A wounded boy in a hospital in Douma after an air raid on the rebel-held town of Misraba in Eastern Ghouta [Bassam Khabieh/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

At least 80 people have been killed in just over 24 hours in suspected Russian and Syrian government shelling in the eastern and southern parts of Syria.

The majority of those killed were civilians.

In the eastern province of Deir Az Zor, suspected Russian warplanes hit al-Shaf’ah village on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River on Sunday, killing about 51 people.

Four others were killed in an attack on the village of al-Darnaj, also on Sunday, raising the death toll in the province to 55.

Deir Az Zor province is one of the final Syrian redoubts of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) after the armed group was pushed out of its main strongholds, including Raqqa and Deir Az Zor city.

Meanwhile, in Eastern Ghouta, a district just outside the capital Damascus, at least 25 people were killed in alleged Russian and Syrian government shelling on several opposition-held areas on Sunday.

The attacks targeted a local market in the residential neighbourhood of Misraba, where 16 people were killed. At least nine others were killed in shelling on the neighbourhoods of Medyara and Douma.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, the figure of 25 includes five children and three women.

Deal violated
Eastern Ghouta has consistently been targeted despite being listed as a “de-escalation zone”, where military activity is prohibited under an agreement endorsed by Turkey, Russia and Iran, which was signed in September.

But due to its strategic location near the capital, where the government of President Bashar al-Assad sits, the attacks there have not halted, in violation of the agreement.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, head of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, said Eastern Ghouta was the main target for the Syrian government now.

“The regime is not interested in de-escalating. After they took back Aleppo, they went to Deir Az Zor, and now it’s Ghouta. It’s their main target now,” Abdul Ghany told Al Jazeera.

Since the implementation of the agreement, at least 250 people have been killed in suspected Russian and Syrian government air raids in the district, according to medical centres and civil defence workers.

The armed opposition in Eastern Ghouta has managed to keep Syrian government forces at bay during the war. In turn, the government has imposed a siege on the area to pressure the armed opposition, causing a humanitarian crisis, with severe shortages of food and medicine.

Under the so-called “de-escalation zones” agreement, opposition groups and government forces are required to halt hostilities, including air raids, for a period of six months, to protect civilians living in those areas.

More than 2.5 million people are believed to be living in the zones, which include, fully or partially, Eastern Ghouta and the provinces of Idlib, Homs, Latakia, Aleppo and Hama.

Syria’s conflict evolved from a violent government crackdown on protests against the president in 2011 to become a devastating war that has drawn in world powers, including Russia and a US-led international coalition.

Russia has led negotiations on finding a solution to the conflict since its game-changing military intervention on the side of al-Assad in 2015.

Wounded people are evacuated from the scene of the mosque attack on Friday [The Associated Press]

by Al Jazeera

The Egyptian army says an air raid killed some of the attackers involved in Friday’s massacre when at least 305 people died in a bomb-and-gun attack on a mosque.

In a statement late on Friday, army spokesman Tamer Rifai said the Egyptian air force chased down the assailants who, according to officials, arrived in four 4WD vehicles and carried out the attack during noon prayers.

“The air forces chased the terrorists and discovered and destroyed a number of vehicles that were involved in carrying out the brutal terrorist attack … Those on board were also killed,” Rifai said.

The massacre occurred in Bir al-Abed, a town in North Sinai province.

The mosque – about 40km west of el-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai – was frequented by followers of Sufism, a more mystical form of Islam.

No group has claimed responsibility, but according to a statement on Saturday from Egypt’s public prosecutor, the attackers were carrying a flag representing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS). The government declared a three-day period of mourning for the victims.

Egyptian state media MENA said 120 people were also wounded in the attack.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi condemned the assault, which he described as “criminal” and “cowardly” in a televised statement on Friday.

He said the attack “will not go unpunished”.

“The armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with the utmost force,” Sisi said.

Egypt has for years battled an armed, anti-government campaign on the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula. The campaign has gained pace since the military overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013.

In 2014, following a suicide bombing that killed 33 soldiers, Sisi declared a state of emergency on the peninsula, describing it as a “nesting ground for terrorism and terrorists”.

