Three wings of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Sunday held a protest march to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka kottayam l monday l December 09, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Assad flees as Syria falls to rebels Regional security key for India, says Jaishankar AGENCIES The Syrian government on Sunday fell to a lightning rebel offensive that seized control of capital Damascus, ending the 24-year rule by president Bashar al-Assad and forcing him to flee the country . Syrian state television stated Assad had been overthrown. Rebel group Hayat Tahrir alSham (HTS) claimed it released all prisoners from Sednaya prison, where political opponents were said to have been tortured by the Assad regime. Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government would turn its functions over to a transitional government. Jalali will supervise Syrian state institutions until they are handed over, HTS chief Abu Mohammed al-Golani said, Manama: Addressing the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday highlighted the importance of West Asia for New Delhi and spoke about the need to improve the security situation there and prevent conflicts from spreading further Syrians welcome opposition fighters in Damascus on Sunday | AP signalling the Islamist group prefers an orderly transition. Seizure of Damascus comes a day after opposition forces took the central city of Homs, as government forces abandoned it. There were few casualties as government forces withdrew or surrendered without trying to ‘Not IUML view’: Shaji dismisses Satheesan’s stand on Munambam E x p r e ss N e ws S e r vi c e @ Kozhikode In a significant political development, IUML state secretary K M Shaji has dismissed Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan’s claim that the controversial land at Munambam is not a Waqf property Addressing a public meeting at Koomanna . in Malappuram district on Saturday night, Shaji said Satheesan’s remark is his personal opinion and that the IUML does not share his view. It may be recalled that Satheesan has asserted many times that the land at Munambam is not a Waqf property He had said the . land has been subjected to transactions many times and hence it cannot be a Waqf property Moreover, he said Waqf should be . unconditional but there are some conditions mentioned in the original deed. “Munambam is a big issue, and not a miThe leader of nor one as you think. There are possibiliopposition said ties for a big controversy The leader of op. it is not Waqf position said it is not Waqf land. It is his land. It is his personal view. IUML has no such opinion,” personal view. Shaji said. IUML has no such The IUML leader came down heavily on opinion the Farook College management, to whom K M Shaji, IUML the land was given a waqf. “What right do state secretary they (management) have to say that it is not Waqf property Who are the real culprits in . the Munambam issue? It is not the people who purchased the land. Who gave them the land? Who sold Waqf property? Who prepared the documents for them? It is not the responsibility of the IUML, Congress or the CPM to catch them. There is a government to do the duty he said. ,” IUML leader M K Muneer also indirectly supported Shaji. He told reporters that the Muslim Coordination Committee that met in Kozhikode two months ago under the leadership of Panakkad Sadiq Ali Thangal never said Munambam land ● More on P7 is not a Waqf property  . express read New Catholicos for Jacobite Church on course Liren blunders, Gukesh takes lead India’s D Gukesh took a giant step towards becoming the youngest world champion in history after winning game 11 of the FIDE World Chess Championship. Gukesh currently leads 6-5 | P11 Kochi: Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, the Patriarch of Antioch and Supreme Head of Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, on Sunday declared Joseph Mor Gregorios, the Malankara Metropolitan and president of Jacobite Syrian Episcopal Synod, as the new Catholicos of Jacobite Church. “A decision on anointment will be taken later,” the Patriarch said. P4 Gaganyaan astronauts to get training at INS Garuda M A N O J V I S W A N AT H A N @ Kochi THE four astronauts selected for India’s inaugural human space flight programme, Gaganyaan, will undergo rigorous training at the Indian Navy’s water survival training facility (WSTF) at INS Garuda in Kochi on how to survive in water after landing in the sea upon return. While ISRO and DRDO are pioneering the space flight, the Navy is tasked with recovering the crew module from sea on its return to earth after the three-day mission. The module is expected to land in the Indian Ocean and the Navy will be positioning its vessels in the region. The ISRO has marked the waters for landing with 48 backup spots. “This is our first attempt. The Navy, in coordination with ISRO scientists, has prepared a standard operating procedure on recovering the crew. The recovery team members have been trained to ensure safe extraction of the astronauts even in harsh weather conditions,” Captain Shinodh Karthikeyan, Full report | P2 officer in-charge of WSTF, told TNIE.  put up much of a resistance. There was no immediate comment from Iran, Assad’s staunchest supporter, while close ally Russia said Assad ordered a “peaceful transfer of power” and left the country . Israel, another key player in the region, moved quickly to de- ploy its forces in a demilitarized buffer zone in Golan Heights, established in 1974 by a ceasefire agreement with Syria. While Syrians largely welcomed Assad’s fall, the sudden onset of events portend regional instability due to the shift in P9 balance of power.  Today Bangladesh’s BNP party members march to Indian high Commission Protesters slam attack on B’desh mission Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will visit dhaka. He will raise India’s concerns over the attacks on hindus Thousands of BNP members took part in the march. Leaders of the three wings were allowed to proceed to the IHC to submit a memorandum, protesting the attack on Bangladesh’s mission in Tripura on December 2 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ India to soon have comprehensive anti-drone unit, says Amit Shah M u k e sh r anjan @ New Delhi Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that India will soon have a comprehensive anti-drone unit to deal with the ever-increasing menace of unmanned aerial vehicles being used by Pakbased elements to drop weapons and drugs along the western frontiers. Speaking at an event to mark the Border Security Force’s 60th Raising Day in Rajasthan’s border district of Jodhpur, Shah said the initial results of a “laser-equipped anti-drone gun-mounted” mechanism have been encouraging, adding that cases of drone neutralisation and detection, have gone up from 3% to 55% along the IndiaPakistan border in Punjab. “The drone menace is going to get more serious. We are tackling this issue with a ‘whole of government’ approach with the defence and research organisations and the DRDO joining hands,” Shah said, adding: “We are going to create a comprehensive anti-drone unit for the coun- try in the coming days”. As per recent government data, more than 260 drones have been downed or recovered from India’s border with Pakistan this year as compared to about 110 in 2023, most of them in Punjab. Shah said the ongoing Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) for securing India’s borders with Pakistan (2,289 km) and Bangladesh (4,096 km) is a work in progress. “We have had an encouraging response from the CIBMS deployed along the riverine borders in Assam’s Dhubri (India-Bangladesh international border) but some improvements are required,” he said.