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Hundreds killed as Syria security forces battle al-Assad loyalists | Conflict News

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Syria’s interim government has sent reinforcements to coastal cities in the country’s northwest where security forces have been engaged in heavy battles with fighters loyal to former ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The violence, which has reportedly killed hundreds of people, including many civilians, presents the most serious challenge yet to new government’s authority since it took power following al-Assad’s removal in December 2024.

Security forces on Saturday said they had regained control of much of the areas in Tartous and Latakia governorates, where al-Assad loyalists carried out co-ordinated attacks at checkpoints, security convoys and military positions on Thursday.

Syria’s state news agency SANA quoted an unidentified security official as saying that after the attacks, numerous people went to the coastal areas seeking revenge for the assault on government security forces. The official said the actions “led to some individual violations and we are working on stop them”.

A curfew remains in effect in Latakia and other coastal areas that are predominantly home to al-Assad’s minority Alawite sect and make up his longtime base of support. Amid the ongoing fighting, dozens of civilians and members of the former regime and their families have taken shelter at the Russian Khmeimim base in the Latakia countryside.

In his first public comments since the surge in violence, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday called on the fighters to lay down their weapons and surrender “before it is too late”.

Al-Sharaa, who commanded the opposition forces that removed al-Assad after nearly 14 years of war, said government forces would “pursue the remnants of the fallen regime” and bring them “to a fair court”.

Reporting from the capital Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said the intensity of the clashes had significantly decreased by Saturday afternoon but added that there were still skirmishes in the outskirts of towns.

He added a “tragedy” was growing due to the rising death toll. “Hundreds of people have been killed and the majority of them are civilians,” Serdar added.

On Friday night, Hasan Abdel-Ghani, spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of Defence, told Al Jazeera that fighters loyal the previous day had attacked security forces in several places in Latakia and Tartous governorates, killing “a number of security forces” in what he described as well-planned operations.

Meanwhile, the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said he was “deeply alarmed” by the developments.

“While the situation remains fluid and we are still determining the precise facts, there is clearly an immediate need for restraint from all parties, and full respect for the protection of civilians in accordance with international law,” Pedersen said in a statement.

“All parties should refrain from actions that could further inflame tensions, escalate conflict, exacerbate the suffering of affected communities, destabilize Syria, and jeopardise a credible and inclusive political transition.”

‘Snowballing for some time’

The violence shakes al-Sharaa’s efforts to consolidate control amid ongoing Western sanctions and security challenges, including the presence of Israeli troops in the country’s southwest.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, said the current situation “has been unfortunately snowballing for some time”.

“It was actually quite impressive that the new government under Ahmed al-Sharaa has managed to keep a lid on things until now – but their bluff has been very much called,” he said.

“[The transitional authorities] now need to respond, they need to respond decisively, they need to show that they are the ones in charge, but they also need to do so without alienating the Alawites.”

He added a lack of “reconciliation” for the myriad abuses committed by various groups during al-Assad’s rule has not yet been addressed, leading some to take matters into their own hands.



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Conflict Zones

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,195 | Russia-Ukraine war News

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Here’s where things stand on Tuesday, June 3:

Fighting

Ukrainian officials said at least five people were killed from fighting and shelling along the war’s front line in eastern Ukraine, which is mostly occupied by Russia.
Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks on key infrastructure in Russian-occupied areas of southeastern Ukraine led to power cuts across the whole of the Zaporizhia region, according to Russian-installed officials there.
Similar attacks damaged electrical substations in the adjacent Kherson region, leading to power loss for 100,000 residents and 150 towns and villages, according to the Russian-installed officials.
However, there has been no effect on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe’s largest nuclear facility, according to Russian officials who occupy the site. The station is currently in shutdown mode.

Ceasefire

Little headway was made during talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul, but the two sides did agree to swap thousands of prisoners and the remains of 6,000 deceased soldiers. The deal will also include all injured soldiers and those aged between 18 and 25.
Russia set out a memorandum at the talks to end its war on Ukraine. Terms include Ukrainian forces withdrawing from the four regions annexed by Russia in September 2022, but that Russian forces have failed to fully capture, Kyiv halting war mobilisation efforts and a freeze on Kyiv importing Western weapons.
The Russian document also proposes that Ukraine end martial law and hold elections, after which the two countries could sign a comprehensive peace treaty.

Ukraine must also abandon its bid to join NATO, set limits on the size of its armed forces and recognise Russian as the country’s official language on a par with Ukrainian, according to the memorandum.
Ukraine – which has previously rejected all such demands by Moscow – said it would spend the next week reviewing the memorandum and proposed another round of talks between June 20 and 30.
The White House said that United States President Donald Trump is “open” to a three-way summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said in a post on Telegram after the talks that he did not believe Moscow wanted a ceasefire. “The Russians are doing everything to not cease firing and continue the war. New sanctions now are very important,” he wrote.

Sanctions

The US Senate said it would start working on further rounds of sanctions for Russia and secondary sanctions for its trade partners if peace talks continue to stall.
Possible sanctions include 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian exports, including oil, gas and uranium. The tariffs would hit India and China, Moscow’s two largest energy customers.
US Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that senators “stand ready to provide President Trump with any tools he needs to get Russia to finally come to the table in a real way”.



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UN demands probe as Israeli forces kill more people near aid site in Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict News

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Israeli forces have opened fire again on Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid from a distribution site in Gaza, killing at least three people and injuring more than 30, as the United Nations demands an independent investigation into the repeated mass shootings of aid seekers in the strip.

The shooting erupted at sunrise on Monday at the same Israeli-backed aid point in southern Gaza where soldiers had opened fire just a day earlier, according to health officials and witnesses.

