Yazidi Mass Grave Found in Northern Iraq

An Iraqi inspects the remains of Yazidis killed by ISIS jihadist group near the village of Sinuni, in the northwestern Sinjar area on February 3, 2015. AFP
An Iraqi inspects the remains of Yazidis killed by ISIS jihadist group near the village of Sinuni, in the northwestern Sinjar area on February 3, 2015. AFP
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Yazidi Mass Grave Found in Northern Iraq

An Iraqi inspects the remains of Yazidis killed by ISIS jihadist group near the village of Sinuni, in the northwestern Sinjar area on February 3, 2015. AFP
An Iraqi inspects the remains of Yazidis killed by ISIS jihadist group near the village of Sinuni, in the northwestern Sinjar area on February 3, 2015. AFP

Iraqi officials said they found another mass grave in the northern Sinjar region on Wednesday containing the bodies of dozens of members of the Yazidi minority killed by the ISIS terrorist group.

"The mass grave contains the bodies of 73 people, men, women and children executed by ISIS when they controlled the region," local official Chokor Melhem Elias told AFP.

He said Iraqi security forces made the latest discovery in the Rambussi area near the town of Qahtaniyya.

In 2014, ISIS killed thousands of Yazidis in Sinjar and kidnapped thousands of the community's women and girls as sex slaves.

The United Nations estimates 3,000 of them are still being held captive.

Kurdish fighters backed by the US-led coalition recaptured Sinjar from ISIS in November 2015 before Iraqi security forces took control of the region in October.

Also, 10 days ago, mass graves containing at least 400 bodies were found near Hawija, an Iraqi city that was occupied by ISIS fighters until last month.

Kirkuk province's governor, Rakan Said, said they were found at an airbase just outside the city.

Some of the victims were in civilian clothes but others were wearing the jumpsuits that ISIS used to dress people who were condemned to death.

As government troops have advanced across Iraq, they have discovered dozens of mass graves in areas that fell under the jihadists' brutal rule. Last year the Associated Press published a survey of mass graves that identified 72 sites. They could contain from 5,200 to more than 15,000 bodies, the news agency said.



Syria Says Busts Hezbollah-Linked Cell Planning Attack on ‘Religious Figure’

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 8, 2025, shows Syrian forces manning a checkpoint in the coastal city of Latakia. (SANA/AFP)
This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 8, 2025, shows Syrian forces manning a checkpoint in the coastal city of Latakia. (SANA/AFP)
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Syria Says Busts Hezbollah-Linked Cell Planning Attack on ‘Religious Figure’

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 8, 2025, shows Syrian forces manning a checkpoint in the coastal city of Latakia. (SANA/AFP)
This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 8, 2025, shows Syrian forces manning a checkpoint in the coastal city of Latakia. (SANA/AFP)

Syria's interior ministry said Saturday that five people had been arrested over a plot to attack an unidentified religious figure in Damascus, alleging the cell was linked to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

In a statement, the ministry said security forces observed a woman as she attempted to "plant an explosive device in front of the house of a religious figure" near a church in Damascus's Bab Touma area.

Security forces intervened and dismantled the device, arresting all five members of the cell, the statement said.

"Preliminary investigations revealed the cell's link to Lebanon's Hezbollah, and that its members received specialized military training abroad," the statement added.

Since March 2, Hezbollah has been battling Israel after drawing Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.

The group played a key role in Syria's civil war, fighting alongside the forces of now ousted leader Bashar al-Assad.

Under Assad, Syria was part of Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel and enabled the transfer of weapons and money from Iran to Hezbollah.

Syria's new authorities have rejected Iranian influence and are hostile to the Lebanese group and its sponsor.

In February, Syria said it had dismantled a cell responsible for recent attacks targeting Damascus's Mazzeh district, saying the weapons came from Hezbollah, which denied any involvement.


Libya Signs First Unified State Budget in More Than a Decade

A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Libya Signs First Unified State Budget in More Than a Decade

A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. (Reuters)

Libya's two rival legislative bodies have approved the country's first unified state budget in more than a decade, its central bank said in a statement on Saturday.

The oil-producing North African country has been divided since a 2014 civil war that spawned two administrations in the west and east. Its last unified national budget was agreed in 2013.

Abduljalel Shawesh, a representative of the High State Council in Tripoli, told Reuters by phone that the two rival legislative chambers had agreed on 190 billion Libyan dinars for the budget ($29.95 billion).

The ‌central bank said ‌the approval of the budget by the two rival legislative ‌chambers ⁠could help strengthen ⁠financial stability, marking an important move toward ending years of financial division.

"This is a clear declaration that Libya is capable of overcoming its differences when a unified vision for its future is forged," said central bank Governor Naji Issa, who supervised the signing ceremony at the bank's headquarters in Tripoli.

The two legislative chambers are the eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR) that was elected in 2014 and the High Council of State (HSC) in the west, which was formed ⁠as part of a 2015 political agreement and whose members were ‌drawn from a parliament elected in 2012.

The agreement ‌to approve the budget was signed in Tripoli by Essa Aribi, a representative of the Benghazi-based ‌HoR, and Shawesh, representing HSC.

Osama Hamad, who heads a parallel government allied to ‌HoR in the east, said in a statement the agreement represented a cornerstone for launching balanced development programs throughout the country, "ensuring a fair distribution of resources."

The Government of National Unity in Tripoli will be responsible for salaries, operational spending, and subsidies, while a committee from all parties would discuss ‌priorities for implementation of development projects in the budget under the auspices of the central bank, Shawesh said.

The HoR is expected to ⁠put forward legislation ⁠for the budget, he said.

He also said there was an agreement to allocate 12 billion dinars to state oil firm National Oil Corporation. Libya's economy relies on oil for more than 95% of its economic output.

Shawesh said 40 billion dinars would be allocated to development projects, about 37 billion for subsidies, 73 billion for salaries, about 18 billion for family allowances, and 10 billion for operational spending.

Massad Boulos, the US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs, said in post on X that he congratulated Libya on signing the agreement "after months of US facilitation as part of a broader roadmap toward peace and national unification."

He said the new budget would support development projects nationwide and ensure financing for the National Oil Corporation so that it can increase energy production and revenues.


Israel Army Says Hit Over 200 Hezbollah Targets in Last 24 Hours

This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Tyre shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern village of Qlaileh on April 11, 2026. (AFP)
This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Tyre shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern village of Qlaileh on April 11, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Army Says Hit Over 200 Hezbollah Targets in Last 24 Hours

This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Tyre shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern village of Qlaileh on April 11, 2026. (AFP)
This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Tyre shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern village of Qlaileh on April 11, 2026. (AFP)

The Israeli military said Saturday it had struck more than 200 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon within the last 24 hours, among them rocket launchers.

"In the last 24 hours, the army struck more than 200 Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon. The Israeli air force continues to strike Hezbollah infrastructure and aid the ground forces operating in southern Lebanon," the military said.

On Friday, Lebanon's presidency said that a meeting would be held with Israel in Washington next week to discuss a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war and the potential start of negotiations between the neighbors.