Eleven Killed as Fire Rips through Syria Shopping Mall

The fire at the mall in Damascus broke out in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and took firefighters some four hours to extinguish. (AFP)
The fire at the mall in Damascus broke out in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and took firefighters some four hours to extinguish. (AFP)
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Eleven Killed as Fire Rips through Syria Shopping Mall

The fire at the mall in Damascus broke out in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and took firefighters some four hours to extinguish. (AFP)
The fire at the mall in Damascus broke out in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and took firefighters some four hours to extinguish. (AFP)

A fire in a shopping center in the Syrian capital Damascus killed at least 11 people early Tuesday, the interior ministry said, in one of the deadliest blazes of recent years.

Many of those killed were security guards or other staff on duty overnight in the six-storey building, civil defense director Ahmad Abbas said.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.

"Eleven people have died as a result of the fire in the La Mirada mall, and two people have been rescued," the interior ministry said.

The fire caused "extensive material damage", it added, ripping through stores that sold clothes, leather goods and cosmetics -- many of which were highly flammable.

"Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the blaze," the ministry statement said.

Fires in the Syrian capital are relatively frequent, some caused by electrical short-circuits, others by unsafe heating.

A 52-year-old witness, who asked to be identified only by his first name Hani, said the fire broke out at around 3:00 am (0100 GMT).

"The fire started on the top floor and started to spread quickly to other levels," he said.

Damascus police chief Hussein Jumaa said the cause of the blaze was likely "internal."

"The fire spread so fast that the people in the building couldn't save themselves," Jumaa told state television.

'My livelihood is gone'

Twenty fire engines helped douse the blaze, civil defense chief Abbas said.

"It took around four hours for us to bring the fire under control," he said, adding that the victims died either of suffocation or of severe burns.

"They were all guards working at the mall, or workers on duty," Abbas added.

Ten of the 11 corpses recovered from the building were charred beyond recognition, the state SANA news agency reported.

It said seven people were wounded, including those who suffered smoke inhalation.

An AFP correspondent saw fire trucks stationed outside the charred facade of the shopping mall, where dozens of businesses had been destroyed.

"We have asked everyone to stay away from the area to facilitate civil defense operations," a fire department official told AFP on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Despite the security cordon, dozens flocked to the scene, including business owners eager to check on their shops.

One store owner collapsed when he saw the scale of the damage.

"My livelihood is gone... my money is gone," he wailed.

The fire comes a week after a blaze in a hospital in Syria's second city of Aleppo killed three people, sparked by an electrical short-circuit, according to SANA.

In September last year, a firefighter died and two civilians were injured in a blaze that destroyed a fabric warehouse in the Old City of Damascus.



US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)

The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan and it imposed sanctions on the group's leader over a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

The moves deal a blow to the RSF's attempts to burnish its image and assert legitimacy - including by installing a civilian government- as the paramilitary group seeks to expand its territory beyond the roughly half of the country it currently controls.

The RSF rejected the measures.

"America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong. Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong," said an RSF spokesman when reached for comment.

The war in Sudan has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. It has also carried out mass looting campaigns across swathes of the country, arbitrarily killing and sexually assaulting civilians in the process.

The RSF denies harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors it says it is trying to control.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the RSF and aligned militias had continued to direct attacks against civilians, adding they had systematically murdered men and boys on an ethnic basis and had deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of sexual violence.

The militias have also targeted fleeing civilians and murdered innocent people escaping conflict, Blinken said.

"The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities," Blinken said.

Washington announced sanctions on the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, barring him and his family from travelling to the US and freezing any US assets he might hold. Financial institutions and others that engage in certain activity with him also risk being hit with sanctions themselves.

It had previously sanctioned other leaders, as well as army officials, but had not sanctioned Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as attempts to bring the two sides to talks continued.

Such attempts have stalled in recent months.

"As the overall commander of the RSF, Hemedti bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces," the Treasury said.

Sudan's army and RSF have been fighting for almost two years, creating a humanitarian crisis in which UN agencies struggle to deliver relief. More than half of Sudan's population faces hunger, and famine has been declared in several areas.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.

Blinken said in the statement that "both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan."

The US has sanctioned army leaders as well as individuals and entities linked to financing its weapons procurement. Last year, Blinken accused the RSF and the army, which has carried out numerous indiscriminate air strikes, of war crimes.