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At Least 19 Killed in Car Bomb Explosion in Northern Syria

A teenager plays with a punching machine in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, that is controlled by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A teenager plays with a punching machine in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, that is controlled by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
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At Least 19 Killed in Car Bomb Explosion in Northern Syria

A teenager plays with a punching machine in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, that is controlled by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A teenager plays with a punching machine in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, that is controlled by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A car bomb exploded on the outskirts of a northern Syrian city on Monday, killing at least 19 people, all but one of them women, and leaving more than a dozen wounded, hospital workers said.
The car detonated next to a vehicle carrying mostly female agricultural workers on the outskirts of the city of Manbij.
The dead included 18 women and one man, a nurse at the hospital, Mohammad Ahmad, told The Associated Press. Another 15 women were wounded, some of them in critical condition, according to the local Syrian civil defense.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion.
It was the seventh car bomb explosion in Manbij in just over a month, said Munir Mustafa, the deputy director of civil defense.
Manbij in northeastern Aleppo province continues to witness violence even after the downfall of President Bashar Assad in December.
Turkish-backed factions, known as the Syrian National Army, have clashed with the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The factions took the city from the SDF in early December during a lightning insurgency that toppled President Bashar Assad.
A car bombing in Manbij on Saturday killed four civilians and wounded nine, state news agency SANA reported, citing civil defense officials.

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Arab World

Fire at Yemen Shopping Mall Kills One, Injures 13

This picture shows a view from the fort on Sirah Island looking towards the old sea port of Aden in southern Yemen. (AFP/File)
This picture shows a view from the fort on Sirah Island looking towards the old sea port of Aden in southern Yemen. (AFP/File)
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Fire at Yemen Shopping Mall Kills One, Injures 13

This picture shows a view from the fort on Sirah Island looking towards the old sea port of Aden in southern Yemen. (AFP/File)
This picture shows a view from the fort on Sirah Island looking towards the old sea port of Aden in southern Yemen. (AFP/File)

One person was killed and 13 were injured after a fire broke out at ‌a ‌shopping mall ‌in ⁠the city of Marib, ⁠Yemen, on Sunday, state news agency Saba ⁠said.

The fire, ‌which ‌broke out ‌after midnight ‌on Saturday, destroyed the mall and damaged ‌nearby shops, Saba added. The death ⁠and ⁠injuries were all caused by suffocation, it said.

Arab World

In Munich, Al-Alimi Frames Yemen Conflict as Issue of International Security 

Al-Alimi meets with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. (Saba)
Al-Alimi meets with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. (Saba)
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In Munich, Al-Alimi Frames Yemen Conflict as Issue of International Security 

Al-Alimi meets with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. (Saba)
Al-Alimi meets with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. (Saba)

Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi sought at the Munich Security Conference to frame his country’s crisis as an international security issue.

He met several American and European officials and global leaders to underscore to them that the conflict in Yemen is not simply an internal affair, rather it is directly tied to the security of international marine navigation, energy stability and counterterrorism efforts.

He stressed that supporting the Yemeni state is not just a political choice, but a strategic need to protect regional and international stability.

Al-Alimi held a series of meetings with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos.

Al-Alimi meets Finnish President Alexander Stubb on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. (Saba)

Throughout the meetings, al-Alimi urged the international community to change its approach to Yemen, to shift from crisis management to resolving it.

He warned that maintaining the situation will allow the Iran-backed Houthi militias to renew their threats to international shipping in the Red Sea, which they have been using for political and security extortion.

A lax approach towards the Houthis may lead to them expand their threats to the Arabian Sea and other vital waterways, he went on to say, while praising Europe’s role in protecting marine navigation.

Al-Alimi meets with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. (Saba)

Moreover, al-Alimi said Yemen’s stability is tied to reducing Iran’s influence in the region.

Tehran’s armed proxies in the region are the main threat to security, he stressed. The region is going through a major change given the international pressure on Iran. Weakening its proxies will create a historic opportunity to end its influence in Yemen.

Al-Alimi called on Europe to adopt a firmer approach towards Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and to designate it as terrorist.

He also said the Houthi militias are among Iran’s most dangerous regional proxies and adopting a lax approach towards them will only prolong the war in Yemen.

Al-Alimi meets with US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos in Munich. (Saba)

Confronting the challenge posed by Iran demands support to the Yemeni state, he added.

Ensuring the success of the state is the best long-term investment in Gulf and Red Sea security and global peace, he said.

Al-Alimi also noted the recent internal changes in Yemen, hailing Saudi Arabia’s support in that regard. The changes included unifying the security and military commands, the formation of a new government, launching a reform program, and improving services.

Arab World

Lebanon Says 4 Dead in Strike as Israel Says Targeted Palestinian Group

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana on February 2, 2026. (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana on February 2, 2026. (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP)
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Lebanon Says 4 Dead in Strike as Israel Says Targeted Palestinian Group

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana on February 2, 2026. (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana on February 2, 2026. (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP)

Lebanon said an Israeli strike on Sunday near the Syrian border in the country's east killed four people, as Israel said it had targeted operatives from Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, AFP said.
Despite a November 2024 truce that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting the Iran-backed group but occasionally also targeting its Palestinian ally Hamas.
It appeared to be the first strike Israel has claimed in Lebanon against Islamic Jihad, which is also allied with Hezbollah, since the truce.
An Israeli drone "targeted a car on the Lebanese-Syrian border", the state-run National News Agency said, adding that "four bodies" were inside the vehicle.
Lebanon's health ministry confirmed the toll in a statement.
The Israeli military in a statement said it "struck Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in the Majdal Anjar area".
Fighters from Islamic Jihad were among those killed in Lebanon during hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which erupted in October 2023 over the Gaza war.
The Palestinian group and Hamas both claimed some attacks and infiltration attempts from Lebanon during the hostilities.
More than 370 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.
In line with the 2024 truce, the Lebanese army announced in January that it had completed the first phase of a government plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area near the Israeli border.
As part of the Lebanese government's push to disarm non-state groups, some Palestinian factions in Lebanon handed over weapons in several refugee camps last year to the Lebanese authorities.
Hamas and its Islamic Jihad ally have not announced plans to disarm in Lebanon.