Previous attacks in Sinai mostly aimed at security forces and members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.

However, mosques in North Sinai’s Sheikh Zuweid town have also been hit.

The Bir al-Abed mosque was an easy target because it was outside the province’s main cities.

The mosque may also have been targeted because it was attended by members of the Sufi sect, who are considered infidels by armed groups such as ISIL.

In 2016, ISIL fighters released images purportedly showing the execution of a 100-year-old Sufi religious leader, whom they accused of “witchcraft”.

Timothy Kaldas, a professor at Nile University in Cairo, told Al Jazeera that Friday’s assault “fits the pattern of ISIS attacks”.

“Potentially, it’s another attack against Sufis in northern Sinai. Potentially, it’s retaliation for tribes co-operating with the state in the crackdown on ISIS,” he said.

Kaldas said ISIL has been “more willing to target civilians, as we saw with a lot of attacks on the Egyptian-Christian community in the past year”.

by Al Jazeera

At least 115 people have been killed in a bomb and gun attack on a mosque in Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula, according to state media.

The attack took place in the al-Rawda village, west of el-Arish, shortly after Friday prayers.

Egyptian state media MENA provided the death toll, citing an official security source. It also said that 80 people were wounded in the attack.

Local media reports said that attackers planted explosives and then opened fire on worshippers while the sermon was under way.

Egypt has for years been battling an armed movement in the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula, which has gained pace since the military overthrew democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013.

In 2014, following a suicide bombing that left 31 soldiers killed, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared a state of emergency in the peninsula, describing it as a “nesting ground for terrorism and terrorists”.

Local media also reported the closure of the Arish-Rafah road, further east.

The attack comes a day before the Rafah border crossing, the main gateway for Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip to the outside world, was due to open for a three-day period.

The border opened briefly earlier this week.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman met with Saad al-Hariri in Riyadh on November 6 [Handout/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have advised their citizens not to travel to Lebanon and urged those who are in the country to leave as soon as possible.

Saudi Arabia’s official news agency SPA quoted a source in the foreign ministry on Thursday as saying: “Due to the situations in the Republic of Lebanon, the official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Saudi nationals visiting or residing in Lebanon are asked to leave the country as soon as possible.

“The Kingdom advised all citizens not to travel to Lebanon from any other international destinations.”

Only hours later, Kuwait and the UAE also urged its nationals to leave Lebanon immediately.

Bahrain – an ally of Saudi Arabia – had already ordered its citizens to leave Lebanon on Sunday, with the Bahraini foreign ministry issuing a travel advisory that cited “safety considerations”.

Leave of absence
Lebanon has been on edge after the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who announced his departure while on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

His whereabouts have since been unknown. However, officials told Al Jazeera on Thursday that Hariri may be under house arrest or temporarily detained in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

Lebanon’s Future Movement party, which is headed by Hariri, demanded on Thursday that the prime minister returns from the kingdom immediately in its sharpest statement yet over his leave of absence.

“The return of the Lebanese prime minister, the national leader, Saad al-Hariri, and the head of the Future Movement, is necessary to restore the dignity and respect to Lebanon at home and abroad,” said a former prime minister, Fouad Siniora, in a statement read on TV.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Lebanon said that the country’s President, Michel Aoun, would soon call for assistance from the international community, the Arab League, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Russia – to help uncover the reason behind Hariri’s unexpected resignation.

Reuters news agency reported on Thursday, citing a senior Lebanese official, that the Lebanese government has not received Hariri’s official resignation papers, and as such still considers him as prime minister. The official added that the restrictions imposed by Saudi Arabia act as an “attack on Lebanon’s leaders”.

Riyadh has denied that the prime minister is under house arrest.

‘War declaration’
In his November 4 resignation, Hariri implicitly blamed Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, for his decision. In his speech, he said that he suspected there were plans to target his life.

His father, Rafik Hariri – who also served as prime minister – was killed by in a bomb attack in 2005. Many of Hariri’s supporters blamed the bombing on Hezbollah, which denies it was involved.

In his address from Riyadh, Saad al-Hariri said Iran planted “disorder and destruction” in the country and meddled in the internal issues of Lebanon as well as other Arab countries.

