Russia Reveals Details About Israeli Raids Near Damascus Airport

Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
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Russia Reveals Details About Israeli Raids Near Damascus Airport

Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)

Israel raided Damascus International Airport as the Syrian defenses downed seven of the eight missiles that were fired, according to the Russian Center for Reconciliation.

Deputy Head of the Center Rear Admiral Vadim Kolet said that four Israeli F-16 jets fired in December eight missiles from Golan airspace targeting the Damascus airport area.

Kolet said the Syrian air defenses shot seven of the missiles using Russian-made Pantsir-S systems. He confirmed that the Israeli airstrike caused damages to a warehouse and killed one person.

Also, a Syrian soldier was killed in an airstrike on Thursday, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The agency quoted an unnamed military source saying that the Israeli enemy attacked the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points in the southern region, indicating that the air defenses shot down most of the missiles.

The Israeli army refused to comment on the news.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) indicated that Israel recently intensified its strikes in Syria. An attack on November 24 killed five people.

Meanwhile, the UK's Defense Ministry said that British fighter jets shot down a drone approaching al-Tanf base in Syria.

It is the first time the British army had shot down another enemy aircraft since the Falklands War nearly 40 years ago.

The Ministry of Defense said that the drone, which was downed on December 14, posed a threat to the coalition against ISIS in southern Syria.

The UK's Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said: "This strike is an impressive demonstration of the RAF's ability to take out hostile targets in the air that pose a threat to our forces."

"We continue to do everything we can alongside our coalition partners to stamp out the terrorist threat and protect our personnel and our partners."

Two RAF Typhoon FGR4s were patrolling over Syria and Iraq on Tuesday as part of the global coalition against ISIS and were ordered to investigate hostile drone activity near the al-Tanf military base.

The pilots identified a small hostile drone and shot it down using an advanced short-range air-to-air missile.

It was the first operational air-to-air engagement conducted by an RAF Typhoon and the first air-to-air missile firing during Operation Shader, targeting the remnants of ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

A spokesman for US Central Command, US Navy Capt Bill Urban, said two drones entered the al-Tanf garrison "deconfliction" zone on Tuesday. One of them was shot down as it moved closer to the base.

He indicated that there were no casualties or damage to facilities.



18 Egyptians Missing after Deadly Boat Capsize Near Greece

Rescued migrants in Heraklion, southern Crete, on Saturday, after their boat capsized © Costas METAXAKIS / AFP
Rescued migrants in Heraklion, southern Crete, on Saturday, after their boat capsized © Costas METAXAKIS / AFP
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18 Egyptians Missing after Deadly Boat Capsize Near Greece

Rescued migrants in Heraklion, southern Crete, on Saturday, after their boat capsized © Costas METAXAKIS / AFP
Rescued migrants in Heraklion, southern Crete, on Saturday, after their boat capsized © Costas METAXAKIS / AFP

Egypt said Wednesday that 18 of its citizens were still missing after a migrant boat capsized, killing four people, off the Greek island of Crete last week.

The wooden boat was carrying 50 people, including four minors, when Greece's coast guard was alerted late Friday.

Greek authorities then directed a commercial vessel to the area for a rescue operation.

According to Greek public broadcaster ERT, an accident occurred when the commercial vessel approached the migrants' boat.

As the passengers tried to climb up ladders into the rescue vessel, a sudden movement caused the wooden boat to capsize.

Egypt's foreign ministry said that 21 Egyptians were on board the boat when it capsized, three of whom have been found dead while the rest remain missing.

The body of a 28-year-old Sudanese woman was also discovered, according to the Greek coast guard.

Twenty migrants were rescued by the commercial vessel, according to the Greek authorities, leaving several people still unaccounted for.

Greek authorities arrested two Sudanese men suspected of being people smugglers who are set to appear before judges on Wednesday, according to local media Creta24.

The migrant boat is believed to have departed from Libya.

Migrants regularly attempt the perilous crossing from Libya to Crete, a gateway to the European Union.

More than 17,000 Egyptians reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, making them the top African and second-largest global group of irregular migrants to Europe.

Many come from poor towns in Egypt's Nile Delta and travel via Libya.

They are often extorted and held hostage until their families back home send the smugglers more money.

Egypt's foreign ministry warned citizens to "exercise extreme caution to avoid being misled by illegal immigration gangs", and said it was coordinating the repatriation of the deceased.


HRW: Sudan's RSF Targeted Civilians with Disabilities in El-Fasher

RSF fighters in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (File photo – Telegram)
RSF fighters in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (File photo – Telegram)
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HRW: Sudan's RSF Targeted Civilians with Disabilities in El-Fasher

RSF fighters in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (File photo – Telegram)
RSF fighters in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (File photo – Telegram)

Sudanese Rapid Support Forces killed, abused and targeted people with disabilities during and after their takeover of El-Fasher, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, calling it the first time it had documented abuse of "this type and scale".

The RSF, which have been fighting Sudan's regular army since April 2023, captured the military's last stronghold in western Darfur in October after an 18-month siege.

Reports later emerged of mass killings, abductions, rape and widespread looting, AFP reported.

Last week, the UN's independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said the assault on El-Fasher bore "the hallmarks of genocide".

"Human Rights Watch has documented abuses against people with disabilities in armed conflict around the world for over a decade," said Emina Cerimovic, the group's associate disability rights director.

"But this is the first time we have documented this type and scale of targeted abuse."

HRW interviewed 22 survivors and witnesses from El-Fasher and found that RSF fighters singled out civilians with disabilities as they tried to flee.

"The Rapid Support Forces treated people with disabilities as suspects, burdens or expendable," Cerimovic said.

She added that fighters accused amputees of being injured soldiers and "summarily executed them", while others were mocked as "insane" or "not being a complete person".

A 29-year-old nurse said fighters executed a young man with Down syndrome whose sister had carried him on her back.

"After killing her brother, they tied her hands, covered her face and took her away," said the nurse.

The nurse also described fighters ordering a woman carrying a blind teenage boy on her back to put him down.

"She said 'he cannot see'," the nurse said. "They immediately shot him in the head."

Another witness said he saw fighters kill "more than 10 people", most with physical disabilities.

Others were beaten, detained for ransom or stripped of essential devices such as wheelchairs and hearing aids, leaving many unable to escape, HRW said.

Conditions in displacement camps also remain dire, with "bathrooms and other facilities... inaccessible" to people with disabilities, witnesses told HRW.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council sanctioned four RSF commanders over atrocities in El-Fasher.

The wider conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 11 million and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.


Hezbollah Official Says Will Not Intervene in Event of 'Limited' US Strikes on Iran

A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Official Says Will Not Intervene in Event of 'Limited' US Strikes on Iran

A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)

A Hezbollah official said Wednesday that the Lebanese militant group would not intervene militarily in the event of "limited" US strikes on its backer Iran, but would consider any attack against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a "red line".

Lebanese authorities fear that Hezbollah would become involved if a potential US attack on Iran triggered a regional war, but the official told AFP on condition of anonymity: "In the event of limited US strikes on Iran, Hezbollah's position will be to not intervene militarily."