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	<title>Middle East - Bangladesh Business News</title>
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	<title>Middle East - Bangladesh Business News</title>
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	<item>
		<title>US &#039;disappointed&#039; at Russia&#039;s Syria stance</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/us-disappointed-at-russias-syria-stance/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Apr 2017 05:21:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://businessnews-bd.com/?p=39026</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says Russia's reaction to US strikes on Syria is 'disappointing']]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_39031" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-39031" class="size-full wp-image-39031" src="//businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Map-TF-BBC-wb.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="340" srcset="https://businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Map-TF-BBC-wb.jpg 600w, https://businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Map-TF-BBC-wb-300x170.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><p id="caption-attachment-39031" class="wp-caption-text">Map taken from BBC</p></div>
<p><strong>Damascus, Syria (BBN)</strong> - The US is "disappointed but not surprised" at Russia's response to its strikes on a Syrian air base suspected of storing chemical weapons.<br />
At least six people are reported to have been killed in the US missile strikes early on Friday, reports BBC.<br />
Syria's ally Russia accused the US of encouraging "terrorists" with its unilateral actions.<br />
"I'm disappointed in that response," said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.<br />
"It indicates their continued support for the Assad regime and, in particular, their continued support for a regime that carries out these type of horrendous attacks on their own people.<br />
"So I find it very disappointing, but, sadly, I have to tell you, not all that surprising," he added.<br />
Moscow has promised to strengthen Syria's anti-aircraft defences.<br />
It is also closing down a hotline with the US designed to avoid collisions between their air forces over Syria.<br />
According to Idlib's opposition-run health authority, 89 people, including 33 children and 18 women, died in the suspected nerve agent attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday.<br />
Syria denies using nerve gas.<br />
The US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told an emergency session of the UN Security Council that the US had acted to ensure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would never use chemical weapons again.<br />
"We are prepared to do more but we hope that will not be necessary," she said.<br />
"It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons."<br />
She blamed Iran and Russia for standing by the Syrian government when it committed crimes.<br />
"Strengthening Assad will only lead to more murders," she said.<br />
Russia's deputy ambassador to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, described the US strikes as "illegitimate".<br />
"When you take your own path, this leads to horrible tragedies in the region," he told the Americans.<br />
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he was preparing further economic sanctions against Syria.<br />
Two US Navy destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Shayrat air base in western Homs province at about 04:40 Syrian time (01:40 GMT) on Friday.<br />
They targeted aircraft, aircraft shelters, storage areas, ammunition supply bunkers and air defence systems at the Syrian government-controlled facility, according to the Pentagon.<br />
It said the base was used to store chemical weapons and that "every precaution" had been taken to avoid casualties.<br />
The Russian military was informed beforehand, the Pentagon said.<br />
Syrian state media said as many as nine civilians had been killed in the strike, four of them children.<br />
The BBC is unable to confirm this information.<br />
The Syrian army said earlier there had been significant damage to the base.<br />
However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition news service, said on Friday evening the base was already back in operation and aircraft had taken off and "struck targets near Palmyra".<br />
The report could not be independently verified.<br />
The US has led a coalition carrying out air strikes against jihadist groups in Syria since 2014 but this is the first time it has targeted government forces.<br />
<strong>BBN/MS/ANS</strong></p>
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		<title>UN calls talks over Syria &#039;gas attack&#039;</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/un-calls-talks-over-syria-gas-attack/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Apr 2017 05:49:02 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://businessnews-bd.com/?p=38759</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Outrage over Tuesday's suspected chemical attack is also likely to overshadow aid talks in Belgium]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_38763" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38763" class="size-full wp-image-38763" src="//businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Syria-clinic-GI-wb.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="340" srcset="https://businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Syria-clinic-GI-wb.jpg 600w, https://businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Syria-clinic-GI-wb-300x170.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><p id="caption-attachment-38763" class="wp-caption-text">Witnesses said clinics treating the wounded were subject to air strikes. Photo: Getty Images</p></div>
