The War In Syria

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The War In Syria: 20 Shocking Images That Won The 2013 Pulitzer Prize

By  / 11 September 2013 / 0 comments

Syria is all over the news of late but all we’re really seeing is politicians and talking heads debating whether or not we should be going to war. What we’re not seeing enough of is the violence and despair that is actually taking place on the ground. It is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of the situation but these 20 images from the Associated Press recently won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography. Over 100,000 have been killed and two million have been displaced in the last 30 months and these images help to put it all into perspective.

A wounded woman still in shock leaves Dar El Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Sept. 20, 2012. Dozens of Syrian civilians were killed, four children among them, in artillery shelling by Syrian government forces in the northern Syrian town. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File)

A Syrian man cries while holding the body of his son near Dar El Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Oct. 3, 2012. The boy was killed by the Syrian army. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File)

A rebel sniper aims at a Syrian army position, as he and another rebel fighter are reflected in a mirror inside a residential building in the Jedida district of Aleppo, Syria, Oct. 29, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras, File)

An apartment destroyed by tank shelling is seen in a building in the Karm al-Jabel neighborhood after several days of intense clashes between rebel fighters and the Syrian army in Aleppo, Syria, Oct. 28, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras, File)

A boy named Ahmed mourns his father, Abdulaziz Abu Ahmed Khrer, who was killed by a Syrian army sniper, during his funeral in Idlib, northern Syria, March 8, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

A woman named Aida cries as she recovers from severe injuries after the Syrian army shelled her house in Idlib, northern Syria, March 10, 2012. Aida’s husband and two children were killed in the attack. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

A rebel fighter gestures for victory after firing a shoulder-fired missile toward a building where Syrian troops loyal to President Bashar Assad were hiding as they attempted to gain terrain against the rebels during heavy clashes in the Jedida district of Aleppo, Syria, Nov. 4, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras, File)

Free Syrian Army fighters sit in a house on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, June 12, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

Syrian refugees cross from Syria to Turkey via the Orontes River, near the village of Hacipasa, Turkey, Dec. 8, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File)

Blood and used medical supplies spill out of the backdoor of Dar al-Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Oct. 11, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File)

A man teaches Bilal, 11, how to use a toy rocket-propelled grenade in Idlib, northern Syria, March 4, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

A family escapes from fierce fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and government troops in Idlib, northern Syria, March 10, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

Abdullah Ahmed, 10, who suffered burns in a Syrian government airstrike and fled his home with his family, stands outside their tent at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Dec. 11, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)

A man points a flashlight towards the body of a Syrian man killed by Syrian army shelling at a graveyard in Aleppo, Syria, Oct. 13, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File)

Displaced Syrian men wait for food near an NGO charitable kitchen in a refugee camp near Azaz, Syria, Oct. 23, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File)

Mahmoud, a 21-year-old Palestinian resident of Syria who would only give his first name, rests in a field hospital after he was found Aug. 6, 2012, with three gunshot wounds in the town of Anadan on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. Mahmoud described being the only survivor of a massacre in which he and 10 other men were blindfolded, beaten and sprayed with bullets. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo by Khalil Hamra, File)

A Syrian man wheels a severely injured woman to a hospital for treatment after an artillery shell landed near a bakery in Aleppo, Syria, Oct. 23, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras, File)

A wounded Syrian civilian lies in the street with a shot to his stomach as he tries to escape the line of fire after he was targeted by a Syrian army sniper while walking near the frontline in the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, Oct. 20, 2012. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras, File)

Night falls on a Syrian rebel-controlled area of Aleppo, Nov. 29, 2012, as destroyed buildings, including Dar Al-Shifa hospital, are seen on Sa’ar street after airstrikes targeted the area a week before. This image was one in a series of 20 by AP photographers that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras, File)

Profile: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar

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21 September 2013 Last updated at 11:41 GMT

Profile: Mullah Abdul  Ghani Baradar

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is one of the four men who founded the Taliban movement in Afghanistan in 1994.

He went on to become a linchpin of the insurgency after the Taliban were toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001.

He was eventually captured in a joint US-Pakistani raid in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in February 2010.

