US bans entry to Syria security agent over killings on video

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. State Department has banned entry into the U.S. of a Syrian intelligence member who appeared in a video leaked last year showing him fatally shooting people during the country’s 12-year conflict. Monday’s ban against Amjad Yousef, a member of Syria’s notorious Military Intelligence Branch 227, also includes his wife and immediate members of his family. The State Department’s decision came a week before Syria’s conflict enters its 13th year. The conflict has killed nearly half a million people and left large parts of the country destroyed. The State Department said Yousef murdered at least 41 unarmed civilians.