IS Executes 20 Men in Palmyra’s Roman Amphitheater

BEIRUT – Islamic State on Wednesday executed 20 accused supporters of the Bashar Assad government in the Roman amphitheater of Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The men were shot in front of a crowd of residents, the observatory said, citing sources in the area.

Wednesday’s killings brought to 237 the number of people executed by IS since May 16 in the course of an offensive in the eastern part of the central Syrian province of Homs, according to data from the observatory, which is based in Britain.

That figure includes 67 civilians – 14 of them children – who were accused of collaborating with the regime and hiding pro-government fighters in their homes.

Syrian authorities said IS has beheaded at least 400 people, mostly women, children and the elderly, in Palmyra since seizing control of the city on May 20.

Palmyra, an oasis in the Syrian desert, was a leading cultural center in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. and later became an important stop for Silk Road caravans.

Prior to the start of Syria’s civil war, in March 2011, the Palmyra ruins were one of the country’s foremost tourist attractions. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has designated the ruins as a World Heritage Site.

Soldiers Kill 5 Gunmen in Shootout in Northeastern Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Five suspected gunmen died in a shootout with soldiers in Rio Bravo, a city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, officials told Efe.

The shootout occurred on Tuesday at the Rio Bravo-Nuevo Progreso crossroads and involved army troops on a routine patrol, a Tamaulipas Attorney General’s office agent said.

The gunmen fired at the soldiers, who returned fire, killing all five of the subjects.

Several firearms, tactical gear and an SUV that had been reported stolen were seized.

Tamaulipas has been a battleground between the Gulf and Los Zetas drug cartels for years, and the state is regularly among those with the highest number of homicides.

President Enrique Peña Nieto sent additional Federal Police and military personnel to Tamaulipas in May 2014 and ordered a thorough vetting of the state and municipal police forces to root out corrupt officers.

Iran: 4000 truck drivers go on strike

About 4000 truck drivers in Bandar Abbas protested on May 27, 2015 against the rise diesel fuel prices.
The drivers at Babagholam Terminal in Bandar Abbas disconnect the speakers in the terminal and broke the glasses of the cargo building to voice their protest.
This strike began on the evening of Tuesday May 26, 2015 and continued untill Wednesday afternoon, May 27, 2015.

Iran news in brief, 26 May 2015

China video over tension with the U.S

Over 700 Tunisian Women Joined IS in Syria and Iraq

TUNIS – More than 700 Tunisian women have been recruited by Islamic State, as revealed on Friday by Badra Galul, the president of the Tunisian Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In a press conference, Galul stressed that more than 105 Tunisian women are currently serving prison sentences for crimes linked to terrorism, adding that Tunisian security forces have prevented 1,200 others from leaving the country to join IS.

The expert explained that the women who joined IS engage in tasks such as sexual jihad (offering sexual services to fighters in a temporary marriage), nursing, education and coordination between terrorists.

Medical sources confirmed to Efe that more than 50 Tunisian women who had joined IS in Iraq and Syria were reported to have returned back home pregnant after engaging in sexual jihad.

Tunisian health authorities take care of the babies once they are born at care centers in the capital, as families of young women tend not to welcome them back when they return with children.

The Tunisian government believes that this is the most effective way to reintegrate these young women into society and prevent their children from becoming future combatants.

Until now, it has been reported that Tunisia, with more than 3,000 volunteers, is the leading exporter of jihadists to the ranks of IS in Syria, Iraq and Libya; the latter where Tunisians hold leadership positions.

Police Officer Killed in Grenade Attack in Colombia

CALI, Colombia – A police officer was killed and two others were wounded in a grenade attack in Tumaco, a city in the southwestern Colombian province of Nariño, the National Police said Sunday.

The officers were attacked while patrolling Tumaco’s La Exportadora neighborhood in a police SUV on Saturday night.

Patrolman Iber Fernando Narvaez was unable to get out of the burning vehicle, while officers Jairo Andres Solarte and Alexis David Ramos Rodriguez escaped.

The Daniel Aldana column of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, may have been behind the attack, officials said.

The FARC said Friday it was ending its months-old unilateral cease-fire.

The guerrilla group’s move was in response to the killings of 27 of its members last Thursday in an airstrike in a rural area outside Guapi, a city in Cauca province.

If the FARC staged the grenade attack, it would be the first attack by the rebel group since ending the cease-fire.