Iraqi Kurdistan: Twin explosions kill, injure 13 in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah

December 4, 2016 By administrator

Iraqis walk past the wreckage of a vehicle in the aftermath of a bomb explosion in Baghdad’s al-Karkh district on December 4, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

At least 13 people have been killed or injured in twin bomb attacks that rocked the province of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s semi-autonomous region, local media say.

On Sunday, two bombers detonated their explosive belts near residential areas at a village close to the town of Darbandikhan, Shafaaq News website quoted a Kurdish military source as saying.

A third bomber also failed to set off his explosives and was killed by security forces.

The exact number of casualties is still unknown.

Following the blasts, clashes broke out between a group of armed men and Kurdish security guards in the area.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, which bear the hallmarks of Daesh terrorists.

The latest terror attacks come as Iraqi forces are engaged in large-scale battles to drive Daesh out of the northern city of Mosul, the terror group’s last remaining bastion in Iraq.

The Iraqi army has the backing of different military groups, including Kurdish Peshmerga forces, in its military push to liberate Mosul.

Daesh has in recent weeks stepped up its terror activities in different parts of Iraq, particularly Baghdad, in revenge for the heavy blows it is taking on the Mosul front.

The UN said in a report earlier this week that the acts of terrorism and violence left nearly 3,000 people dead in Iraq in November.

‘Islamic State’ militant killed in North Caucasus, Russian security forces report

December 4, 2016 By administrator

is-leader-killed Russian security forces have killed a regional leader of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist group. Several other militants were also killed in the raid.

The leader of IS’ North Caucasus branch was killed on Saturday along with four other militants, Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, said in a statement.

Rustam Asildarov, an “emir” who swore allegiance to IS in 2014, was killed in a raid in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, after he and his fellow militants refused to surrender.

Police stormed the single-family home where the militants were hiding after they opened fire on the police during the negotiation process. The FSB said that Asildarov was behind several attacks, and some plots that were never carried out, such as one meant to target New Year’s Eve revelers in Moscow in 2010.

IS named Asildarov the governor of a newly declared Caucasus province and has claimed responsibility for attacks in Dagestan. When he was declared the group’s leader in the region, the US State Department officially labeled him a “foreign terrorist fighter.”

Many foreign jihadist fighters in Syria and Iraq are known to come from the region.

blc/jlw (dpa, AFP)

Turkey rebranding al-Nusra terrorist to new name so-called “Army of Aleppo”

December 3, 2016 By administrator

Russia says the formation of the so-called Army of Aleppo in the east of the Syrian city is an attempt to disguise and shield the al-Nusra Front terrorist group.

“I do not rule out that this is just another attempt to rebrand al-Nusra Front and shield it from righteous retaliation,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Rome on Friday.

Lavrov stressed that nearly all the militant groups in the eastern part of the flashpoint Syrian city, where the “Army of Aleppo” was recently formed, are under the control of al-Nusra Front.

“As I have already mentioned, according to our intelligence,… practically all armed opposition groups in eastern Aleppo report to al-Nusra Front. Nusra has some 1,500 militants there, while other groups under its command have up to 6,000 militants,” he said.

Al-Nusra Front is an affiliate of al-Qaeda that has recently renamed itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and has claimed to have broken up with al-Qaeda in what has largely been interpreted as a decoy attempt.

Russia has long been pressing for the designation of al-Nusra as a terrorist group at the United Nations Security Council. Such attempts have, however, been hindered by the United States.

Lavrov also said his country had supported an initiative by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on the exit of militants from eastern Aleppo.

“De Mistura proposed allowing all terrorists to leave eastern Aleppo, we, despite the idea’s controversy, supported it and were ready to cooperate with it,” he said, adding the proposal “was blocked by those who, we are convinced, are interested in eastern Aleppo remaining under the control of terrorists.” He did not elaborate.

The Syrian government holds and defends the city’s western side and has been purging its east of militants.

Meanwhile, a monitoring group said on Friday that Syrian troops had taken control of half of the militant-held areas in eastern Aleppo.

Rami Abdel-Rahman, the head of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the government forces “consolidated their control” over two eastern districts on Friday, adding they are now “comfortably in control of half” of the militant-controlled areas in Aleppo’s east.

He added the Syrian forces were advancing toward the recapture of the rest of the areas under the militants’ control in the east of the city.

The Russian Defense Ministry had already announced on Tuesday that the Syrian army had extended its control to half of those areas.

Russia has been offering military support to the Syrian government.

Elsewhere in his Friday remarks, Lavrov blamed the foreign-backed opposition for the stall of the intra-Syrian peace talks for more than six months, saying they “put forward ultimatums in the form of an absolute precondition to oust President [Bashar] Assad.”

The conflict in Syria, which flared up in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to an estimate by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

Syria army retakes more than 60 percent of Turkish supported FSA rebel-held east Aleppo

December 3, 2016 By administrator

east-aleppo-liberated Syrian troops have moved deeper into the city of Aleppo, taking 60 percent of rebel-held areas, a monitor says. But the EU’s top diplomat says the fall of the city will not end the Syrian conflict.

