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Frontline report: Syrian govt forces monitored armed civilians during sectarian violence | BBC News
Armed gunmen in Syria who carried out a wave of recent sectarian killings of the country’s Alawite minority were monitored by government forces, according to evidence gathered by the BBC.
One man, Abu Khalid, said he had travelled as a civilian fighter to the Mediterranean coastal village of Sanobar on 7 March, to help battle former regime insurgents.
He filmed himself shooting dead a 64-year-old village resident, Mahmoud Yusef Mohammed, at the entrance to his house. Abu Khalid, who has now been arrested, insisted his victim was an armed insurgent. However video he filmed of the incident does not support his account. He now says he had been told by the government security officials not to harm civilians but only to shoot at insurgents.
Human rights groups estimate that almost 900 civilians, mainly Alawites, were killed by pro-government forces across Syria’s coastal region in early March. The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam and its followers make up around 10% of Syria’s population, which is majority Sunni. Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad who fled the country last December is an Alawite.
Syria’s coastal area – a stronghold of the former regime – has been largely sealed off, but a BBC team gained access, speaking to witnesses and security officials about what happened in Sanobar. The violence came a day after fighters loyal to the country’s former President led deadly raids on government security forces.
Syria’s new Sunni Islamist-led government had called for support from various military units and militia groups to respond to those raids – but that escalated into a wave of sectarian anger against Alawite civilians.
Witnesses told the BBC that several armed groups had targeted Alawites and carried out summary executions. Some also said that government security forces had battled violent and extremist factions in order to protect Alawite villagers from attack.
Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Lucy Williamson in Sanobar.
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Laura, Paddy, and Joe Pike discuss the government’s plan to get almost one million young people back to work, plus the …
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A fire at a popular nightclub in the coastal region of Goa in India has killed 25 people, according to local officials.
Most of the victims are believed to be staff at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, located near a popular beach. Tourists are also said to be among the dead.
Police believe a gas cylinder exploded in the club’s kitchen, causing a blaze to rip through the venue on Saturday at midnight local time.
Most of the bodies were found near the kitchen “suggesting that the victims were employed at the club”, said Alok Kumar, Goa’s Director General of Police.
Goa’s chief minister Pramod Sawant said “three to four” tourists had died but did not provide their ages or nationalities.
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One year ago today, Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule of Syria came to an end, bringing a close to 13 years of brutal civil war.
On 8 December 2024, Assad stepped down as Syria’s president and fled to Russia, marking one of the most significant political shifts in the Middle East in decades.
Twelve months on, the dust has begun to settle but the country is still grappling with the immense social, political and emotional toll left behind.
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The Royal Navy has unveiled some of the ways it plans to counter what the government regards as an increasingly serious threat from Russia to the UK’s undersea infrastructure.
They include new technologies and prototypes, such as unmanned surface vessels, helicopters and autonomous submarine gliders.
The Ministry of Defence said in a statement that the programme was “in direct response to the resurgence in Russian submarine and underwater activity”.
The government says there has been a 30% increase in the number of Russian vessels threatening UK waters in the last two years.
Russia says its the UK government that’s being provocative.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting key European leaders in London on Monday, as Ukraine’s allies plan their response to an ongoing US push for Kyiv to accept concessions in peace talks.
The leaders of France and Germany will join Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at No 10 Downing Street as they seek to ensure any deal deters a future Russian attack.
The high-level meeting follows three days of talks in Florida, where Zelensky’s chief negotiator pushed for changes to a White House plan widely considered to accommodate central Kremlin demands.
The US and Ukraine said there was progress but US President Donald Trump appeared to criticise Zelensky on Sunday, saying he “hasn’t read” the draft.
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