<p><strong>Damascus, Syria (BBN)</strong> - The UN Security Council is to hold emergency talks after a suspected chemical attack in Syria left dozens of civilians dead and wounded.<br />
The attack on a rebel-held town brought furious international reaction, with the US and other powers blaming the Syrian government for the deaths, reports BBC.<br />
Officials in Damascus deny using any such weapons.<br />
The attack will overshadow a conference in Brussels at which 70 donor nations will discuss aid efforts in Syria.<br />
Delegates want to step up humanitarian access for thousands of civilians trapped by fighting.<br />
Syria's civil war has raged for more than six years with still no political solution in sight.<br />
Nearly five million Syrians have fled the country and more than six million are internally displaced, the UN says. More than 250,000 people have been killed.<br />
Wednesday's emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was called by France and the UK as international outrage mounted over the suspected gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province on Tuesday.<br />
The Russian defence ministry gave its version of events on Wednesday, saying a Syrian air strike had hit a rebel ammunition store that included "a workshop for the production of land mines filled with poisonous substances".<br />
It seemed to support accounts by Syrian military sources a day earlier who reported an explosion at what they called a rebel chemical weapons factory in Khan Sheikhoun.<br />
Earlier, Britain's ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, said the incident was "very bad news for peace in Syria".<br />
"This is clearly a war crime and I call on the Security Council members who have previously used their vetoes to defend the indefensible to change their course," he told reporters in New York.<br />
Footage from the scene showed civilians, many of them children, choking and foaming at the mouth.<br />
Witnesses said clinics treating the injured were then targeted by air strikes.<br />
UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 58, including 11 children.<br />
It was unable to say what chemical was involved but pro-opposition groups said it was believed to be the nerve agent Sarin.<br />
In a statement, US President Donald Trump condemned what he called "these heinous actions" by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.<br />
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused the Syrian government of "brutal, unabashed barbarism".<br />
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said it was a "horrific" attack and that there should be a "clear identification of responsibilities and accountability" for it.<br />
Syria has denied its forces caused the deaths and Russia, which is supporting the government, said it had not carried out any air strikes in the vicinity.<br />
The BBC's Lyse Doucet in Brussels says the attack could prove a stumbling block at Wednesday's international conference.<br />
The EU hopes to use the prospect of funds for reconstruction as a bargaining chip in the faltering peace talks, our correspondent says, but the latest developments will deepen the opposition of those who say now is not the time to discuss financial support for areas controlled by the Syrian government.<br />
<strong>BBN/MS/SK</strong></p>
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		<title>Deadly &#039;chemical attack&#039; in Syria&#039;s Idlib kills 18</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/deadly-chemical-attack-syrias-idlib-kills-18/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Apr 2017 08:40:16 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://businessnews-bd.com/?p=38686</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[At least 18 people are killed in a suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held town, activists say]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_38687" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38687" class="size-full wp-image-38687" src="//businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Idlib-BBC-wb.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="340" srcset="https://businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Idlib-BBC-wb.jpg 600w, https://businessnews-bd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Idlib-BBC-wb-300x170.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><p id="caption-attachment-38687" class="wp-caption-text">Map: BBC</p></div>
<p><strong>Damascus, Syria (BBN)</strong> - At least 18 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held town in north-western Syria, activists say.<br />
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that strikes on Khan Sheikhoun by Syrian government or Russian jets had caused many people to choke, reports BBC<br />
The opposition Local Co-ordination Committees network posted photos of those it said had died of asphyxiation.<br />
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.<br />
However, an investigation by the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concluded last October that government forces had used chlorine as a weapon at least three times between 2014 and 2015.<br />
