World
Hundreds killed in Syrian crackdown on Alawite region, war monitor says
Gunmen and security forces linked to Syria’s new Islamist rulers have killed more than 340 people, including women and children from the Alawite minority, in the country’s coastal region since Thursday, the head of a war monitor said.
Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the widespread killings in Jableh, Baniyas and surrounding areas in Syria’s Alawite heartland amounted to the worst violence for years in a 13-year-old civil conflict.
The new ruling authority on Thursday began a crackdown on what it said was a nascent insurgency after deadly ambushes by militants linked to former president Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Several dozen members of the security forces have been killed in heavy clashes with militants, a Syrian security official said.
Officials have acknowledged violations during the operation, which they have blamed on unorganized masses of civilians and fighters who sought to support official security forces or commit crimes amid the chaos of the fighting.
A defence ministry source on Saturday told state media that all roads leading to the coast had been blocked to stop violations and help return calm, with security forces deploying in streets of coastal cities.
The source added that an emergency committee set up to monitor violations would refer anyone found not to have obeyed the orders of the military command to a military court.
The reported scale of the violence, which includes reports of an execution-style killing of dozens of Alawite men in one village, puts into further question the Islamist ruling authority’s ability to govern in an inclusive manner, which Western and Arab capitals have said is a key concern.
Assad was overthrown last December after decades of dynastic rule by his family marked by severe repression and a devastating civil war.
Syria’s interim president, Ahmed Sharaa, while backing the crackdown in a televised address late on Friday, said security forces should not allow anyone to “exaggerate in their response… because what differentiates us from our enemy is our commitment to our values.”
“When we give up on our morals, us and our enemy end up on the same side,” he said, adding that civilians and captives should not be mistreated.
Syrian Facebook on Saturday was filled with images and obituaries of people from the coastal area being mourned by family and friends who said they had been killed.
Abdulrahman, a leading critical voice against the Assad-led government who documented its alleged killings for more than a decade, said: “This is not about being pro or against the former Assad regime. These are sectarian massacres that aim to expel the Alawite population from their homes.”
The defence ministry and internal security agency said on Saturday they were trying to restore calm and order and prevent any violations against civilians in the coastal region.
Six residents of the coastal region said thousands of Alawites and Christians had fled their homes since Thursday, fearing for their lives.
Several hundred, mostly women and children and elders, sought refuge at a Russian Mediterranean military base at Hmeimim in Latakia, according to footage from the scene and two people familiar with the matter.
Abdulrahman and four people in the coastal region who spoke on condition of anonymity said killings, looting and burning of homes had continued overnight in Baniyas and in surrounding villages.
Reuters, however, said it cannot independently verify the reports or the assertions.
(Reuters)
Israel established a covert military installation in the Iraqi desert to support its air operations against Iran, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, citing individuals familiar with the matter, including U.S. officials.
The report said the facility was used as a logistical hub for the Israeli Air Force and also housed special forces, as well as search-and-rescue units prepared to assist any downed pilots during operations.
According to the newspaper, the base was built with the knowledge of the United States shortly before the onset of what it described as a joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
The report added that Israeli forces conducted airstrikes against Iraqi troops on at least one occasion after they allegedly came close to discovering the site, in order to prevent exposure of the facility.
The existence of the installation reportedly came under threat in early March, when Iraqi state media said a shepherd had alerted authorities to unusual military activity in the area, including helicopter movements. Iraqi forces were subsequently dispatched to investigate.
The Wall Street Journal further reported that Iraqi troops were struck by Israeli air operations while approaching the area, based on accounts from sources familiar with the incident.
Later in March, Iraq submitted a complaint to the United Nations alleging that foreign forces were involved in attacks in the area and initially attributed responsibility to the United States. However, the report cited a source familiar with the matter as saying the U.S. was not involved.
At the order of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Defense Department on Friday released dozens of previously classified files on alleged UFO sightings to provide what it called “unprecedented transparency” to the American people, though analysts said many of the documents had already been made public.
The disclosure of documents, photos and videos of “unidentified anomalous phenomena” will be followed by future releases as more materials are declassified, the Defense Department said in a statement, Reuters reported.
Trump was the latest president to release U.S. government reports on UFOs, a disclosure process that began in the late 1970s. Experts said the batch of around 160 files released on Friday contained new videos of known sightings but gave no conclusive evidence of alien technology or extraterrestrial life.
The files include a 1947 report of “flying discs” as well as grainy photos of “unidentified phenomena” taken from the moon’s surface by the 1969 Apollo 12 lunar mission and a transcript of the Apollo 17 crew describing unidentified objects seen from the moon in 1972.
‘BRIGHT PARTICLES’ DURING APOLLO 17
Apollo 17 mission pilot Ronald Evans reported “a few very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by as we maneuver,” based on the transcript.
“Roger. Understand,” mission control replied.
“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation – and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,” Hegseth said in a statement.
The records release is likely to fuel fresh debate over government secrecy and the possible existence of life in the cosmos.
“Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” Trump said in a statement. “Have fun and enjoy!”
The move was welcomed by U.S. Representatives Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna, both proponents of declassifying UFO files. Luna said an additional tranche of material was expected in about 30 days.
“The files show that UAP are not simply a matter of speculation or public curiosity,” Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb said in an email to Reuters. “The government has collected records.”
The images from Apollo 12 and 17 were fascinating but could be the result of asteroid impacts on the lunar surface, Loeb said.
DISTRACTION FROM POLITICAL PROBLEMS?
Some critics cast the UFO disclosures as a distraction from Trump’s political woes, including the unpopular U.S. military campaign against Iran and public pressure to release further files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I really don’t care about the UFO files. I just don’t. I’m so sick of the ‘look at the shiny object’ propaganda,” former Republican U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X.
UAP investigator Mick West said the administration of former President Joe Biden disclosed much of the same information as Friday’s release.
“They’re evidence of us not being able to identify a small white dot that’s a long distance away,” the Sacramento, California-based analyst said of the new UAP videos and images.
Independent journalist Leslie Kean said the release showed there was still a lot of government information on UAP that should be disclosed. Kean co-authored a 2017 New York Times story on a secret Pentagon UAP program, which prompted Congress to push for declassification of UFO documents.
“I think we’ve already proven the existence of UAP, but that doesn’t mean we’ve proven they’re alien or extraterrestrial or that we know what they are,” said Kean.
World
Trump says United States will get uranium from Iran
One of Trump’s central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States would get enriched uranium from Iran, as the two countries struggle to reach an agreement on ending the Gulf war, Reuters reported.
“We’re going to get it,” Trump told a reporter as he left a White House event.
One of Trump’s central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has yet to hand over more than 900 pounds (408 kg) of highly enriched uranium.
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