Britain to repatriate woman and five children from Syrian camps
Britain has agreed to repatriate a woman and five children from camps in Syria, the second time the UK has allowed an adult to return since the end of the ground war against the Islamic State more than four years ago.
The release was announced by the Kurdish administration that controls north-east Syria – but a human rights group and a former minister accused the UK of lagging behind other Western nations in allowing families who lived under IS to return.
A Syrian news agency reported that the woman and children, understood to be from multiple families, were handed over on Saturday to a group of British officials. All those released hold UK nationality.
Robel Baho, deputy co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish administration’s foreign relations department, called on the international community “to urgently” facilitate further repatriations of people who, in most cases, have been held for four or five years.
France has repatriated more than 160 children and more than 50 women, while Germany has taken back almost 100 women and children, but Britain has been among the slowest in helping tackle the problem.
Maya Foa, the executive director of Reprieve, which assists Britons detained in north-east Syria, welcomed the development but complained that other “British families are still being held in desert prison camps because of UK government inaction”.
Foa warned that “British children are growing up in dangerous tent cities patrolled by men with guns” and accused the UK of presiding over a “cruel, counterproductive, politically motivated policy” which she said stood out among Western nations.
It is estimated there are about 20-25 women or families with British nationality still held in Syrian camps, plus a number of others whose citizenship was removed and who are now fighting that decision in the UK courts. The most notable of those is Shamima Begum, whose case is now before the Court of appeal.
Drone, rockets fired at US-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria
A drone and rockets targeted two military bases in Iraq and Syria on Monday housing forces of the international coalition against the Islamic State group, a US military official was quoted as saying.
Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose formation of armed groups affiliated with the Hashed al-Shaabi coalition of former paramilitaries that are now integrated into Iraq’s regular armed forces.
These pro-Iran groups violently oppose US backing for Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which erupted on October 7 when the terror group launched a deadly attack into Israel, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians massacred amid brutal atrocities in their homes, communities and at a music festival.
The United States leads the international coalition battling jihadists in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, and its forces have come under repeated attack in recent weeks.
A drone attack targeted the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq on Monday, without causing casualties or damage, the US military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
And in northeast Syria, “several rockets” were fired at a base in the Al-Shaddadi region, the official added.
Washington has recorded at least 92 attacks in Iraq and Syria since October 17, 10 days after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out.
Jordanian border guard killed in clash with smugglers at border with Syria
A Jordanian border guard was killed and another wounded in an armed clash with smugglers along the Syria-Jordan border early Tuesday, the state-run Petra news agency reported.
The smugglers were intercepted while trying to transport a substantial quantity of narcotics from Syria into Jordan by exploiting the poor visibility in thick fog, Petra quoted a source from the Jordanian Armed Forces as saying.
Several smugglers were killed during the clash, and the rest fled to Syrian territory, according to the source. Enditem.
