Women, Children Kidnapped by ISIS in Sweida Last Week

Druze clergymen pray during a funeral of two of those killed a day earlier in the ISIS attacks in the southern province of al-Sweida during a mass funeral at Shahba town, in Sweida province, Syria, Thursday, July 26, 2018. AP
Druze clergymen pray during a funeral of two of those killed a day earlier in the ISIS attacks in the southern province of al-Sweida during a mass funeral at Shahba town, in Sweida province, Syria, Thursday, July 26, 2018. AP
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Women, Children Kidnapped by ISIS in Sweida Last Week

Druze clergymen pray during a funeral of two of those killed a day earlier in the ISIS attacks in the southern province of al-Sweida during a mass funeral at Shahba town, in Sweida province, Syria, Thursday, July 26, 2018. AP
Druze clergymen pray during a funeral of two of those killed a day earlier in the ISIS attacks in the southern province of al-Sweida during a mass funeral at Shahba town, in Sweida province, Syria, Thursday, July 26, 2018. AP

ISIS kidnapped dozens of women and children when it attacked their villages last week in Syria's southern province of Sweida, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday.

More than 250 people were killed on Wednesday when the terrorist group carried out a string of suicide attacks and shootings in the provincial capital Sweida and villages to the north and east. 

"At least 36 Druze women and children were abducted after the attacks," said the Britain-based monitor.

Four of the women had since managed to escape and another two had died, said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman. 

Another 17 men from the areas targeted by ISIS were still unaccounted for, but it was unclear if they were also kidnapped, he told AFP.

Both the Observatory and Syrian news outlet Sweida24 said 20 women and 16 children had been kidnapped.

ISIS has so far not claimed the kidnappings, and no details on them could be found on its propaganda channels.  

The extremist group still holds small, isolated areas of Syria's remote desert, which includes northeastern parts of Sweida, as well as pockets in the adjacent province of Daraa and further east near the border with Iraq. 



Israeli Gunfire Hits Perimeter of UN Peacekeeping Post in Lebanon, UNIFIL Says

A post for UN peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is pictured near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, April 6, 2023. (Reuters)
A post for UN peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is pictured near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, April 6, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israeli Gunfire Hits Perimeter of UN Peacekeeping Post in Lebanon, UNIFIL Says

A post for UN peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is pictured near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, April 6, 2023. (Reuters)
A post for UN peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is pictured near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, April 6, 2023. (Reuters)

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Wednesday that direct fire from the Israeli army had hit the perimeter of one of its peacekeeping positions in south Lebanon.

In a statement, UNIFIL said the incident on Tuesday was the first of its kind since Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last November.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the incident, in which UNIFIL said one of its bases in the village of Kfar Shouba in southern Lebanon was hit.

"In recent days, UNIFIL has also observed other aggressive behavior by the Israeli military towards peacekeepers performing operational activities in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701," it said, referring to a UN resolution originally adopted in 2006 to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Tuesday's incident occurred near the Blue Line, a UN-mapped demarcation separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Any unauthorized crossing of the Blue Line by land or by air from any side constitutes a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.

UNIFIL cited other alleged incidents it blamed on the Israeli army, including being targeted by lasers while it was performing a patrol with the Lebanese army in the southern border town of Maroun al-Ras on Tuesday.

Israel has continued to occasionally strike areas in south Lebanon, saying that it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. It has also struck the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut several times.

The ceasefire terms require that neither Hezbollah nor any other armed group have weapons in areas near the border south of the Litani River, which flows into the Mediterranean some 20 km (12 miles) north of the Israeli border.

They require Israel to withdraw troops from the south and that the Lebanese army deploy into the border region.

Lebanon and Israel have accused each other of failing to fully implement the deal. Israel still occupies five hilltop positions in the south. Rockets have been fired from Lebanon towards Israel twice, though Hezbollah denied any role.

Israel killed thousands of Hezbollah fighters in the war, destroyed much of its arsenal and eliminated its top leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah.

The war spiraled after Hezbollah opened fire at the beginning of the Gaza war, declaring solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas.