'STOP!' bombing, killing in Syria's Idlib: Trump
Washington: US President Donald Trump on Sunday told Syria and Russia to stop "bombing the hell" out of Syria's last jihadist stronghold Idlib.
"Hearing word that Russia, Syria and, to a lesser extent, Iran, are bombing the hell out of Idlib Province in Syria, and indiscriminately killing many innocent civilians. The World is watching this butchery. What is the purpose, what will it get you? STOP!" he said on Twitter shortly before he was to depart for a state visit to Britain.
His comments came after Syrian NGOs on Friday decried international inaction in the face of mounting violence in the northwestern region.
As well as killing dozens of civilians, the recent bombardments by Syrian and Russian forces in northwest Syria have pushed 300,000 people towards Turkey's border, the NGOs said at a press conference in Istanbul.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday that almost 950 people had been killed in the latest clashes in Idlib.
A September deal was supposed to avert a full-out regime offensive on the province and adjacent areas held by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Iranian fighters and Hezbollah paramilitary forces are also stationed in Syria to back the Assad regime. The worsening unrest in Idlib comes with tensions soaring between Iran and the United States.
The stand-off has been simmering since the US last year withdrew from the 2015 nuclear treaty Iran reached with major world powers
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Nashik TCS case: Accused Nida Khan held in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Nashik (PTI): Weeks after she went into hiding, a female employee of the TCS unit in Nashik, accused in a case related to alleged religious conversion and sexual harassment of some women colleagues, has been arrested, police said.
Nida Khan was held on Thursday in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik said.
Khan is an accused in the Deolali Camp police station crime register number 156/26 here, he said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police is probing nine cases of molestation and harassment at the IT major’s Nashik unit.
It had arrested eight persons, including a female operations manager, by registering nine FIRs after allegations of exploitation, attempt of forceful conversion, hurting religious sentiments, molestation and mental harassment of female employees at the TCS unit came to light.
The SIT had launched a search for Khan in different parts of Maharashtra. She is accused of targeting employees in a WhatsApp group, pressuring them to pray and eat non-vegetarian food.
According to the FIR, Khan allegedly advised women employees to dress and behave in accordance with Islamic traditions.
Some complainants have also alleged that they were coerced or pressured into adopting religious practices, including praying, changing dietary habits, and adopting religious symbols.
Besides Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) provisions for sexual harassment and defamation, Khan has also been booked under relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as the complainant belongs to a Scheduled Caste.
On April 18, she had moved the Nashik court seeking anticipatory bail and interim protection from arrest pending the plea hearing, citing her pregnancy. Her anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a court here on May 2.
TCS has clarified that it has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form for a long time, and the employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment at the Nashik office have been suspended.