It also found Islamic State militants had used the blister agent sulphur mustard.<br />
<strong>BBN/MS/SK</strong></p>
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		<title>Amnesty alarmed by Mosul air strikes</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/amnesty-alarmed-mosul-air-strikes/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Mar 2017 06:14:47 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://businessnews-bd.com/?p=38043</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[US-led coalition against IS appears to be failing to take precautions to prevent civilian deaths during the battle for Mosul, Amnesty International says]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>London, UK (BBN) -</strong> The US-led coalition against so-called Islamic State appears to be failing to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths during the battle for Mosul, Amnesty International says.<br />
The group found evidence pointing to an "alarming pattern" of air strikes in the Iraqi city that had destroyed houses "with entire families inside", reports BBC.<br />
Witnesses say hundreds of civilians had died in such attacks this month.<br />
There was no immediate response from the coalition to Amnesty's report.<br />
However, it has previously insisted that it takes all reasonable precautions during the planning and execution of air strikes to reduce the risk of harm to civilians.<br />
"There is no military force in the world that has proven more sensitive to civilian casualties," US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said on Monday.<br />
The same day a spokesman said the Pentagon placed the "highest priority" on investigating claims there had been dozens or even hundreds of civilian casualties after air strikes in western Mosul.<br />
Iraqi pro-government forces launched an offensive to recapture the city - the last major IS urban stronghold in the country - five months ago.<br />
The coalition has supported the assault by carrying out hundreds of air strikes and deploying military advisers and special forces personnel on the ground.<br />
Although more than 280,000 civilians living in the city have fled their homes during the fighting, many more have followed the government's advice to stay put until they are reached by troops.<br />
In one of the deadliest incidents, at least 150 people were reported killed in a coalition air strike in the Jadida district of western Mosul on 17 March.<br />
The coalition has launched an investigation into the incident, and the US military said an initial review of data indicated that an air strike was carried out in the vicinity on that day.<br />
However, the Iraqi military said its experts had inspected the site and found no evidence of an air strike. Instead, they saw the remains of a "huge, detonated booby-trapped vehicle".<br />
Hind Amir Ahmad, a 23-year-old woman, lost 11 relatives, including her parents, grandparents and four young siblings, in a reported air strike on 13 December in eastern Mosul.<br />
"We were sleeping when the house literally collapsed on us," she told Amnesty, adding: "We ran to my uncle's house nearby."<br />
"At about 14:00 that house too was bombed and collapsed on us," she said.<br />
"Almost everyone in the house was killed - 11 people. My cousin, two aunts and I were the only ones who survived."<br />
In another air strike on 6 January, 16 people were killed in three adjacent houses in the Mazaraa district of eastern Mosul, according to Amnesty.<br />
Survivors and neighbours told the group's researchers that, as far as they knew, no IS fighters had been present in or around the house.<br />
"Did the government, the coalition think how to protect the civilians in this war? It doesn't seem so," said Ahmed, a relative of the victims.<br />
Donatella Rovera, who carried out the field investigations in Mosul, said the level of civilian deaths "suggests" that coalition forces had "failed to take adequate precautions".<br />
"The fact that Iraqi authorities repeatedly advised civilians to remain at home... indicates that coalition forces should have known that these strikes were likely to result in significant numbers of civilian casualties."<br />
"Disproportionate attacks and indiscriminate attacks violate international humanitarian law and can constitute war crimes," Rovera said.<br />
<strong>BBN/SK/AD</strong></p>
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		<title>Syria rebels &#039;take IS-held airbase&#039;</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/37969-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Mar 2017 04:37:29 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://businessnews-bd.com/?p=37969</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[US-backed Syrian rebels say they have taken full control of a key airbase held by the Islamic State group (IS) near its stronghold, Raqqa]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Raqqa, Syria (BBN) -</strong> US-backed Syrian rebels say they have taken full control of a key airbase held by the Islamic State group (IS) near its stronghold, Raqqa.<br />
Its capture is seen as a significant step in the fight to drive the jihadists out of the city, which has become their self-declared capital, reports BBC.<br />
Talal Sello, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said they had seized Tabqa airport from militants.<br />
The Kurdish-led fighters are continuing to advance towards the city itself.<br />
However, civilian rights groups have expressed safety concerns for citizens still living in the area.<br />
