A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, August 13, 2017
Seven White Helmets members shot dead in northwest Syria
The rescue workers were killed in a raid by unknown assailants on their base in a militant-held area
White Helmets rescue workers operating in eastern Syria (AFP)
Saturday 12 August 2017
Unidentified attackers shot dead seven members of Syria's White Helmets
rescue service early on Saturday during a raid on their base in a
militant-held northwestern town, the group said.
The attackers struck in the town of Sarmin, nine kilometres east of the
city of Idlib, which is controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist
alliance.
"The civil defense center in Sarmin was the target of an armed attack by
an assailants in which seven volunteers were killed," the White Helmets
said in statement.
"Two minibuses, some white helmets and walkie-talkies were stolen."
It was not immediately clear whether the motive was for the raid was political or purely criminal.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the seven volunteers had all been killed by bullets to the head.
Colleagues came in the morning for a change of shift and found them dead, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
7 Syrian White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDefe) were shot dead in Idlib and their equipment stolen. Activists say its not clear who's responsible. pic.twitter.com/vjYhFR8ITb
Syrian opposition activists are posting pictures purportedly showing the White Helmet volunteers who were killed pic.twitter.com/1yfcepD6Rh
The White Helmets emerged in 2013. They operate a rescue service in
rebel-held parts of Syria, which have been subjected to fierce
bombardment by the government and Russia's air force that has levelled
whole city districts during the country's civil war.
They have since gained international renown for their daring rescues,
often filmed and circulated on social media, and were nominated for the
2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
Although they work exclusively in rebel-held areas, they are non-partisan.
Their detractors, including President Bashar al-Assad's government and
his ally Russia, accuse them of being the tools of their international
donors.
They receive funding from a number of Western governments, including Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States.
Critics also accuse them of harbouring rebel fighters, including Islamist militants, in their ranks.
According to unverified statistics compiled by the White Helmets,
volunteer rescuers have saved more than 85,000 civilians since the
group's inception.
It currently has over 3,000 volunteers conducting rescue missions across rebel-held parts of Syria.