“The Israeli military opened fire on civilians trying to get their hands on any kind of food aid without any kind of warning,” Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

“This is a pattern that’s been widely condemned by international aid organisations because it enhances the breakdown of civil order without ensuring humanitarian relief can be received by those desperately in need.”

Witnesses said Israeli snipers and quadcopter drones routinely monitor aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the United States.

A Red Cross field hospital received about 50 people wounded in the latest shooting, including two who were dead on arrival, said Hisham Mhanna, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Most had been hit by bullets or shrapnel. A third body was taken to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis.

Moataz al-Feirani, 21, said he was shot in the leg while walking with thousands of others towards the food site.

“We had nothing, and they [the Israeli military] were watching us,” he told The Associated Press news agency, adding that surveillance drones circled overhead. The shooting began about 5:30am (02:30 GMT)  near the Flag Roundabout, he said.

The pattern of deadly violence around the GHF aid distribution site has triggered mounting international outrage, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday demanded an independent inquiry into the mass shooting of Palestinians.

“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” he said. “I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”

 

The Israeli military has denied targeting civilians, claiming its soldiers fired “warning shots” at individuals who “posed a threat”.

The GHF has also denied the shootings occurred although doubts about its neutrality have intensified since its founding executive director, former US marine Jake Wood, resigned before operations even began after he questioned the group’s “impartiality” and “independence”.

Critics said the group functions as a cover for Israel’s broader campaign to depopulate northern Gaza as it concentrates aid in the south while bypassing established international agencies.

Aid is still barely trickling into Gaza after Israel partially lifted a total siege that for more than two months cut off food, water, fuel and medicine to more than two million people.

Thousands of children are at risk of dying from hunger-related causes, the UN has previously warned.

At least 51 people killed in 24 hours

Elsewhere in the territory, Israeli air attacks continued to hammer residential areas.

In Jabalia in northern Gaza, Israeli forces killed 14 people, including seven children, in an attack on a home, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence agency. At least 20 people remained trapped under the rubble.

Two more Palestinians were killed and several wounded in another attack in Deir el-Balah, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, while a drone attack in Khan Younis claimed yet another life.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that at least 51 Palestinians have been killed and 503 injured in Israeli attacks across the territory in the latest 24-hour reporting period alone.

Palestinian children reach out with their pots as they wait for food at a distribution point in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, June 2, 2025.
Palestinian children wait for food at a distribution point in Nuseirat in central Gaza on June 2, 2025 [AFP]

Despite growing international condemnation, Israel’s military on Monday ordered the displacement of even more civilians from parts of Khan Younis, warning it would “operate with great force”.

Roughly 80 percent of the strip is now either under Israeli military control or designated for forced evacuation, according to new data from the Financial Times, as Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are crammed into an ever-shrinking patch of land in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border.

Israel has made little secret of its aim to permanently displace Gaza’s population as officials openly promote “voluntary migration” plans.

The Financial Times reported that the areas Palestinians are being pushed into resemble a “desert wasteland with no running water, electricity or even hospitals”.

Satellite images showed Israeli forces clearing land and setting up military infrastructure in evacuated areas.

Analysts who reviewed dozens of recent forced evacuation orders said the trend has accelerated since the collapse of a truce in March.

“The Israeli government has been very clear with regards to what their plan is about in Gaza,” political analyst Xavier Abu Eid told Al Jazeera.

“It is about ethnic cleansing.”



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Military air strike kills at least 20 people in northwest Nigeria | Conflict News

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Amnesty International calls for an investigation into the ‘reckless’ attack in the violence-hit Zamfara state.

A military air strike in northwest Nigeria has killed at least 20 people, according to the military and local residents, prompting calls from human rights groups for an investigation into the attack.

The strike occurred over the weekend in Zamfara state, one of the regions worst affected by violence from armed groups, commonly referred to as “bandits”.

Nigerian Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame said the strike followed intelligence that “a significant number of terrorists were massing and preparing to strike unsuspecting settlements”.

“Further intelligence confirmed that the bandits had killed some farmers and abducted a number of civilians, including women and children,” Ejodame said in a statement, adding that two local vigilantes were killed and two others injured in the crossfire.

However, according to residents cited by the AFP news agency, a group of local vigilantes pursuing a gang was mistakenly bombed by a Nigerian military jet.

The air force had been called in by villagers who had suffered an attack earlier in the weekend. Locals said an unknown number of people were also wounded in the strike.

“We were hit by double tragedy on Saturday,” said Buhari Dangulbi, a resident of the affected area. “Dozens of our people and several cows were taken by bandits, and those who trailed the bandits to rescue them were attacked by a fighter jet. It killed 20 of them.”

Residents told AFP that the bandits had earlier attacked the villages of Mani and Wabi in Maru district, stealing cattle and abducting several people. In response, vigilantes launched a pursuit to recover the captives and stolen livestock.

“The military aircraft arrived and started firing, killing at least 20 of our people,” Abdullahi Ali, a Mani resident and member of a local hunters’ militia, told the Reuters news agency.

Another resident, Ishiye Kabiru, said: “Our vigilantes from Maraya and nearby communities gathered and went after the bandits. Unfortunately, a military jet struck them.”

Alka Tanimu, also from the area, added: “We will still have to pay to get those kidnapped back, while the cows are gone for good.”

Amnesty International condemned the strike and urged a full investigation.

“Attacks by bandits clearly warrant a response from the state, but to launch reckless air strikes into villages – again and again – is absolutely unlawful,” the rights group said.

Nigeria’s military has previously acknowledged mistakenly hitting civilians during air operations targeting armed gangs.

In January, at least 16 vigilantes were killed in a similar strike in Zamfara’s Zurmi district.

In December 2022, more than 100 civilians were killed in Mutunji village while pursuing bandits. A year later, an attack on a religious gathering in Kaduna state killed at least 85 people.



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