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said coalition airstrikes have killed at least 89 civilians over the past week.<br />
The capture of the military airport is the first major success for the rebel alliance since the US-led coalition airlifted its fighters to place them behind IS lines last week, the BBC's Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher reports.<br />
The Tabqa airbase was seized by IS militants in 2014 from the Syrian army. The jihadists then carried out one of their worst atrocities - a mass execution of captured soldiers.<br />
Its capture by rebels was part of an offensive aimed at also taking control of the Taqba dam - the largest in Syria - as well as Tabqa town.<br />
Earlier, there was fears of serious flooding after IS warned that the Tabqa dam could collapse. However, the dam appears intact.<br />
The US-led coalition denied the jihadists' claims that it had targeted the facility with airstrikes, leaving it dangerously vulnerable to failure.<br />
"The dam has not been structurally damaged to our knowledge and the coalition seeks to preserve the integrity of the dam as a vital resource to the people of Syria," a spokesperson told the BBC.<br />
On Sunday there had been conflicting reports about damage to the dam - about 40km (25 miles) upstream of the Raqqa on the Euphrates river - with civilians reportedly fleeing to higher ground.<br />
Although IS media channels warned the dam could burst, the militant group later reportedly sent cars around Raqqa with loudspeakers, telling people it was intact and they had no need to evacuate.<br />
Aside from being strategically important and providing electricity to the region, the dam complex is believed to be used as an IS headquarters where leaders plot attacks outside Syria, according to the Pentagon.<br />
The United Nations recently warned that damage to it could lead to massive-scale flooding.<br />
There were similar concerns last year for a dam outside Mosul, an IS stronghold in northern Iraq.<br />
If the Mosul dam burst, floodwaters could kill 1.47 million Iraqis living along the River Tigris, the US embassy said. However, the dam has so far remained in operation.<br />
US warplanes are supporting the Iraqi army's mission to retake Mosul from IS.<br />
<strong>BBN/SK/AD</strong></p>
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		<title>UN fears 200 died in coalition airstrike on Mosul</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/un-fears-200-died-airstrike-mosul/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Mar 2017 05:46:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://businessnews-bd.com/?p=37928</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The United Nations raises grave concerns about reports of high civilian casualties in the Iraqi city of Mosul]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Mosul, Iraq (BBN) -</strong> The United Nations has raised grave concerns about reports of high civilian casualties in the Iraqi city of Mosul.<br />
A senior UN official in Iraq said she was stunned by accounts of "terrible loss of life", after claims that at least 200 people had been killed in an air strike by the US-led coalition, reports BBC.<br />
US warplanes are supporting the Iraqi Army's mission to retake Mosul from the Islamic State (IS).<br />
US media reports say an investigation is under way.<br />
It is not known exactly when the deaths are alleged to have happened.<br />
However, reporters in western Mosul's Jadideh neighbourhood said they saw 50 bodies being pulled out of buildings on Friday, after they were razed in air attacks earlier in March.<br />
Iraqi forces have been waging a months-long offensive to recapture Mosul, the last IS stronghold in Iraq, which has been occupied since 2014.<br />
The New York Times quoted US military officials saying the coalition was investigating reports of civilian deaths from a strike between 17-23 March.<br />
Colonel Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman for the US-led command in Baghdad, said that "the coalition has opened a formal civilian casualty credibility assessment on this allegation" from Mosul.<br />
"This process takes time, though, especially when the date of the alleged strike is in question," he said.<br />
The UN estimates that 400,000 Iraqi civilians are trapped in the Old City of Mosul as government forces battle to re-capture it.<br />
More than 180,000 civilians have fled the west of the city in the past month, amid fears that an additional 320,000 may follow in the coming weeks.<br />
Residents who have managed to flee say the militants are using civilians as human shields, hiding in houses and forcing young men to fight.<br />
US officials believe there are about 2,000 IS fighters left in Mosul.<br />
<strong>BBN/SK/AD</strong></p>
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		<title>IS conflict: Air strike &#039;kills 33 in Syria&#039;</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/air-strike-kills-33/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:44:55 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://businessnews-bd.com/?p=37783</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[At least 33 people are been killed in an air strike on a school in a village west of the Islamic State-held Syrian city of Raqqa,says a monitoring group]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Raqqa, Syria (BBN)</strong> - At least 33 people have been killed in an air strike on a school in a village west of the Islamic State-held Syrian city of Raqqa, a monitoring group says.</p>
