Author: Steven Sahiounie

Iraq announced on Saturday that it had received 50 prisoners who were militants of the Islamic State (IS) captured earlier in Syria. “Through joint understandings and agreements, Iraq received 50 IS members, who are Iraqi citizens, from the Syrian side,” tweeted the Security Media Cell (SMC), a media outlet affiliated with Iraq’s armed forces. The handover of the prisoners was carried out at the Rabia border crossing in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh, according to the SMC. “Some of the prisoners are local leaders of the IS and responsible for terrorist attacks,” Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesman of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command,…

The ambassador of China to Japan, Kong Xuanyou, said Japan has no right to meddle in Chinese internal affairs and should not follow American policy regarding Taiwan. During recent talks with Japanese people from all walks of life, Ambassador Kong elaborated on China’s stance on the Taiwan question, saying that Japan has nothing to do with the current situation across the Taiwan Straits, and China’s countermeasures are targeted at US political provocation and “Taiwan independence” forces. Dancing to the tune of the US would be a huge violation of the one-China principle, the foundation of the relationship between the two countries, he…

Negotiating now would not serve Kiev’s goals, Zelensky’s aide has said Ukraine has ruled out peace talks with Moscow under the existing circumstances, comparing any negotiations to “civilizational catastrophe.” Re-starting talks would not contribute anything to Kiev’s goals, Mikhail Podoliak, an aide to President Vladimir Zelensky, told Ukraine’s Babel news media outlet on Friday. “Today, Ukraine has no motives to hold the talks,” Podoliak said, adding that the “opportunity to win this war is much more important than any situational pause.” Starting dialogue under the present circumstances would only “formalize” the defeat of Ukraine and that of Europe, as well as “European values,” he added. Talks with Russia today will…

The Kiev regime continues terrorist attacks on infrastructure facilities which are under control of the Russian military, posing threat of disasters. On the night of August 10, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the Donetsk brewery plant, located in the Kalininsky district of the city. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the DPR reported that 32 people were on the territory of the plant during the shelling. One person was killed, two more were injured. The Kiev’s forces damaged the ammonia pipeline on the territory of the plant. As a result, an ammonia leak affected the area of 2 kilometers.…

Latest attack comes as UN warns both sides to cease fighting near the facility Ten shells launched by the Ukrainian army landed near the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Thursday, according to regional authorities. The facility is located in southeastern Ukraine but is currently under the control of Russian troops. Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Zaporozhye Region military-civil administration, explained that five explosives landed near the commandant’s office at the plant, next to a welding site and a radioactive substance storage facility, causing grass in the area to catch fire. Another five shells landed near the fire station beside…

The death toll from the clashes between rival security forces in the Yemeni oil-rich province of Shabwa increased to 28, and the injuries to 68, a medical official told Xinhua on Thursday. “Figures by the local medical centers confirmed that a total of 28 people were killed and more than 68 others injured following days of fighting across Shabwa’s streets,” the local medical source said on condition of anonymity. “All the wounded from both sides are receiving medical care in the public and private hospitals in Shabwa,” he said. On Monday, deadly clashes erupted between rival security units across residential…

The Russian military continues to hunt down the heavy weapons which were recently supplied by the West to Kiev forces. On August 11, Russian sources shared footage showing a Russian strike on a battery of three French-made CAESAR 155 mm self-propelled howitzers near an unspecified front in Ukraine. The strike destroyed or damaged the howitzers and their ammunition. Manufactured by the partly state-owned arms maker Nexter Systems, the CAESAR is a 155mm 52-caliber howitzer mounted on a six-wheeled truck chassis. The howitzer can fire up to six rounds per minute and has a firing range of around 42 kilometers using…

Forty-two Malian soldiers have died in a sophisticated weekend attack by suspected terrorists using drones artillery, authorities said Wednesday, the latest violent incident to rock the troubled Sahel country. A “complex and coordinated” weekend attack in Mali’s restive central region killed 42 soldiers, the country’s military government has said, sharply raising the earlier death toll of 17 soldiers. The assault in the town of Tessit in the Gao region on Sunday was one of the deadliest in recent years for Mali’s security forces fighting armed groups in the region, Al Jazeera reported. Authorities on Monday had said at least four…

 News sources reported a Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack in northern Syria which resulted in the killing of some people. The attacks were carried out on a village in the western region of Qamishli, located in the northern suburbs of al-Hasakah. Syrian sources announced that a Turkish UAV attacked a vehicle on the outskirts of the village, leaving several people killed. Some news sources reported that three people had been killed in the attack. Turkiye continuously conducts air raids on Syria and Iraq under the pretext of fighting PKK terrorists. The action has been met with strong reactions from…

On August 10, the Afrin Liberation Forces (ALF) claimed responsibility for three recent attacks that targeted installation of the Turkish military in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo. In a statement, the Kurdish guerilla group said that its fighters destroyed a surveillance system of the Turkish military that was installed in a key base near the town of al-Bab on August 5. The ALF also took responsibility for the August 6 and 7 indirect fire attacks which targeted two bases of the Turkish military near the towns of Inab and Kaljibrin. The group claimed that the attacks killed six Turkish service members and…