UN chief: Syrian people feel abandoned as world focuses on ISIL

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Tuesday 24 Mar 2015 - 15:46 Makkah mean time-4-6-1436 UN chief Ban Ki-moon (Reuters picture) New York (IINA) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday the people of Syria feel “increasingly abandoned by the world” as global attention focuses on Islamic State (IS) militants, while violence and government bureaucracy hinder attempts to deliver aid to 12 million people. In his 13th monthly report to the UN Security Council on Syria, Ban said a lack of accountability during the four-year civil war has also led to a rise in allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses. “While global attention is focused on the threat to regional and international peace and security posed by terrorist groups such as ISIL and al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front, our focus must continue to be on how best to help and support the Syrian people,” Ban said in the report, carried by Deutsche Welle website. The UN chief said more than 220,000 people have been killed since security forces cracked down on a pro-democracy movement in 2011, sparking an armed uprising. Some four million Syrians have fled the country and 7.6 million are internally displaced. AB/IINA

Security concerns delay reopening of Tunisia's Bardo Museum

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Tuesday 24 Mar 2015 - 13:48 Makkah mean time-4-6-1436 Bardo Museum (Photo: DotMasr website) Tunis (IINA) – Tunisia’s Bardo National Museum on Tuesday delayed a planned reopening in the wake of last week’s attack on foreign tourists, due to security concerns, its head of communications Hanene Srarfi told reporters. “We have been surprised at the last minute delay of opening, but the interior ministry says that for security reasons we cannot receive a large number of visitors,” Ms Srarfi said, adding that an official ceremony marking the reopening of the museum would still go ahead. Officials at the Bardo Museum had planned to allow the public back in on Tuesday, less than a week after an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) extremists, killing at least 21 people, mostly foreign tourists. “The interior and culture ministries decided that this afternoon would be an official event for the media and public figures ... for the public it’s still too early,” she added. AB/IINA

13 bus passengers killed in Afghanistan attack

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Tuesday 24 Mar 2015 - 13:45 Makkah mean time-4-6-1436 Kabul (IINA) – Armed men have killed 13 passengers travelling on a bus towards southern Afghanistan, officials said, the latest attack to target civilians in the country's conflict. Tuesday's killings in Wardak province, which lies close to the capital Kabul, highlighted Afghanistan's fragile security situation as President Ashraf Ghani holds talks in Washington. With the spring fighting season about to begin, Ghani has asked the US for "flexibility" as it pulls out its remaining 10,000 troops by the end of 2016. Ataullah Khogyani, spokesperson for the provincial governor, told AFP a group of armed men opened fire on a bus in Wardak around 1am local time (2030 GMT Monday), killing 13 people including one woman. The bus was heading for the southern city of Kandahar, once a bastion of the Taliban. Mohammad Ali, the deputy governor of neighbouring Ghazni province, confirmed the incident, and said the attackers picked their victims and shot them one by one. Both officials said the motive for the attack was still under investigation. Last month, masked attackers abducted 30 Shia members from the Hazara ethnic group from a bus in Zabul province. They have still not been recovered. NATO ended its combat operation against the Taliban in December after 13 years of war, leaving Afghan forces to deal with the fighters themselves. A smaller contingent of foreign troops, most of them American, is staying on for training and counter-terror operations. But there have been fears that without the military muscle of the US-led NATO coalition behind them, Afghan forces could struggle to quell the campaign. The Pentagon insists Afghan forces are holding their own in the fight, but senior US officers have voiced concern that they are sustaining casualties at an "unsustainable" rate. The US was due to reduce its 10,000 troops to 5,500 by December, but that number is expected to be reassessed after American commanders appealed to keep more troops on the ground. Before leaving for Washington, Ghani warned of a "difficult" spring fighting season and said his government had been working hard to create conditions for talks with the Taliban. But efforts are proving difficult despite Ghani's attempts to get influential regional powers like Pakistan on board, as the Taliban continue to impose tough conditions for negotiations. There is also mounting concern about the influence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Middle East-based group has not formally confirmed it is operating out of Afghanistan, though Pakistani and Afghan commanders have pledged their allegiance in recent months. HA/IINA