<p>The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the building in al-Mansoura was being used as a shelter for displaced people when it was hit on Monday night, reports BBC.</p>
<p>The activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said the fate of 50 families who were there was unknown.</p>
<p>Both groups believe the raid was carried out by US-led coalition jets.</p>
<p>There was no immediate comment from the coalition, but it has said there were 19 strikes near Raqqa on Monday, including three that destroyed IS "headquarters".</p>
<p>The coalition is supporting an offensive by an alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters aimed at capturing Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS "caliphate".</p>
<p>The Syrian Observatory, which is based in the UK, said one of its activists had witnessed 33 bodies being pulled out of the rubble of the school in al-Mansoura, about 26km (16 miles) west of Raqqa.</p>
<p>Two other people were found alive before IS militants arrived and told bystanders to leave, it added.</p>
<p>Residents of the village told the Syrian Observatory that displaced families from Raqqa, Homs and Aleppo provinces were living in the school.</p>
<p>Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently reported that the school was completely levelled by the strike, and that the 50 families who were sheltering there were still unaccounted for on Wednesday morning.</p>
<p>The anti-IS group also reported that 20 civilians had been killed by coalition air strikes on the town of Tabqa, about 40km (25 miles) west of Raqqa, on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Syrian Observatory said the al-Mansoura air strike meant at least 116 civilians, including 18 children and 23 women, had been killed in suspected coalition air strikes in the past two weeks.</p>
<p>Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently put the civilian death toll at 101, but did not appear to include any of those feared dead in al-Mansoura.</p>
<p>Later on Wednesday, new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host the first meeting of the entire 68-member coalition since December 2014.</p>
<p>US officials said the meeting aimed to accelerate efforts to defeat IS in Raqqa and Mosul, the group's last major urban stronghold in neighbouring Iraq.</p>
<p><strong>BBN/MS/SK</strong></p>
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		<title>Access to health care deteriorates in war-hit Syria</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/health-care-casualty-syrian/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Mar 2017 03:36:03 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://businessnews-bd.com/?p=37249</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Over the past 6 years access to health services for the civilian population in the  Syrian Arab Republic seriously deteriorated]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Geneva, Switzerland (BBN) -</strong> This week the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic enters its seventh year.<br />
Over the past 6 years access to health services for the civilian population in the country has seriously deteriorated, said a press release.<br />
More than half of public hospitals and primary health centres in the Syrian Arab Republic have either closed or are only partially functioning.<br />
Almost two–thirds of health care workers have fled.<br />
Many health care facilities that are open lack clean water, electricity, and sufficient medical and surgical supplies.<br />
Accessing functioning health facilities has become a challenge for most people in the Syrian Arab Republic, regardless of where they live.<br />
In spite of the current ceasefire, WHO and its partners have not yet been able to regularly access communities in hard-to-reach areas.<br />
In addition, the latest data indicate that in 2016 more than two-thirds of attacks on health care settings globally occurred in the Syrian Arab Republic.<br />
According to Dr Peter Salama, Executive Director of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, "Substantial health needs in Syria continue to be unmet and resources to support the health workforce and health system are stretched to the limit."<br />
Many barriers to access remain, including security threats for health care workers and availability of medicines, supplies, and equipment.<br />
"On this sad anniversary of the start of war in Syria and before more lives are lost, WHO calls for systematic and unhindered access to all areas to deliver life-saving medicines, vaccines and medical supplies."<br />
Despite the obstacles, WHO has continued to support health services with medicines and supplies, through training of remaining health staff, through medical teams and mobile clinics through cross line and cross-border programmes.<br />
<strong>BBN/SK/AD</strong></p>
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		<title>Syria children suffering &#039;unprecedented&#039;</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/36969-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Mar 2017 08:52:15 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://businessnews-bd.com/?p=36969</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Unicef says more children are killed in 2016 than in any other year during the civil war]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>New York, US (BBN)</strong> - Syria's children "hit rock bottom" in 2016, with more killed than in any other year of the civil war, the United Nations children's organisation says.<br />