Little was heard of Mullah Baradar’s fate until late in 2012 when his name repeatedly topped the list of Taliban prisoners the Afghans wanted released in order to encourage nascent peace talks.

Pakistani officials released Mullah Baradar on 21 September but it is not clear whether he will be allowed to stay in Pakistan or sent to a third country.

At the time of his arrest he was said to be second-in-command to the Taliban’s spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and one of his most trusted commanders.

Senior Afghan officials hope that a senior figure like him could persuade the Taliban to engage in talks with Kabul – a critical part of the government’s plan to ensure stability after Nato combat troops withdraw in 2014.

He is reputedly one of those leading militants who favour talks with the US and the Afghan government.

Controller of funds

After helping found the Taliban movement in 1994, Mullah Baradar developed a profile as a military strategist and commander.

A key Taliban operative, he was believed to be in day-to-day command of the insurgency and its funding.

He held important responsibilities in nearly all the major wars across Afghanistan, and remained top commander of Taliban’s formation in the western region (Herat) as well as Kabul. At the time the Taliban were toppled he was their deputy minister of defence.

“His wife is Mullah Omar’s sister. He controlled the money. He was launching some of the deadliest attacks against our security forces,” an Afghan official who did not want to be named told the BBC at the time of his arrest.

Mullah Baradar, like other Taliban leaders, was targeted by UN Security Council sanctions, which included the freezing of assets, a travel ban and an arms embargo.

Before his 2010 capture, he made few public statements.

But one of those statements was in July 2009, when he apparently engaged in an email exchange with Newsweek magazine.

Asked for a reaction to the US troop surge in Afghanistan, he said the Taliban wanted to inflict maximum losses on the Americans.

He also vowed to continue the “jihad” until “the expulsion of our enemy from our land”.

He said Mullah Omar was in good health and leading the fight against the coalition and denied Taliban leaders were based in Pakistan.

Asked what would be the conditions for peace talks, he replied: “The basic condition is the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.”

According to Interpol, Mullah Baradar was born in Weetmak village in Dehrawood district, in the Uruzgan province of Afghanistan, in 1968.

But he is also known to be part of the Popalzai branch of Durrani tribe, the same as Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

He is reported to have stayed in touch with Mr Karzai’s brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, who was head of the Kandahar provincial council from 2005 until his assassination in July 2011.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20582286

20 September 2013 Last updated at 21:46 GMT

Pakistan to free Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Baradar on Saturday

Former Afghan Taliban second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is to be released from prison in Pakistan on Saturday, the foreign ministry says.

A spokesman said the release was to “further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process”.

Mullah Baradar is one of the four men who founded the Taliban movement in Afghanistan in 1994.

He became a linchpin of the insurgency after the Taliban were toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001.

He was captured in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010.

Secret talks

Afghan officials said at the time that he had been holding secret peace talks with the Afghan government and accused Pakistan of trying to sabotage or gain control of the process.

Correspondents say he has since emerged as a figure who Afghanistan and Pakistan believe could help persuade Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons and join peace talks.

A mid-level Afghan Taliban official told the AFP news agency that Mullah Baradar’s release would not have any effect on events in Afghanistan.

“[It] won’t change anything: he will be just a simple guy with no position in the Taliban network,” he said.

It is not clear where Mullah Baradar will be sent after his release.

A Pakistani official and a Taliban source in north-west Pakistan told AFP that he is likely to stay at home in Karachi where his family lives.

“He will be kept as a simple guy in the network who can convey messages from time to time, but who will not be able to reintegrate the shura [Taliban council] and regain power,” the Taliban official said.

Afghanistan wants him repatriated but Pakistani sources said this month he was more likely to be sent straight to a third country such as Saudi Arabia or Turkey.

Friday’s announcement was welcomed by the Afghan government.

“We welcome that this step is being taken,” Aimal Faizi, spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai told AFP news agency.

“We believe this will help the Afghan peace process. This is something we have been calling for for a long time. It was on the agenda when the president visited Pakistan, so we are pleased.”

The Pakistani foreign ministry recently revealed that some 26 Taliban prisoners had been freed over the past year.