Referring to Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, Hariri said, “Iran’s arm … has managed to impose a fait accompli on Lebanon through the power of its weapons” in the last few decades.

“They have built a state within a state,” Hariri said from Riyadh.

His unexpected move also stoked fears of an escalation in the regional divide between Iran and the Gulf states, primarily Saudi Arabia, with Lebanon on the front lines.

Thamer al-Sabhan, the Saudi minister for Gulf affairs, said on Monday that Lebanon’s government would “be dealt with as a government declaring war on Saudi Arabia” because of what he described as “acts of aggression” committed by Hezbollah.

In an interview with Al Arabiya, Sabhan said Hezbollah was involved in every “terrorist act” that threatened Saudi Arabia.

“The Lebanese must choose between peace or aligning with Hezbollah,” he added, without offering details about what action Riyadh might take against Beirut.

Hariri, a leading Sunni politician, has been in office for less than a year, but previously served as prime minister between 2009 and 2011.

Mohammed bin Nayef was Saudi Arabia’s crown prince before his removal in June [File: Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Mohammed bin Nayef, Saudi Arabia’s ex-crown prince who was removed as next in line to the throne in June, has reportedly become the latest royal family member to be targeted in the kingdom’s expanding anti-corruption crackdown.

According to Reuters news agency and the Wall Street Journal, bank accounts linked to Mohammed bin Nayef and some of his immediate relatives were frozen by Saudi authorities.

Both reports on Wednesday cited sources “familiar with the matter”. The Reuters report was also carried by Saudi state-owned media.

The freezing of Mohammed bin Nayef’s accounts came as Saudi authorities launched a new arrest campaign as part of the widening purge that began on Saturday, according to Reuters.

Dozens of royals, government officials and influential entrepreneurs have already been detained, facing a number of allegations, including money laundering and bribery.

Among those held are 11 princes, four ministers and several former ministers, in what is seen as an unprecedented crackdown that has shaken the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic bank accounts frozen as a result of the purge is more than 1,700 and increasing, according to the reports.

High-profile detentions
The steps were the latest in a series of policies widely seen as an effort by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to assert power over the country and its political and business elite.

On Saturday, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud announced that his son, the crown prince, would oversee a newly formed anti-graft commission that would purge the country of corruption.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a billionaire businessman who owns investment firm, Kingdom Holding, was among those held. The list of detainees also included senior ministers who were recently sacked, such as Prince Mitaab bin Abdullah, the head of the National Guard, and Adel Faqih, the economy minister.

Mohammed bin Salman replaced his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, as the kingdom’s crown prince in June.

Mohammed bin Nayef made his first confirmed public appearance since his removal at the funeral on Tuesday for Prince Mansour bin Muqrin Al Saud, deputy governor of Asir province, according to Saudi media.

Mansour bin Muqrin died in a helicopter crash on Sunday. No cause has been given for the crash.

‘Rights concerns’
On Wednesday, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement that the “mass arrests” carried out by Saudi Arabia raised human rights concerns.

“The middle-of-the-night simultaneous establishment of a new corruption body and mass arrests over corruption raise concerns that Saudi authorities detained people en masse and without outlining the basis of the detentions,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW, said.

“While Saudi media are framing these measures as Mohammad bin Salman’s move against corruption, the mass arrests suggest this may be more about internal power politics,” she added.

The rights group noted that arbitrary detention is in contravention of international human rights law, and demanded those arrested be informed of the “specific grounds for their arrest” and ” be able to fairly contest their detention before an independent and impartial judge”.

“Saudi authorities have not disclosed the specific reasons for the detention of the dozens of other people since mid-September. But the detentions fit a pattern of human rights violations against peaceful advocates and dissidents, including harassment, intimidation, smear campaigns, travel bans, detention, and prosecution,” its statement added.

by Al Jazeera

At least 30 Yemenis, including women and children, were killed in a series of Saudi-led air strikes in north Yemen, activists and local media said.

Hussain al-Bukhaiti, a pro-Houthi activist, told Al Jazeera at least 16 air strikes targeted the village of Hiran in Hajjah province on Tuesday, killing 30 people, including a family of 10.

