At Least 13 Tunisians Missing after Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisiahttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5309785-least-13-tunisians-missing-after-migrant-boat-sinks-tunisia
At Least 13 Tunisians Missing after Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia
Migrants on a boat waiting for assistance from a rescue vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, July 24, 2025 (Reuters)
At least 13 Tunisians are missing after a migrant boat sank off the Tunisian coast while sailing towards Italy, and two people were rescued, the head of a migrant rights group said on Saturday.
The boat set off early on Thursday, Mostafa Abdelkebir, the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters.
One of the two survivors told rescuers in a local boat they had been stranded at sea for hours after their vessel capsized. The second survivor was in critical condition, said Abdelkebir, whose group monitors migration issues.
Tunisia was once a major departure point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, but departures have fallen sharply over the past two years amid a crackdown and tighter maritime controls, backed by European funding and modern border-monitoring equipment, particularly from Italy.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and dozens of other human rights and humanitarian groups said in a statement last month that the EU-Tunisia migration deal had fueled and normalized serious abuses against migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia.
The groups called on the EU to suspend funding for migration and border-control activities involving Tunisian security forces.
Tunisia has not commented on the statement but has repeatedly said it is bearing the brunt of a major migration influx. President Kais Saied said in 2023 that the influx was aimed at changing the country's demographic makeup.
The central Mediterranean route is one of the world's deadliest migration routes, used by migrants from Africa and the Middle East seeking to reach Europe, often in overcrowded or unseaworthy boats.
Salam Inspects Military Units South of Litani: No Capable Lebanese State without One Strong Armyhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5309783-salam-inspects-military-units-south-litani-no-capable-lebanese-state-without-one
Salam Inspects Military Units South of Litani: No Capable Lebanese State without One Strong Army
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam during his visit to South Lebanon on Friday. (NNA)
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam tied the restoration of state authority in South Lebanon to a broader process extending beyond military deployment to strengthening institutions, restoring services and advancing reconstruction.
During a visit to the Benoit Barakat Barracks in Tyre, Salam stressed that “every position where the army deploys in the South is a place where the state regains its authority.”
“Restoring sovereignty requires building a capable state, and there can be no capable state without one strong army,” he added, arguing that sovereignty restored through security must also be consolidated economically and socially.
One authority
“We want the South, like all of Lebanon, to be under one authority, and Lebanese citizens there to feel safe because they have an army protecting them,” the PM declared, linking lasting stability to the state and its constitutional institutions regaining control over decisions of war and peace.
At the same time, he acknowledged the challenges confronting the military amid continuing Israeli attacks. “True sovereignty is neither taken nor given; it is built,” he emphasized.
Salam reaffirmed his government’s commitment to building a national state faithful to the constitution, describing efforts to strengthen the army as “a strategic choice at the heart of our project to restore the state,” rather than a secondary priority.
The government continues to mobilize Arab and international support to develop the army’s personnel capabilities, improve its equipment and enhance service members’ living conditions, he went on to say.
He described the military as one of the few institutions around which Lebanese citizens remain united.
Addressing troops, Salam urged them to shield the army from political and sectarian divisions.
“Preserve the unity of the army. Do not allow politics to divide you and accept only the constitution and the law as your guide,” he told them, warning against allowing “the evils of sectarianism” to infiltrate their ranks.
Lebanon could emerge from its current predicament only by having “one army, one flag and one state,” he maintained.
Salam also paid tribute to fallen service members, telling their families: “Your sons are not only martyrs of the military institution; they are martyrs of the entire nation.”
Beyond army deployment
“The return of the state to the South is not limited to the deployment of the army, but extends across all sectors, including education, reconstruction and everything else,” he added, reiterating the government’s commitment to providing the military with everything needed to carry out its mission successfully.
He pledged that the state would spare no effort to secure Israel’s complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory, recover prisoners and advance reconstruction.
Defense Minister Michel Menassa similarly framed Salam’s visit as an affirmation of state sovereignty.
“Our visit to the South is not merely an inspection tour. We are here today to reaffirm our unwavering position seeking to restore state sovereignty,” he vowed.
He identified the government’s primary negotiating objective as “the complete withdrawal of the Israeli enemy from Lebanon.”
