15 Palestinians Hurt in Clashes with Israeli Troops

Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum. (AFP)
Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum. (AFP)
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15 Palestinians Hurt in Clashes with Israeli Troops

Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum. (AFP)
Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum. (AFP)

Israeli troops in the West Bank wounded 15 Palestinians with rubber bullets Friday in clashes marking 20 years since the start of the second intifada, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

The incident took place in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near Nablus in the north of the occupied territory, it said, adding that four of the injured were taken to hospital and the others treated on the spot.

The Red Crescent told AFP that it had also aided "dozens" of protesters who inhaled tear gas fired by Israeli forces.

The Israeli army said it had no knowledge of clashes in the village.

Bearing Palestinian flags, a few hundred demonstrators gathered there in the early afternoon, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

Protests against more than five decades of Israeli occupation are a regular weekly occurrence in the West Bank.

Friday's demonstrators also marked the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising which followed late Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's contentious visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on September 28, 2000.

The second intifada ended in February 2005, after the deaths of some 4,700 people, nearly 80 percent of them Palestinians.

Palestinian officials, including the vice-chairman of the Fatah party Mahmoud al-Aloul, participated in Friday's march.



US Military Says It Strikes Iran-Backed Militia Facility in Syria

A convoy of US military vehicles near Qamishli, Syria, February 2020. (SANA/via Reuters)
A convoy of US military vehicles near Qamishli, Syria, February 2020. (SANA/via Reuters)
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US Military Says It Strikes Iran-Backed Militia Facility in Syria

A convoy of US military vehicles near Qamishli, Syria, February 2020. (SANA/via Reuters)
A convoy of US military vehicles near Qamishli, Syria, February 2020. (SANA/via Reuters)

US forces conducted strikes in Syria against Iranian-aligned militia groups for a second day in a row Tuesday in response to further attacks on US personnel, US Central Command said late Tuesday.

In the latest retaliatory strikes, US forces hit a weapons storage and logistics facility after militia groups launched a rocket attack on US personnel at Patrol Base Shaddadi in Eastern Syria.

Earlier Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that over the weekend the militias had also targeted US personnel with a drone attack and indirect fires at another base, Green Village, where US troops are operating — which prompted the US to strike nine militia targets on Monday in self-defense.

There are about 900 US troops deployed in Syria. No US troops were injured in either attack.