World
Hundreds of Civilians Killed by Government Forces in Syria, War Monitors Say
Three days of clashes between fighters affiliated with Syria’s new leaders and those loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad have left scores of civilians dead, according to two war monitoring groups, who reported on Saturday that many of them had been killed by the government’s forces.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the Syrian conflict since 2011, said early Sunday that more than 1,000 people had been killed in the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia. That figure included about 700 civilians, most killed by government forces. The information could not be independently verified.
Another monitoring group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, reported earlier that government security forces had killed some 125 civilians. It said that men of all ages were among the casualties and that the forces did not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Information Ministry officials, responding to the charges of killing civilians, said they rejected “undocumented allegations accusing government forces of committing violations.” But they also said the government was committed to conducting comprehensive investigations and would hold to account those found to have harmed civilians.
“The Syrian government confirms that its forces operate according to strict standards that respect international humanitarian law and are keen to protect civilians during their operations,” a ministry statement said.
The Observatory said most of the civilians killed were from the country’s Alawite religious minority, to which Mr. al-Assad belongs, but this could not be independently verified either. The monitoring group said scores of combatants on both sides of the conflict had also been killed.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said the Assad loyalists had killed more than 100 security forces for the new government.
The Defense Ministry told Syrian state media on Saturday afternoon that forces had regained control over most areas that had been taken by the former regime remnants ,and that roads leading to the coastal area had been closed “to regulate violations, prevent transgressions and gradually restore stability to the area.”
The unrest has been the bloodiest outbreak of violence since the Assad regime was ousted in early December by rebels who became the country’s new leaders. It presents a major test of the new government’s authority and has raised the specter of a larger sectarian conflict in Syria, where tensions were already high as a result of the civil war.
By Saturday afternoon, the Syrian Red Crescent had been given permission to enter one of the towns to evacuate the injured, said Haidera Younes, a spokesman for the Red Crescent’s branch in Tartus.
The clashes began on Thursday after Assad loyalists killed 16 government security personnel in Latakia province, in the deadliest attack yet on Syria’s new security forces, according to government officials and the Observatory.
Violence quickly spread across Latakia and Tartus provinces, longtime strongholds of Mr. al-Assad along the Mediterranean coast and home to most of the country’s Alawites. Armed remnants of the ousted regime are believed to be scattered across the two provinces and have presented a challenge to the country’s new leaders as they try to exert their authority and unite a fractured country after more than 13 years of civil war.
The government responded to the initial attack on Thursday by deploying thousands of security forces and soldiers from other parts of the country to the restive coast. The government has sought to present the clashes as a legitimate authority fighting the remnants of a brutal regime.
For the first time, the new government forces deployed helicopters outfitted with machine guns on Thursday around the mountainside of the coastal region, according to a government official on the coast, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. The helicopters were deployed to areas where armed Assad loyalists were stationed, the official added.
A video verified by The New York Times and filmed along the coast west of Latakia airport appears to show government fighters repurposing Russian-made anti-submarine depth charges by dropping them as bombs from the rear of a helicopter. A spokesman for the government in Latakia did not respond to a request for comment about the video. A journalist with Syrian state media, Muhammad al-Othman, said that the munitions were dropped over mountainous areas where old regime remnants remain.
The Assad regime drew international condemnation for its frequent use of helicopters for indiscriminate bombings, dropping improvised “barrel bombs” onto civilian populations for years. The use of anti-submarine munitions for that purpose fits the old regime’s pattern of using whatever it could either fabricate or repurpose for launching aerial attacks via helicopter.
The munitions used in the helicopter attacks appeared to be Russian RBG-25 depth charges, which are normally launched from ships for use against submarines, said Trevor Ball, a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician. They most likely originated from old Assad regime stocks, he said.
“This is quite a bit different from how they are designed to be deployed,” said Mr. Ball. “These aren’t going to cause as much damage as the barrel bombs the Assad regime commonly used.”
Christina Goldbaum, Muhammad Haj Kadour and Reham Mourshed contributed reporting.
World
Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure
British PM Keir Starmer could face leadership challenge amid internal troubles
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces significant internal pressure following Andy Burnham’s special election win, potentially triggering a leadership contest. Starmer is under fire for economic pressures, illegal immigration issues, and controversies surrounding his previous role in prosecuting grooming gangs. Elon Musk also accused Starmer of complicity.
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly considering stepping down and could announce a timetable for his departure as early as Monday, according to a report published Saturday.
Britain’s Observer newspaper reported that Starmer was discussing his future with his wife at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision.
The outlet reported that senior Labour Party figures expect a statement addressing his future as early as next week.
A government source told Reuters that Starmer remains focused on governing and pointed to previous comments in which he vowed to remain in office.
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer awaits Switzerland’s Federal President Guy Parmelin on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Reuters via AP)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the prime minister’s office for comment.
Pressure on Starmer has been building for months amid growing dissatisfaction within his party and concerns over the government’s handling of the economy and cost-of-living issues.
The political threat to Starmer intensified Friday after rival Andy Burnham won a seat in Parliament, positioning him to mount a formal leadership challenge.
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Britain’s Labour party candidate Andy Burnham speaks to supporters after the Makerfield by-election in Ashton in Makerfield, England, Friday. (Jon Super/AP)
Starmer congratulated Burnham following the victory, writing on X that voters, “chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”
When asked about Burnham’s apparent ambitions to replace him, Starmer insisted he intends to remain in office.
“I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that,” Starmer said.
UK’S STARMER JUGGLES TROUBLE AT HOME AS HE WALKS GEOPOLITICAL TIGHTROPE WITH TRUMP
Sir Keir Starmer is battling to save his position and refusing to stand aside despite dozens of Labout MP’s demanding he resigns. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Starmer has led the Labour Party since 2020 and became prime minister in 2024.
Calls for his resignation intensified last month, with more than 100 Labour lawmakers publicly urging him to step aside or set out a timetable for his departure. Several parliamentary aides also resigned in protest.
The internal revolt followed a series of disappointing local election results for Labour, which lost hundreds of council seats across England, surrendered long-held ground in Wales and fell behind political rivals in Scotland.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks a news conference at Downing Street in London, March 5. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)
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Starmer’s popularity has also declined amid a persistently high cost of living, sluggish economic growth and criticism over his acceptance of gifts from wealthy donors.
Fox News Digital’s James Cirrone and Emma Bussey, and Reuters contributed to this report.
United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.
Trump’s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.
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“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,” Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”
Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.
But under the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.
On Saturday, however, Iran’s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a “clear breach” of the memorandum’s commitments.
US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.
The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.
Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.
Trump had responded to Iran’s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran’s ports in the region.
But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday’s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.
The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.
Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain “permanently toll-free”.
But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday’s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.
No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed”.
He explained that such a charge would compensate the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs”.
Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.
Saturday’s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.
In April, for instance, he discussed the idea with reporters, saying, “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”
There has been no indication that Trump’s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.
Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.
Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.
But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum.
Iran claimed that Saturday’s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people after the ceasefire was announced.
Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday’s deal would begin after that was settled.
Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.
Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that an Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has already arrived for the negotiations.
On the US side, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.
Vance departed for Switzerland late Saturday.
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