Menassa praised the army as a symbol of “dignity, sacrifice and loyalty” that brings Lebanese citizens together and safeguards national unity and civil peace.
He also commended its professionalism in carrying out missions despite difficult conditions and pressure.
SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi with his fighters wearing the military uniform of the Syrian army in February. (Social media)
Ahmed al-Hilali, deputy governor of Syria’s Hasakah province and spokesperson for the presidential team tasked with overseeing integration with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), welcomed SDF commander Mazloum Abdi’s announcement on integration, describing it as an acknowledgment of the SDF’s dissolution.
He cautioned, however, that “there is a difference between announcing an integration decision and completing its implementation on the ground.”
Syrian Kurdish writer and political researcher Ali Tami told Asharq Al-Awsat that integration was “complex and intertwined and cannot be concluded with a statement.”
He also challenged Abdi’s assertion that fighters who had come to support the SDF had left the region, noting that thousands of foreign fighters and remnants of the former regime remained in Hasakah.
Al-Hilali and Abdi attended celebrations Thursday marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of Qamishli. In a speech, Abdi announced the “completion of the military, security and administrative integration” of his forces into Syrian state institutions under the January 29 agreement.
Late Thursday, al-Hilali told Syria’s Al-Ikhbariya television that Abdi’s remarks were “an important and positive development,” viewing them as a clear transition from understandings to actual implementation of integration into state institutions.
He explained that the announcement would translate into practical measures, including unifying institutions and administrative authority and restoring the state’s full powers, ensuring unified decision-making and Syrian sovereignty.
Abdi's remarks were aimed at ending “dual structures and parallel entities” and establishing “one state, one army and unified institutions,” he added.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi meet in Damascus earlier in August. (SANA)
Implementation
Al-Hilali stressed that the issue could not be considered definitively resolved through statements alone.
“What was announced, together with earlier steps, such as removing partisan symbols and flags from institutions and public squares, confirms that the process is moving forward,” he noted.
While describing the announcement as a highly significant political step, he emphasized that it did not mean all stages of administrative, security and military implementation had been completed.
The objective now is to turn the decisions into a fully institutionalized reality in which Syrian state institutions become the sole authority, all institutions and bodies return to the state framework, and security, military and administrative decision-making is unified, he explained.
In separate remarks carried by Syria TV, al-Hilali said Abdi’s declaration that military and security integration had been completed as an acknowledgment of the SDF’s dissolution.
Integration declared complete
Abdi announced that the integration of military, service and administrative institutions into national state institutions had been completed and that “from now on, a new process begins.”
In areas formerly under the Kurdish Autonomous Administration, new institutions are being established in the name of the Syrian state while existing institutions will continue operating, he explained, urging residents to protect them.
Abdi also announced that forces from other “parts of Kurdistan” that had supported the SDF during Syria’s civil war had withdrawn under an agreement and at the SDF’s own request, an apparent reference to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.
Tami remained skeptical, arguing that the SDF had not formally announced its dissolution and that integration was too complicated to be settled by statements alone.
He maintained that the PKK controls the SDF and regards it as one of its instruments in confronting Türkiye, making it unlikely that the group would surrender its weapons before the direction of the peace process in Türkiye becomes clearer.
“In principle, we all support sparing the region further bloodshed, and integration is possible, but unfortunately the chances of success are very slim,” Tami lamented.
He also dismissed Abdi’s assertion that Kurdish forces that previously assisted the SDF had left the region as “illogical,” pointing to thousands of foreign fighters and former regime remnants still in Hasakah.
With efforts underway to ease tensions, integration continues to face major difficulties and challenges, he remarked.
SDF fighters in Ain al-Arab. (Reuters file)
From Autonomous Administration to integration
The Autonomous Administration traces its origins to the Kurdish Supreme Committee, formed by Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council following the July 12, 2012, Erbil agreement. Its armed structures included the People’s Protection Units (YPG), Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) and Asayish security forces, followed in 2015 by the Kurdish-dominated SDF.
The administration expanded between 2014 and 2023, accompanied by growth in its military, security and civilian institutions, which employ tens of thousands.
