Islamic State militants Killed seven of a family in Syria
Beirut, Aug 4 (IANS/EFE): At least seven members of a family, including two children, were executed by militants of the radical Islamic State (IS) in central Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The extremists broke into the family home in the village of Al-Mazira, located in the central province of Hama, late Sunday and shot some of the victims and stabbed others.
The family belongs to the Ismaili sect, part of the Shia branch of Islam.
Meanwhile, in the northeastern province of Deir ez-Zor, at least 13 people were killed, including civilians, in heavy bombing and fighting between the IS and tribal militiamen to gain control over the town of Sowaidan Jazira.
The town was finally taken by the IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), which had retreated Friday after clashes with one of the tribes in the area.
More than 171,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in Syria in March 2011, according to the latest reports by the UN.
Source: http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_dis ... _id=253515
Family of seven killed in Syria
ISIS threatens the Ismaili capital of Syria
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/is ... ital-syria
The military operation in the northern and western countryside of Hama has almost achieved its goal, with the Syrian army recapturing most of the towns in the region. However, the war is still raging near al-Silmiya front in the eastern countryside, where the threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) continues to terrorize local residents. People in Silmiya believe that the Syrian regime “which is taking upon itself to protect minorities” will not forget their city, the capital of the Ismaili minority in the region.
The people of al-Silmiya live in constant fear; “ISIS is at our doorstep,” they say.
More...
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/is ... ital-syria
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/is ... ital-syria
The military operation in the northern and western countryside of Hama has almost achieved its goal, with the Syrian army recapturing most of the towns in the region. However, the war is still raging near al-Silmiya front in the eastern countryside, where the threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) continues to terrorize local residents. People in Silmiya believe that the Syrian regime “which is taking upon itself to protect minorities” will not forget their city, the capital of the Ismaili minority in the region.
The people of al-Silmiya live in constant fear; “ISIS is at our doorstep,” they say.
More...
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/is ... ital-syria
Canada opens doors to 13,000 Syrian, Iraqi refugees
By AFP | Ottawa
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Canada has agreed to resettle another 10,000 Syrian and 3,000 Iraqi refugees over the next three years in response to a UN plea for help, the immigration minister announced Wednesday.
This meets 10 percent of the latest UN refugee agency’s appeal for help resettling people fleeing violence in the two countries.
According to a report released earlier by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of Syrian refugees has outstripped Afghans as the largest displaced population in need of protection.
“Syrians and Iraqis face the worst forms of violence in the world today,” said Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, pointing to the Islamic Group’s “murderous rampage across Syria and Iraq and (its) systematic killing of anyone who does not adhere to their distorted version of Islam.”
Millions have been displaced by escalating violence.
Since 2009, Canada has welcomed 20,000 Iraqi refugees. More than 1,000 Syrian refugees have also landed on Canadian shores since the start of a Syrian civil war in 2011.
The opposition, however, has criticized the government for being slow to act and for not taking in more refugees from the region.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/mi ... gees-.html
By AFP | Ottawa
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Canada has agreed to resettle another 10,000 Syrian and 3,000 Iraqi refugees over the next three years in response to a UN plea for help, the immigration minister announced Wednesday.
This meets 10 percent of the latest UN refugee agency’s appeal for help resettling people fleeing violence in the two countries.
According to a report released earlier by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of Syrian refugees has outstripped Afghans as the largest displaced population in need of protection.
“Syrians and Iraqis face the worst forms of violence in the world today,” said Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, pointing to the Islamic Group’s “murderous rampage across Syria and Iraq and (its) systematic killing of anyone who does not adhere to their distorted version of Islam.”
Millions have been displaced by escalating violence.
Since 2009, Canada has welcomed 20,000 Iraqi refugees. More than 1,000 Syrian refugees have also landed on Canadian shores since the start of a Syrian civil war in 2011.
The opposition, however, has criticized the government for being slow to act and for not taking in more refugees from the region.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/mi ... gees-.html
Germany opens its gates: Berlin says all Syrian asylum-seekers are welcome to remain, as Britain is urged to make a 'similar statement'
Berlin took the lead in efforts to resolve the European refugee crisis on Monday by declaring all Syrian asylum-seekers welcome to remain in Germany – no matter which EU country they had first entered.
Germany, which expects to take a staggering 800,000 migrants this year, became the first EU country to suspend a 1990 protocol which forces refugees to seek asylum in the first European country in which they set foot.
The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees ratified an order suspending the so-called Dublin Protocol. “Germany will become the member state responsible for processing their claims,” a government statement said.
All current expulsion orders for Syrian asylum-seekers will be revoked, the government said. New Syrian arrivals will no longer be forced to fill in questionnaires to determine which country they had first arrived in. In the first six months of 2015, Germany registered 44,417 applications from Syrian asylum-seekers.
More...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 70062.html
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ISIS Speeds Up Destruction of Antiquities in Syria
The cumulative destruction of antiquities by militants - including a fifth-century monastery and a first-century temple in Syria recently - has reached staggering levels, archaeological experts and antiquities officials say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/world ... d=45305309
Berlin took the lead in efforts to resolve the European refugee crisis on Monday by declaring all Syrian asylum-seekers welcome to remain in Germany – no matter which EU country they had first entered.
Germany, which expects to take a staggering 800,000 migrants this year, became the first EU country to suspend a 1990 protocol which forces refugees to seek asylum in the first European country in which they set foot.
The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees ratified an order suspending the so-called Dublin Protocol. “Germany will become the member state responsible for processing their claims,” a government statement said.
All current expulsion orders for Syrian asylum-seekers will be revoked, the government said. New Syrian arrivals will no longer be forced to fill in questionnaires to determine which country they had first arrived in. In the first six months of 2015, Germany registered 44,417 applications from Syrian asylum-seekers.
More...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 70062.html
******
ISIS Speeds Up Destruction of Antiquities in Syria
The cumulative destruction of antiquities by militants - including a fifth-century monastery and a first-century temple in Syria recently - has reached staggering levels, archaeological experts and antiquities officials say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/world ... d=45305309