One dies in brawl at drifting

April 10, 2014

Drifting_joyriding

Jeddah, Apr 10: A young Saudi man died and another was seriously injured when a bloody fighting erupted between groups of youth involved in the dangerous game of drifting in Al-Kharj, about 80 km south of Riyadh.

The fighting took place in King Saud Street on Wednesday evening, according to the Al-Arabiya website.

The news channel said the victim died of a bullet wound, while the injured man sustained stab wounds on different parts of his body.

The incident took place while a large number of youth were watching car stunts in the street.

Sulaiman Al-Aqeel, a professor of social science at King Saud University, said drifting has become a major problem in Saudi society and urged authorities to take strong measures to stop such destructive activities.

“Saudis learned such stunts after interacting with other societies,” he said, adding that youth must be encouraged to make use of their free time to engage in constructive activity.

“We have to conduct interesting and informative programs for our youth to use their free time wisely to deter them from engaging in bad habits such as drifting, drug abuse and other crimes.”

Al-Aqeel said several studies have been conducted on these social issues and that recommendations should be implemented to resolve negative phenomena.

The Social Affairs Ministry and other ministries should address these issues before they become more complicated and claim more lives.

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News Network
November 28,2025

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Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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