Correspondents say that there is little evidence that previous releases of Taliban detainees have had a positive effect on peace negotiations, and several prisoners are understood to have returned to the battlefield.

Analysts say that there is also evidence that Mullah Baradar is not as important for Taliban as he used to be.

In a visit to Islamabad last month, President Karzai urged Pakistan “to facilitate peace talks” between his country and the Taliban.

He said the Pakistani government could provide opportunities for talks between the Afghan High Peace Council and the militants.

In response, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he wanted to help regional efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.

Most Nato combat troops are due to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, leaving the country to handle its own security.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24180523

Egypt clashes after army fire kills Morsi supporters

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6 July 2013 Last updated at 03:52 GMT

Egypt clashes after army fire kills Morsi supporters

Twelve people have died in Alexandria and three in Cairo in clashes between supporters and opponents of the ousted President Mohammed Morsi, reports say.

The violence came after three pro-Morsi demonstrators were killed by security forces in another part of the capital.

Troops later restored calm in Cairo, but nationwide violence left some 26 dead and 318 injured, officials said.

The army removed Mr Morsi from power on Wednesday after millions of people protested over his leadership.

Mr Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader, is in detention, as are some senior figures in the Brotherhood: early on Saturday, state media reported the Brotherhood’s deputy leader Khairat el-Shater had been arrested at his Cairo home on suspicion of incitement to violence.

The Tamarod [Rebel] movement – which organised recent anti-Morsi protests – accused the ousted president of pursuing an Islamist agenda against the wishes most Egyptians, and of failing to tackle economic problems.

The US State Department issued a condemnation of Friday’s violence and called for all leaders to put a stop to any further aggression.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also expressed alarm at the violence, saying that it was for the people of Egypt to determine the way forward – and all people, including women, needed to be part of that process.

Anger and passion

Most of those killed during fighting in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, died from gunshot wounds, said Amr Nasr, head of emergency services in the city.

He told the official Mena news agency that 200 people were injured during clashes in Egypt’s second-largest city.

Earlier, after midday Prayers, Islamist supporters of Mr Morsi staged a series of marches across Cairo – including outside Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque where tens of thousands massed.

Tensions escalated when a crowd advanced on the nearby headquarters of the Republican Guard, where Mr Morsi is believed to be held.

Troops then opened fire on crowds. Three people were killed and dozens wounded, including the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen whose head was grazed by shotgun pellets.

In the evening, tens of thousands of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood – to whom Mr Morsi belongs – filled the square near the mosque, as well as nearby streets.

The Brotherhood’s supreme leader, Mohammed Badie, told the crowd: “We shall stay in the squares until we bring President Morsi back to power.”

He said their protests would remain peaceful and called on the army not to “direct your arms against us”.

Shortly afterwards, Brotherhood supporters surged across the 6th October Bridge over the Nile river, towards Tahrir Square where anti-Morsi protesters were gathered.

The rival groups hurled fireworks and stones at each other. A car was set on fire and stones and fireworks were thrown.

The BBC’s Kevin Connolly in Cairo says there is anger and passion on both sides – as well as a determination to win a battle for the streets which is making the capital a dangerous and volatile place.

Late on Friday, tanks arrived at the bridge to separate the clashing protesters and the violence died down.

‘Glorious revolution’

There were clashes in other parts of Egypt on Friday

In Qina in the south, troops opened fire on pro-Morsi activists trying to storm a security building. At least two people were injured.

Firing was also reported in the canal city of Ismailiya.

Ahead of Friday’s protests, the army command said it would not take “arbitrary measures against any faction or political current” and would guarantee the right to protest, as long as demonstrations did not threaten national security.

“Peaceful protest and freedom of expression are rights guaranteed to everyone, which Egyptians have earned as one of the most important gains of their glorious revolution,” it said.

On Thursday the head of Egypt’s constitutional court, Adly Mahmud Mansour, was sworn in as interim head of state, and he promised to hold elections soon.

On Friday Mr Mansour dissolved the upper house – or Shura Council – which had been dominated by Morsi supporters and had served as sole legislative body after the lower house was dissolved last year.

Mr Mansour also appointed a new intelligence chief, Mohamed Ahmed Farid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23201770

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