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Rise in Number of Fighters Returning to Germany from Mideast

Police investigators in Dortmund, Germany, April 12, 2017. AP
Police investigators in Dortmund, Germany, April 12, 2017. AP
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Rise in Number of Fighters Returning to Germany from Mideast

Police investigators in Dortmund, Germany, April 12, 2017. AP
Police investigators in Dortmund, Germany, April 12, 2017. AP

The German interior ministry has admitted that the number of fighters who have traveled from Germany to Syria and Iraq increased in 2017.

In response to a parliamentary questionnaire submitted by the Left party, the ministry said at least 249 people have traveled from Germany to both countries.

The number of those heading to fight alongside Kurds between April and December 2017 reached 45. While 204 people, including 69 Germans, joined different terrorist organizations in the two countries last year.

Twenty-one of those who embarked on the journey on fight alongside Kurds against ISIS were killed, it said.

It added that 22 of those supporting Kurds in Iraq and Syria have returned. They are part of 124 people who have returned to Germany after fighting in the two countries.

The number of those joining terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq had dropped significantly in 2016.

Ulla Jelpke, one of the Left party politicians who submitted the questionnaire, was highly critical of the interior ministry for considering Kurdish fighters as terrorists.

"The fact that ISIS has been pushed back is thanks, in great part, to Kurdish YPG ground troops and their volunteer supporters. To investigate them for being members of a terrorist organization upon return is just grotesque," said Jelpke.

German newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung quoted police as saying that the judiciary has opened an investigation into many terror-related cases on returnees from Syria and Iraq.

The prosecution has accused 27 of them of belonging to a terrorist organization. But dropped charges against 16 because of lack of evidence.

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World

Pope Renews Appeal for Peace in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV appears at the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican where Catholic faithful and pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing at the end of the noon Angelus prayer, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)
Pope Leo XIV appears at the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican where Catholic faithful and pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing at the end of the noon Angelus prayer, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)
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Pope Renews Appeal for Peace in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV appears at the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican where Catholic faithful and pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing at the end of the noon Angelus prayer, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)
Pope Leo XIV appears at the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican where Catholic faithful and pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing at the end of the noon Angelus prayer, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)

Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace in the Middle East on Sunday, calling for an end to the war and reopening of dialogue.

"Dear brothers and sisters, for two weeks the peoples of the Middle East have suffered the atrocious violence of war," the US pontiff said at his weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican.

"Thousands of innocent people have been killed, and countless others have been forced to flee their homes.

"I renew my closeness to all those who have lost loved ones in the attacks that have hit schools, hospitals, and residential areas."

Leo said the situation in Lebanon was a particular cause for concern.

"On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and of all women and men of goodwill, I address those responsible for this conflict," he said in Italian.

"Cease fire! Let paths of dialogue be reopened!

"Violence can never lead to the justice, stability and peace that people await."

World

Israel Approves Emergency Military Funding as Iran War Rages

Israeli security forces check the damage to cars after a rocket strike in Holon, in the Tel Aviv District on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli security forces check the damage to cars after a rocket strike in Holon, in the Tel Aviv District on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Approves Emergency Military Funding as Iran War Rages

Israeli security forces check the damage to cars after a rocket strike in Holon, in the Tel Aviv District on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli security forces check the damage to cars after a rocket strike in Holon, in the Tel Aviv District on March 15, 2026. (AFP)

Israel has approved an $827-million emergency budget allocation for military purchases, Israeli media reported Sunday, as the war with Iran entered its third week.

The 2.6-billion-shekel package was approved over the weekend by cabinet ministers during a telephone meeting, the daily Haaretz reported.

It will be used for "security purchases" and to address "urgent needs", it said, without providing further details.

A finance ministry document circulated to all ministers and reported by several media outlets, including Channel 12, said that "given the intensity of the fighting" the additional budget allocation was necessary.

"An urgent and immediate need has arisen to provide an operational response, including the acquisition of munitions, the procurement of advanced weapons systems and the replenishment of critical combat stocks," the document said.

The document added that the move constituted "an exceptional emergency decision intended solely to address needs arising from the conduct of the fighting".

The funds will be drawn from the state budget, totaling $222 billion and approved by the government on March 12, and expected to be adopted by the Knesset by March 31, according to the reports.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet officially commented on the measure or specified what purchases the funds will cover.

Since the Israeli-US bombardments against Iran that began on February 28, Israel has been targeted daily by Iranian ballistic missile fire, which the military has mostly intercepted using its missile defense systems.

According to Haaretz, citing security officials, 250 ballistic missiles had been fired by Iran at Israel as of March 13.

Twelve people have been killed in Israel by missiles or falling debris since the start of the war, according to an AFP tally of figures given by Israeli authorities and first responders.

World

UK Says Vital to 'De-escalate' Middle East War

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the island of Qeshm, separated from the Iranian mainland by the Clarence Strait, in the Strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the island of Qeshm, separated from the Iranian mainland by the Clarence Strait, in the Strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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UK Says Vital to 'De-escalate' Middle East War

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the island of Qeshm, separated from the Iranian mainland by the Clarence Strait, in the Strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the island of Qeshm, separated from the Iranian mainland by the Clarence Strait, in the Strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

A British minister on Sunday said it was essential to calm the situation in the Middle East after US President Donald Trump demanded that other nations help protect world oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz. 

The "plan now has to be to de-escalate the conflict", Energy Security Minister Ed Miliband told the BBC. 

"We are talking to our allies. There are different ways in which we can make maritime shipping possible. We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done, because it's so important that we get the strait reopened," he added, speaking to Sky News. 

A spokesperson for the defense ministry said late on Saturday: "As we've said previously, we are currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region."