At least 652 children died - 255 of them in or near a school - last year, a 20 per cent jump from the number killed during 2015, Unicef said, reports BBC.<br />
The figure includes only formally-verified deaths, meaning the number could be far higher.<br />
Unicef believes more than 850 children were recruited to fight in 2016.<br />
The number is double that of 2015, the report states. Those recruited increasingly found themselves on the frontline or, in extreme cases, used as executioners, suicide bombers or prison guards.<br />
"The depth of suffering is unprecedented," said Geert Cappelaere, Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa speaking from Homs, Syria.<br />
"Millions of children in Syria come under attack on a daily basis, their lives turned upside down."<br />
Six million children are now relying on humanitarian aid due to the civil war, which has been raging for six years this week.<br />
Some 2.3 million of them have fled the country, but the most vulnerable are the 2.8 million trapped in hard-to-reach areas, which includes 280,000 living under siege, Unicef said.<br />
Mr Cappelaere added: "Each and every child is scarred for life with horrific consequences on their health, well-being, and future."<br />
Last week, Save the Children warned millions of Syrian children could be living in a state of "toxic stress", which the charity feared may become irreversible without immediate help.<br />
It also found two-thirds of children had either lost a loved one, had their house bombed or shelled, or been injured as a result of the war.<br />
<strong>AJA'S STORY</strong><br />
Saja was only seven when the war in Syria started in 2011. Now 13, she has known war for almost half her life, and has moved home five times because of fighting.<br />
Three years after the conflict started, she lost her brother and her four best friends in a bomb attack in Aleppo, and also lost her leg.<br />
Before her injury, she was a keen gymnast. But she says balancing with only one leg is now too difficult - instead, she hopes to continue her dream of being a professional gymnastics coach, and to work in the Olympics.<br />
<strong>BBN/SK/AD</strong></p>
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		<title>IS fighters in Mosul &#039;will die&#039;: US envoy</title>
		<link>https://businessnews-bd.net/fighters-mosul-will-die-us-envoy/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BBN Desk]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Mar 2017 07:14:20 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://businessnews-bd.com/?p=36957</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Any so-called Islamic State (IS) fighters left in Mosul will die in the Iraqi city, a US envoy co-ordinating the offensive says]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Mosul, Iraq (BBN) -</strong> Any so-called Islamic State (IS) fighters left in Mosul will die in the Iraqi city, a US envoy co-ordinating the offensive has said.<br />
Brett McGurk, the senior US official in the counter-IS coalition, issued the warning after Iraqi forces cut off the last road out of the city, trapping IS fighters inside, reports BBC.<br />
The jihadists have held Mosul, Iraq's second city, since 2014.<br />
But Iraqi forces have managed to retake large areas in a months-long offensive.<br />
They now control all of Mosul's eastern side, and the latest US-backed push against IS - which began on 5 March - has forced the extremists from key locations in the west, including the main local government headquarters and the famed Mosul museum.<br />
Heavy fighting continued over the weekend, with McGurk telling reporters in Baghdad on Sunday "just last night, the 9th Iraqi army division... cut off the last road out of Mosul".<br />
He added "Any of the fighters who are left in Mosul, they're going to die there, because they're trapped.<br />
"So we are very committed to not just defeating them in Mosul, but making sure these guys cannot escape."<br />
Staff Major General Maan al-Saadi, of Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service, said government forces now controlled "more than a third" of western Mosul.<br />
He said he believed the fight would be easier than in eastern Mosul, which took 100 days to reclaim after the offensive was launched in October, finally falling in January.<br />
However, federal police and rapid response units say they have now entered the Bab al-Tob area of the Old City, where the fight is expected to be tough due to its narrow alleyways through which armoured vehicles cannot pass.<br />
Meanwhile, Joint Operations Command spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Rasool said he believed IS was weakening.<br />
But he added: "The battle is not easy... we are fighting an irregular enemy who hides among the citizens and uses tactics of booby-trapping, explosions and suicide bombers, and the operation is taking place with precision to preserve the lives of the citizens."<br />
It is thought there may be as many as 600,000 civilians still trapped in IS-controlled areas of Mosul.<br />
The statements came a day after Iraqi forces said that a "large mass grave" had been found near the city.<br />
It contained the remains of hundreds of "civilian prisoners who were executed by (IS) gangs after they controlled the prison during their occupation of Mosul".<br />
<strong>BBN/SK/AD</strong></p>
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