacked Houthi positions more than 30 times in the last three days to reduce the pressure on the loyalists”, one commander said.

The government accused the rebels of killing 116 people in a January 18 missile attack on a loyalist military camp in Marib province, east of Nihm.

The Houthis neither claimed or denied they were behind that attack, which came a day after fighting between the two sides resumed, breaking months of relative calm.

In a report published on Friday, the International Crisis Group said the “Houthis appeared to be making the biggest gains on the battlefield”.

The think-tank warned that if the renewed fighting spread, it would represent “a devastating blow to current efforts to end the war”.

AL HOL CAMP, Syria — Kurdish authorities said they transferred 21 orphans from a squalid displacement camp in northeast Syria on Saturday, including two French children who are set to be repatriated.

The children, including some from France, Egypt and Dagestan, were only a fraction of the 224 orphans living in Al Hol camp, home to thousands of relatives of Daesh fighters.

They were transferred to the Kurdish-run settlement of Roj, also in northeast Syria, said Jaber Mustafa, an official at Al Hol.

He did not say why only 21 orphans were being transferred but argued that Roj is better equipped to host orphans.

"The child care centres in Al Hol lack many basic services," including trained specialists and educators, he said.

Two French orphans are among those being transferred, said another camp official who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the issue.

They will be handed to a representative of the French government who will then repatriate them, the official added, without providing a timeline.

The repatriation, according to the official, is taking place at the request of Paris.

Kurdish authorities say they are holding around 12,000 foreigners from countries other than Iraq, including 4,000 women and 8,000 children, in three displacement camps in northeastern Syria. The majority are being held in Al Hol.

The fate of foreign extremists and their relatives detained in the Kurdish region of Syria has been a politically difficult issue for their own governments.

Countries such as France and Belgium that have large contingents of nationals in such camps have been reluctant to bring them home, while the Kurds warn they cannot keep them much longer.

France has so far allowed some children back on a case-by-case basis.

UN investigators this month called for at least the children to be repatriated, notably because their lack of papers put them in a "particularly precarious" situation.

A Kurdish Red Crescent spokesperson told AFP this month that 371 children were among the 517 people who died in Al Hol in 2019.

Malnutrition, poor healthcare for newborns and hypothermia were among the main causes of death among children, Dalal Ismail told AFP at the camp.

PARIS — Three French nationals and one Iraqi working with a French Christian charity in Iraq have been missing since Monday, the group announced on Friday.

The four men with SOS Chretiens d'Orient (Christians of the Middle East) went missing near the French embassy in Baghdad, the organisation's director Benjamin Blanchard told a news conference in Paris.

No ransom demand has been received as yet and no group has claimed responsibility for their disappearance, he added.

SOS Chretiens d'Orient has been working with persecuted Christians in Iraq since 2014 when Daesh terrorists overran the province of Mosul, displacing tens of thousands of minority Christians and Yazidis.

It is principally active in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil, where many Christians sought refuge.

The missing workers were in Baghdad "to renew their visas and register the association with Iraqi authorities", Blanchard said.

They were also due to inspect the group's activities in the city, including the opening of a new school.

They left their hotel by car for a meeting "which posed no problem", Blanchard said, adding that French and Iraqi authorities were working together to try locate them.

However, they did not return and the charity sought in vain to contact them on Tuesday before contacting the French authorities early Wednesday.

Help Christians stay 

The charity's director described the men as "experienced staff members who have been working with us for years" and who had "perfect knowledge of conflict zones".

He declined to give the men's identities.

The French foreign ministry and the French embassy in Iraq refused to comment on their disappearance.

"The French and Iraqi authorities are coordinating today on the enquiry and to retrace their steps," said Blanchard, stressing that he was in "close contact" with the worried families.

Baghdad has been gripped by demonstrations for several months.

The protests initially targeted a government widely seen as corrupt and meddling by neighbouring Iran.

But in recent weeks America's military presence in Iraq has become a hot-button issue since a US drone strike killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and a top Iraqi commander in Baghdad on January 3.

SOS Chretiens d'Orient, which is also active in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, is one of several Western charities working with Christians in the Middle East.

The aim of the group is to "help Christian communities remain [in the region] and rebuild" their lives, Blanchard said.

Persecution after Saddam fell 

The organisation, drew criticism in the past for sending young French volunteers to Syria and Iraq for months at a time.

Photos regularly published by the non-government organisaiton on Twitter show volunteers visiting Christian families in Erbil and conducting French language classes.

Before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the number of Christians in Iraq, home to one of the world's oldest Christian populations, ran to an estimated 1.5 million.

After the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein they suffered widespread persecution, culminating with the purges carried out by Daesh in 2014.

By the summer of 2019, their number had fallen to around 250,000, Erbil Archbishop Bashar Warda said during a speech in Britain last year, warning the community was "close to extinction".

Several Western countries including France had nationals kidnapped by armed groups in Syria in 2013 and 2014 but in recent years the situation has eased.

Radio France Internationale said on Friday that two of its freelancers were kidnapped briefly last month before being released.

Currently, the only French person confirmed being held hostage anywhere in the world is Sophie Petronin, an elderly charity worker abducted by gunmen in northern Mali in December 2016.

No group claimed responsibility for kidnapping until July 2017, when Al Qaeda's Mali branch released a video showing her.

BASRA, Iraq — An Iraqi demonstrator was shot dead in the southern city of Basra overnight, a security source and the human rights commission said on Thursday, the latest in a string of protester deaths.

The anti-government demonstrations rocking the Iraqi capital and the Shiite-majority south since October had abated in recent weeks amid spiralling tensions between Iraq's key allies, the United States and Iran.

To recapture momentum and boost pressure on authorities, protesters this week began shutting down roads across the country — but violence against them has escalated, too.

The young demonstrator was shot dead by unidentified assailants after he left the main protest camp in Basra, a security source said.

He had no papers on his person and police were waiting for someone to identify the body, the source told AFP.

It was the second straight night a protester was gunned down in Basra. Female activist and paramedic Janat Madhi, 49, was killed the same way late on Tuesday.

The deaths bring this week's toll to 12 demonstrators killed, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission, a state-funded monitor which reports on protest violence. 

Four people were killed in Baghdad, one in Diyala, two in Karbala and five in Basra, including the latest two killings.

"Violence against demonstrators is clearly ongoing," commission member Ali Bayati told AFP. 

“The unknown armed groups targeting protesters show that security forces are unable to protect citizens,” he said.

Demonstrators have accused authorities of implementing a double standard, swiftly arresting anyone blocking roads with burning tyres while failing to apprehend those who have kidnapped and killed dozens of activists.

Hundreds of students gathered in Basra on Thursday morning to protest against the killings, chanting and holding up signs saying “Give us a country”.

This week’s violence brings to 470 the overall death toll since protests erupted in October, according to an AFP tally of reports from medical or security sources and the Human Rights Commission.