Quoting local residents, Bukhaiti said the raids started shortly after midnight, targeting the home of Sheikh Hamdi, a Houthi loyalist, killing him and his family.

The strikes reportedly continued until 5pm local time (14:00 GMT). According to Bukhaiti, the devastation prevented relatives and rescue workers from retrieving the bodies of the dead.

Al Masirah, a TV channel run by the Houthis – a group of rebels who control Hajjah province, the capital, Sanaa, as well as other parts of central Yemen – said 10 paramedics were also killed.

It published photos on Twitter and its website showing a bombed-out vehicle and dead children.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claims.

Yemen has been torn apart by conflict since 2014, when Houthi rebels, allied with troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, captured large expanses of the country, including Sanaa.

A coalition of Arab countries assembled by Saudi Arabia launched an air campaign against the rebels in March 2015, to try to restore the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

Since then, more than 10,000 people have been killed, millions were forced from their homes, and the country has been facing severe famine and a deadly cholera outbreak.

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia has dismissed a number of senior ministers and detained nearly a dozen princes in an investigation by a new anti-corruption committee, state media reported on Saturday.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a billionaire businessman who owns the investment firm, Kingdom Holding, was among those held, according to Reuters news agency, citing an unnamed senior official.

The senior ministers who were sacked include Prince Mitaab bin Abdullah, the head of the National Guard, and Adel Faqih, the economy minister.

Abdullah al-Sultan, commander of the Saudi navy, was replaced by Fahad al-Ghafli.

In a statement on the official Saudi news agency, SPA, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud alluded to the “exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to illicitly accrue money” for the creation of the anti-graft committee.

Anti-corruption probe
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel reported that at least 11 princes, four current ministers and several former ministers had been detained in the anti-corruption probe.

Saudi authorities have not confirmed the names of those detained. However, 14 former and current ministers, officials and businessmen were mentioned on social media as being among those held.

One of those mentioned is Waleed al-Ibrahim, chairman of the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), under which Al Arabiya operates.

According to Al Arabiya, the new committee, which is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is looking into the 2009 floods that devastated parts of Jeddah, as well as the government’s response to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus outbreak.

King Salman issued a statement saying that the committee shall “identify offences, crimes and persons and entities involved in cases of public corruption”.

The committee has the power to issue arrest warrants, travel bans, disclose and freeze accounts and portfolios, track funds and assets, and “prevent their remittance or transfer by persons and entities, whatever they might be”, according to the statement.

‘Accelerated change’
The shake-up of the Saudi government comes just months after King Salman replaced his nephew Mohammed bin Nayef with his son Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdom’s crown prince.

Mohammed bin Salman has been responsible for pushing through a number of changes both at home and abroad since he became first in line to the Saudi crown.

Ian Black of the London School of Economics said the move fit a “pattern of accelerated change” since Mohammed bin Salman became heir to the throne.

“We’ve seen since June this year, very far-reaching changes,” he said, adding: “That was when Mohammed bin Salman, the son of King Salman, was appointed crown prince.

“Since Mohammed bin Salman became the crown prince in June, we’ve seen a lot of upheaval. We’ve seen the announcement of this very ambitious Saudi plan to transform the country, the Saudi economy, Vision 2030.”

The dismissal of Mitaab bin Abdullah as National Guard minister came shortly after a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Riyadh’s King Khaled International Airport.

However, Black said the two were probably not related as the sacking came bundled with changes to other ministerial portfolios.

In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia announced an end to its long-standing ban on allowing women to drive, and Mohammed bin Salman has also promised to return the country to a “moderate” form of Islam.

Since 2015 Saudi Arabia has been at war against Houthi rebels, who control much of northern Yemen on the kingdom’s southern border.

What does this mean? Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara explains:

“There have been signs over the last two and a half years that more of this is coming. [Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman] is raising the leverage of power in Saudi Arabia. He certainly has the blessings of his father, King Salman, and he’s determined to make all kinds of changes in Saudi Arabia itself and in Saudi foreign policy, which led to the war in Yemen and the Gulf crisis.

But internally this is new. Not only do we have a new chapter opening up in Saudi Arabia, we have a whole new book, a whole new political alphabet with one exception: It’s still all done in secrecy. Why those 11 princes, why those four standing ministers? Is it really just to consolidate power or is there more to it?

