Lebanon Shocked at Rape, Death of 6-year-old Girl

Lynn Taleb (Al-Markaziah news agency)
Lynn Taleb (Al-Markaziah news agency)
TT

Lebanon Shocked at Rape, Death of 6-year-old Girl

Lynn Taleb (Al-Markaziah news agency)
Lynn Taleb (Al-Markaziah news agency)

The Lebanese judiciary has launched an investigation into the death of a six-year-old girl, following a sexual assault, as individual crimes continue to shake the society.

Local media reported the death of Lynn Talib, who had been staying for the past eight days in the house of her maternal grandparents in the Minieh region in northern Lebanon, after the divorce of her parents.

Al-Markaziah News Agency reported that two separate forensic doctors’ reports confirmed that she had been raped prior to her death.

According to available information, the mother of the child rushed to Al-Minieh Governmental Hospital, after her temperature rose, before returning home with her, although the doctor had requested her immediate admission to the hospital. The next day, the little girl died at her grandparents’ house.

A forensic doctor’s report pointed to bruises on the child’s face and swelling of the lips, and confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted. Her father’s family filed a lawsuit against her mother’s parents.

While the crime shook Lebanese public opinion, the Lebanese judiciary opened an investigation into the incident.

The official National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Public Prosecution Office in the North sent two forensic doctors to conduct the medical examination in order to draw up a report detailing the child’s health condition that led to her death.

In parallel, the Ministry of Health announced in a statement that it was “following up the circumstances of the death of the child, who was transferred twice on the same day to Al-Minieh Governmental Hospital.”

Lynn’s tragic death follows a series of individual crimes that took place during the past weeks in Lebanon, including a 75-year-old man killing his wife at home in the town of Al-Adaiseh in southern Lebanon, with a hunting rifle. The man turned himself in to the police.

In the Qornet al-Sawda area near the town of Bsharri in northern Lebanon, a young man, Haitham Tawk, was found killed by snipers. The Lebanese army used the air force to search for the perpetrators, while calls mounted for calm and restraint.



Drone Attack Targets Tawke Oilfield in Iraq's Kurdistan

General view of the Sarsang oilfield operated by HKN Energy, after a drone attack, in Duhok province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
General view of the Sarsang oilfield operated by HKN Energy, after a drone attack, in Duhok province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
TT

Drone Attack Targets Tawke Oilfield in Iraq's Kurdistan

General view of the Sarsang oilfield operated by HKN Energy, after a drone attack, in Duhok province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
General view of the Sarsang oilfield operated by HKN Energy, after a drone attack, in Duhok province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

A drone attack targeted an oilfield operated by Norwegian oil and gas firm DNO in Tawke, in the Zakho Administration area of northern Iraq, on Thursday, the Kurdistan region's counter-terrorism service said.

The attack is the second on the DNO-operated field since a wave of drone attacks began early this week.

DNO, which operates the Tawke and Peshkabour oilfields in the Zakho area that borders Türkiye, temporarily suspended production at the fields following explosions that caused no injuries, the counter-terrorism service said.

DNO did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

This week's drone attacks have reduced oil output from oilfields in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region by between 140,000 to 150,000 barrels per day, two energy officials said on Wednesday, as infrastructure damage forced multiple shutdowns.