US Forces Seize Sanctioned Oil Tanker Sagitta

US seizes sanctioned oil tanker Joshua Cheetham BBC Verify journalist This morning we’ve been looking into the seizure of another oil tanker by US forces in the Caribbean. US authorities have released a video of the ship, named Sagitta, and various features on its deck are consistent with previous photos of this vessel available online. It is unclear where exactly the vessel was seized. Signal from the ship’s onboard tracker was last received by MarineTraffic almost 80 days ago, when it was transmitting a location in the Baltic. It is flagged to Liberia and its beneficial owner is listed as Sunne Co Ltd, based in China. The Sagitta is currently sanctioned by the US, UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UN. TankerTrackers says the vessel exported fuel from Venezuela in August 2025 while using a “zombie alias”. This is a technique to hide a ship’s real identity by using the identity of another ship that has been scrapped, de-registered or sunk. Verified video shows armed men entering Syria IS camp after SDF withdrawal Paul Brown BBC Verify senior journalist We have verified video showing a convoy of armed men in vehicles entering al-Hol camp in north-eastern Syria, which is holding thousands of people with alleged links to the Islamic State (IS) group. The footage was shared after troops from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pulled out of al-Hol, following renewed clashes between them and forces loyal to the Syrian government. The SDF has said it was "compelled" to leave the camp "due to the international indifference toward the issue of [IS]". A BBC team who entered the camp in October last year were met with intimidation from residents. The video was filmed from the back of a pick-up shortly after entering the camp at its western gate. It shows armed men shouting "Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as residents of the camp rush towards the fences. It is unclear from the footage who the forces entering the camp are. AFP has reported that “a large number of soldiers” from Syria’s army had entered the camp, and Syrian state media has posted photographs this morning of troops stationed at the eastern gate. Since the footage emerged, a new ceasefire has been declared between the SDF and Syrian government. Verifying IS camp footage from Syria Adam Durbin BBC Verify Live senior journalist BBC Verify is looking into the situation on the ground in Syria after videos emerged of armed men entering a camp holding thousands of people with alleged links to the Islamic State group. Al-Hol camp in the country’s north-east was controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, before the Kurdish-led group pulled out after recent clashes with Syrian government forces. We’ve verified footage of a convoy of vehicles entering al-Hol and are speaking to experts about what a change of who runs it might mean for the people held there. We’re also examining footage of the US seizing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean. It is not clear exactly where the Sagitta was captured, but we've been able to establish the shadow fleet vessel's registration and ownership history. Plus, our fact checkers are digging into claims made by Donald Trump last night in the White House, ahead of the US president’s appearance at the the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland later.