Why isn’t there more transparency and sharing of evidence about the setting up of the committee? We really are on the brink of dramatic changes.

In 2015, Mohammed bin Salman became minister of defence. Just a few months ago, he became the head of all the internal security forces because they got rid of Mohammed bin Nayef, then crown prince. Now he’s taken control of the third most important security apparatus within the country, so he has defence, he is in control of interior, and now he is in control of the guards.

Clearly, he has the stage set. Clearly all the heads of all the major media networks, newspapers, and commentators were all already groomed, set in motion in order to defend the crown prince and his policies. There are already new songs for the crown prince and his glory, so internally they are definitely setting the stage in terms of the three security apparatuses, the media and so on.

President Trump has given his blessings and support to the crown prince with the hundreds of billions of dollars of promised contracts, so he’s certainly supporting his various ambitions in the region, most importantly that of the confrontation with Iran in the region. This is something that Trump really wants as well as apparently a promised rapprochement with Israel.

In the tradition of Saudi Arabia, revolting against the royals is not a good idea. It’s never been recommended. But does it all end with this or will it lead to more? I think it will lead to more, but will it then lead to discontent among Saudis? It just might.”

Yemen’s capital was struck by overnight air raids that continued well into the next day, targeting the defence ministry and a popular public square [Mohammed Huwais/AFP]

by Al Jazeera

The Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen carried out at least 29 air strikes on Sanaa province, hours after Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile towards the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Residents told Al Jazeera that bombs “rained down” on several neighbourhoods of the capital on Sunday, targeting a stage in al-Sabeen square used by Houthi rebels for military parades, the nearby presidential palace, the national security headquarters and the interior ministry.

The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported more than 15 air strikes in Sanaa and a further 14 in the districts of Sinhan and Bani Bahloul.

Fatik al-Rodaini‏, an activist based in the capital, told Al Jazeera some of the raids targeted Sanaa’s old city, a UNESCO world heritage site.

“This is the worst day I’ve experienced since the start of the war,” Rodaini said.

“I am fearing for my children’s lives. They haven’t gone outside all day. Just a few minutes ago I was thinking of letting them run to the shops but we heard another loud explosion and my wife said ‘no’.

“The Saudis don’t care about our children, our future, our lives. They know that civilians live in close proximity to government buildings yet they continue to target those areas – they just don’t care.”

Hours earlier, the Saudi military confirmed intercepting a ballistic missile that was fired from Yemeni territory towards the kingdom.

‘Riyadh sleeps peacefully’
Colonel Turki al-Maliki said Saudi forces intercepted the ballistic missile with a surface-to-air Patriot missile, which caused it to shatter into fragments in an “uninhabited area” east of Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.

The Houthis – a group of rebels who control Saada province, the capital Sanaa, as well as other parts of central Yemen – claimed responsibility for the attack, vowing to target the capitals of all Arab countries that are bombing the country.

“Riyadh slept in peace and comfort and last night due to the efforts of the Saudi armed forces,” al-Maliki said.

“We will continue to target the Houthis and their missiles that are sponsored by the Iranians,” he added.

In an interview with Al Jazeera earlier this month, Mohammed Abdul Salam, a spokesman for the Houthi rebels, threatened to escalate operations on the Yemeni-Saudi border and target deep inside the kingdom.

“The Saudis started the war. Our response will continue and increase, whether it’s targeting deep inside Saudi Arabia, targeting military positions where Saudi jets fly from, or military bases inside Yemeni territory,” Abdul Salam said.

“Abu Dhabi and others that target Yemen are – as far as we’re concerned – a fair military target. Any country that targets Yemen will be struck by our missiles.”

Yemen, which sits on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has been engulfed in war since September 2014, when Houthi fighters swept into the capital and overthrew President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognised government.

Concerned by the rise of the Houthis, believed to be backed by regional rival Iran, Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Sunni Arab states launched an intervention in 2015 in the form of a massive air campaign aimed at reinstalling Hadi’s government.

Since then, the Houthis have been dislodged from most of the south, but remain in control of Sanaa and much of the north.