At least 70 civilians were killed in clashes between government forces and independence-seeking insurgents in Ukraine’s Donetsk region over the past three days, authorities said Thursday. According to the press service of Donetsk City Council, another 116 people were wounded as a result of fighting since Monday.
Read More »Syrian troops take over Damascus suburb
Syrian government troops captured a fiercely contested suburb of the capital Thursday after five months of heavy fighting, flushing rebels from their last hideouts and quickly moving to crush pockets of resistance in the surrounding countryside, activists and state media said. The fall of Mleiha, located some 10 km southeast …
Read More »Russian convoy continues road towards Ukraine
A massive Russian “humanitarian” convoy closed in on Ukraine’s border today despite doubts over whether the trucks would be allowed across, and as deadly fighting rocked rebel-held strongholds. The nearly 300 vehicles headed towards southeastern Ukraine, even as intense shelling there in the insurgent bastions of Donetsk and Lugansk ~ …
Read More »Iraqi troops battle Sunni militants in west Baghdad
Clashes between Iraqi troops and Sunni militants west of Baghdad killed at least four children today as the United Nations announced its highest level of emergency for the Arab country’s humanitarian crisis in the wake of the onslaught by the extremist Islamic State group. Since their blitz offensive in June, …
Read More »Russia sends aid convoy to eastern Ukraine, West warns against military purpose of transport
A Russian convoy carrying food, water and other aid set off yesterday for eastern Ukraine, where government forces are closing in on pro-Russian rebels, but Kiev said it would not allow the vehicles to cross onto its territory. Kiev and Western governments warned Moscow against any attempt to turn the …
Read More »Turkey welcomes Iraqi effort to form government
The Turkish government welcomed Tuesday Iraq’s advancement to the phase of forming a government. Iraqi President Fuad Massoum’s commissioning to form a government in the country is “an important and positive step,” Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement, wishing Massoum success during this “difficult task,”
Read More »Egypt looks for new funds for Suez Canal
Ministers of planning, finance and investment discussed on Monday alternative funding sources for the new Suez Canal project in a joint meeting with the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority. The new channel, part of a larger project to expand port and shipping facilities around the canal, aims to raise …
Read More »Tunisia rejects foreign intervention on Libyan territory
Tunisia refuses any foreign intervention in Libya, Foreign Affairs Minister Mongi Hamdi said Monday at the opening of the Annual Conference of Heads of Diplomatic Missions. He expressed wish that all Libyans would reach an internal political solution preserving sovereignty of the Libyan territory.
Read More »Shelling resumes in Libyan capital
Heavy shelling resumed in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Sunday after three days of relative calm following more than a month of street fighting between rival armed factions battling for control of the city’s airport. The North African OPEC oil producer is facing the worst violence since the 2011 war …
Read More »US airstrikes slowed IS actions in Iraq
A series of U.S. airstrikes since last week has slowed the operational tempo of the Islamic State, the terrorist group that has seized large parts of northern Iraq, but is unlikely to substantially weaken the group, the Pentagon said on Aug. 11.
Read More »