The SDF lost a significant portion of its territory during nearly two weeks of clashes with the Syrian army in late 2025 and early 2026, followed by the January 29 agreement.
The accord provides for a ceasefire and gradual integration of Kurdish-established military and civilian institutions into the Syrian state, the handover of border crossings and oil and gas fields, and the departure of foreign fighters.
In July, residents in Hasakah mobilized for several days to demand that the state extend its authority across the entire province, allow displaced people to return to their towns and villages, and end SDF dominance and its abuses against residents.
Houthis Tighten Security Grip in Ibbhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5309776-houthis-tighten-security-grip-ibb
A Houthi rally in Sanaa called by the group’s leader in support of land and maritime attacks (AFP)
The Iran-backed Houthi group has tightened its security grip on Yemen’s Ibb governorate amid rising tensions and clashes along surrounding front lines, deploying elite units to areas near battlefronts with Taiz, Hodeidah and Al-Dhale.
Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group had intensified its security presence in Ibb city and areas near the front lines in the west of the governorate, reinforced routes leading to the fronts and imposed tighter surveillance on residents’ movements and communications.
Ibb is strategically important because it lies along supply routes linking Houthi-controlled areas with fronts in Hodeidah, Taiz and Al-Dhale, about 192 kilometers (119 miles) south of Sanaa.
The Houthis have moved the headquarters of the military command covering Ibb, Al-Dhale and Taiz to Damt, east of Ibb, and deployed two elite units known as the Al-Samad Brigades near the front lines, the sources said.
The group sent fighters recruited from Ibb to frontline positions while keeping the two Al-Samad units behind the front to monitor the forces and prevent local fighters from fleeing or retreating during clashes.
According to the sources, the deployment reflects distrust of fighters recruited from the governorate as the Houthis tighten security in cities and towns and along roads leading to combat zones.
Operations Hub
The Houthis have turned eastern Ibb into a center for managing military operations on surrounding fronts while redeploying units near the frontlines.
The moves come amid mounting tensions on several fronts and as the group strengthens its security grip over Ibb, one of its main recruitment and supply areas.
They coincide with the first anniversary of a sweeping arrest campaign in Ibb that targeted more than 115 educators, academics, doctors and engineers, according to local sources.
The campaign lasted more than three months, from late May to October last year. Fourteen detainees have since been released at different times, the latest about a week ago, while the others remain in custody.
Several people wanted by the Houthis remain unable to leave the governorate for government-controlled areas, while around 260 families have managed to flee Houthi-held territory and reach areas under government control.
Siham al-Abab, daughter of educator Sadiq al-Abab, meanwhile revealed that her father’s health had deteriorated after more than a year in Houthi detention, with his family unable to visit him or obtain information about his condition. Her father called several days ago and sounded clearly tired, she said, adding that the family did not know what was wrong with him and could neither see nor check on him.
She added that the call had a profound psychological impact and that her father’s voice remained with her afterward. She had previously described her family’s suffering in his absence, saying he had left behind a small family in need of support while remaining imprisoned without the family knowing what charges he faced.
The Houthis detained Sadiq al-Abab during a sweeping arrest campaign targeting hundreds of people in Ibb, Taiz and Al-Bayda, including doctors, teachers, lawyers, employees and community figures, according to local sources.
Detention Without Legal Process
Zakaria al-Jaberi said his father has been forcibly detained by the Houthis at the Political Security headquarters in Ibb since June 12, 2025.
The family has communicated with him only three times. Its sole permitted visit came more than 11 months after his detention, before further visits were barred.
Al-Jaberi noted that the Houthis had allowed only limited phone calls, leaving the family unaware of his detention conditions or physical and psychological state despite authorities knowing he has health problems.
The family has approached numerous officials and individuals seeking answers or assistance, but was often told that those responsible knew nothing about the case and that the authority handling it was in Sanaa.
Al-Jabri questioned who had ordered his father’s detention, why he had not been referred to prosecutors and why the family had not been informed of the charges or any legal process.
The family does not know “who has the authority to make the decision or who can end this detention,” he underlined, adding that the prolonged detention had taken a heavy psychological and social toll. He said the case reflected the absence of any clear official authority the family could turn to despite repeated appeals to government bodies, civil society organizations and local dignitaries.
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