Syrian government forces and allied troops have advanced further into rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo, recapturing some 60 percent of the terrain held by rebels since mid-2012, a group monitoring the country’s long-running conflict said on Saturday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the district of Tariq al-Bab had been taken overnight to Saturday by the Syrian army and allied forces. Recapturing the area means that the road from the government-controlled west of the city to the international airport to the east of Aleppo, also held by the regime, is now open.

The advance by government forces has caused more civilians to flee, either to remaining rebel-held districts further to the south, Kurdish-controlled areas, or those held by the government. Some 50,000 people are thought to have left the area so far.

More than 300 civilians have been killed in the ferocious assault on east Aleppo since November 15, according to the Observatory, with nearly 65 civilians killed by rebel fire in the west during the same period. Government forces have been backed by airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force, Moscow being a long-time ally of Assad.

The growing violence has aroused international outrage, with the UN warning that east Aleppo could become “a giant graveyard.”

No end in sight?

Losing eastern Aleppo would by the biggest blow yet to rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s more than 5-year-old war.

However, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Saturday that she was sure the conflict would continue nonetheless.

UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency, says nearly 20,000 children have fled

“I’m convinced the fall of Aleppo will not end the war,” she said at a conference in Rome.

At the same meeting, the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he hoped some means could be found to prevent the situation in Aleppo degenerating even further.

“I was feeling it would be a terrible battle ending up by Christmas-New Year. I hope the battle will not take place, that there will be some type of formula,” he said.

More than 300,000 people have been killed so far in Syria’s conflict, which had its roots in peaceful, Arab Spring-inspired anti-government protests in March 2011. More than half of the country’s population has been displaced.

tj/jlw Reuters, AFP, AP)

Vladimir Hakobyan – winner of the Rapid Chess Tournament in Dubai

December 3, 2016 By administrator

chess-hakopyan-dubai Armenian GM Vladimir Hakobyan won the Rapid Chess Tournament dedicated to the national day of United Arab Emirates. The tournament featured 180 chess players from 25 countries, including 5 grand masters and 3 international masters taking part in the tournament.

Vladimir Hakobyan earned 8 points out of 9 available. Viktor Moskalenko of Spain came the second with 8 points, yet bypassed by Hakobyan on additional indicators.

Haykakan Zhamanak: More offshore investments in Armenia’s economy

December 3, 2016 By administrator

The past nine months’ biggest investment in Armenia’s economy, about US $170 million, came from Cyprus which is known to be an offshore zone, the paper says, citing official statistics.
“Accommodation arrangement” is reported to be the justification for attracting the money, but the paper says no person or place is mentioned in the document published by the National Statistical Service. The paper claims that the “foreign investments” brought to Armenia in this way are just as an attempt by several Armenian officials and oligarchs yo hide the sources of their income accumulated in offshore companies.
Additionally, it also offers them certain tax privileges, says the paper, adding that another “foreign investment”, amounting to about US $60 million, came from a Luxemburg-based company in the reporting period.

Three Kurdish district mayors detained in Turkey’s southeast Plus 9 others in Çukurca

December 3, 2016 By administrator

A police vehicle is seen in front of the Şemdinli Municipality on Dec 3. / DHA Photo

The mayors of three districts of Turkey’s southeastern province of Hakkari have been detained on Dec. 3, while searches were being conducted in the municipality buildings, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Police officers, who were operating under the Hakkari Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, have detained the mayors of Çukurca, Yüksekova and Şemdinli as part of an ongoing terror investigation.

Within the scope of simultaneous operations conducted in Hakkari, first the Çukurca Mayor Servet Tunç, who is from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the sister party of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was detained early on Dec. 3.

A total of nine people have been detained in Çukurca, including Tunç and Deputy Mayor Hilal Duman.
Adile Kozay, the mayor of Yüksekova from the DBP, was detained later in the day, which was followed by the detention of Şemdinli Mayor Seferi Yılmaz, who is also from the DBP.

Turkish flags were hung on the municipality buildings following the raids.

Armenia: ArmPhone handsets to go on sale in Russia

December 3, 2016 By administrator

armphone-handset Presentation and launch of sales of the latest accomplishment of Armenian engineers – ArmPhone handsets – will be held on Saturday, December 3 at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (VDNKh) in Moscow.

The launch of the smartphones is organized as part of the opening of the center of Armenia’s Institute of High Information Technologies, where Armenian IT products will be displayed.

According to VDNKh’s official website,the point of sale will offer flagship ArmPhones with two 2G and 4G SIM cards, as well as a 5,2 ” Full HD screen, 32 GB of internal storage, 3 GB of RAM and a fingerprint sensor.

The ArmPhone runs Android operating system.

The Institute of High Technologies was created with the support of Armenia’s trade mission in Russia.

Terrorist State of Turkey claim killed 20 Kurdish fighters in Hakkari

December 3, 2016 By administrator

The Turkish military killed 20 fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after they tried to attack army bases in the southeastern Hakkari province, the military said on Saturday, December 3, acording to Reuters.

The fighters crossed into Turkey from northern Iraq and attempted to launch attacks on military bases in the mountainous border region, the military said, without giving further details.

Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast has been rocked by violence since a 2-1/2 year ceasefire between the government and the PKK broke down in July last year. The PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, first took up arms in 1984.

More than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died in the fighting since.