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Reporters Without Borders, Online censorship rounds off Aliyev’s control of Azerbaijani media

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Reporters Without Borders famous organization has slammed the Azerbaijani authorities regarding the blocking of independent news websites in the country.

The source notes that the Azerbaijani authorities have blocked five leading independent news websites in the country for the past five weeks – newspaper Azadlig, Meydan TV and Turan TV, the programme Azerbaycan Saati and Radio Azadlig.

Recent legislative amendments gave the government the power to block any website “posing a danger to the state or society.” Ordered by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technology, this “preventive” blocking requires subsequent approval by a court – a formality in a country where the justice system acts as the executive’s armed wing.

“By blocking five leading news websites, President Ilham Aliyev’s government is demolishing all the remaining vestiges of media freedom in Azerbaijan,” said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

“The persecution of the government’s critics continues to intensify online, offline and even among exiles. The international community must finally end the government’s impunity and hold it to account for its systematic violations of the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the representative of the Reporters Without Borders notes.

Azadlig newspaper was forced to stop producing a print edition under pressure from the authorities in September 2016. The newspaper’s financial director, Faiq Amirov, has for the past eight months been in prison.

Several members of Azadlig’s staff , have been forced to flee the country in recent months to escape a similar fate.

Reporters Without Borders reminds that Azerbaijan is ranked 162nd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2017 World Press Freedom Index and Aliyev, whose powers were reinforced by a referendum last September, is on RSF’s list of press freedom predators.

Iraqi troops in full control of Qayyarah near Mosul

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qayyarah-controlIraqi forces have managed to recapture the northern town of Qayyarah from the grip of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in their push to conduct a major liberation operation in the nearby city of Mosul.

“We control all parts of the town and managed, in very limited time, to root out Daesh,” Lieutenant General Riyadh Jalal Tawfik, who commands Iraq’s ground forces, was quoted by AFP as saying on Thursday.

The commander further noted that engineering units were clearing Qayyarah of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The Iraqi troops launched the Qayarah operation on Tuesday, more than a month after retaking the Qayyarah air field,

Qayyarah, which fell to Daesh in 2014, lies on the western bank of Tigris River, some 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Mosul. The town is expected to be used as a launchpad for the upcoming operation in Mosul.

Abadi hails Qayyarah liberation

Iraqi Prime Minster Haider al-Abadi also issued a statement, in which he described the Qayyarah recapture as a major move by the army on the road to Mosul, the last remaining bastion for Daesh in the north of the country.

He also congratulated the Iraqi people on the liberation of Qayyarah and its neighboring areas.

“Our heroic forces achieved a big victory, an important step towards the liberation of Mosul,” Abadi said.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Ministry of Defense said the army’s 9th division and the country’s elite special forces took part in the offensive in Qayyarah, which was supported by the US-led coalition’s air cover.

The Iraqi army is gearing up for a major offensive in late September to purge Daesh from Mosul, the country’s second city. Iraqi forces have managed to wrest control of several areas in the southern parts of the city.

Kurdish forces take control of Sinjar

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Sinjal liberatedThe northern town of Sinjar has been liberated following battles with the Takfiri Daesh terrorists over the city.

“The liberation of Sinjar will have a big impact on liberating Mosul,”

Kurdish Peshmerga forces entered Sinjar, situated over 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad, from all directions.

Intense exchanges of gunfire are reported inside the town. The Peshmerga forces are engaged in battles to drive the remaining Daesh forces out of Sinjar, according to reports.

“ISIL defeated and on the run,” the Kurdistan regional security council said in a tweet, using an acronym for Daesh.

It said Peshmerga forces have secured several important facilities in Sinjar, namely a cement factory, hospital and a number of other public buildings.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces together with fighters from Popular Mobilization units have entered Ramadi, the provincial capital of Iraqi al-Anbar Province and another Daesh-held town, in a separate drive to defeat and flush out the terrorists.

Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, the spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, announced on Friday that Iraqi army troopers and Popular Mobilization fighters backed by the country’s air support launched a ground operation against Daesh Takfiris in Ramadi, situated about 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Baghdad, from the north, west and southwest.

On Wednesday, the commander of the Burraq forces of the Popular Mobilization units, Wasiq Fartousi, told the Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network that his forces together with Iraqi security personnel and tribal fighters had managed to seize complete control of the Albu-Hayat area in Haditha District, 160 kilometers (99 miles) west of Ramadi.

They killed 115 Daesh terrorists during the operation. Fartousi added that Arab nationals as well as citizens of a number of Western countries were among the slain Takfiris.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh began its terror activities through Iraqi territory in June 2014. Army soldiers and Popular Mobilization units have joined forces, and are seeking to take back militant-held regions in joint operations.

Syrian Army Takes Control of Huge Area in Aleppo Province

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gag-1029620794With the support of Russian airstrikes, the Syrian Army has taken control of approximately 250 square kilometers in Aleppo province.

“Operation Army ATS continues in the south-eastern province of Aleppo,” said Latakia representative of the Syrian Army, Brigadier General Ali Mayhoub, according to RIA Novosti. “In cooperation with civil defense groups we control more than 250 square kilometers, and returned stability in dozens of villages and towns in the region.”
“The army in collaboration with the civil defense forces managed to open the way to Aleppo…to ensure the safe passage of this important route,” Mayhoub added.
The general also said that terrorists sustained a large number of casualties and loss of equipment.

“The survivors fled toward Raqqa,” Mayhoub said, referring to the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State terrorist group.

“Also, our army has strengthened control over the strategic height of Mraga and working to expand its control of the area. In addition, the air force is delivering pinpoint strikes against concentrates of IS and al-Nusra terrorist groups in the vicinity of the airport and near Kueres military air school in the village of Umm Arkile,” Mayhoub said.
Also on Thursday, Syrian government forces gained a key hill in a northern suburb of the capital of Damascus. The Syrian Army has captured al-Mashtal Heights, as well as a number of buildings in the suburb of Harast.

“Many terrorists have been killed and their weaponry and fortifications destroyed,” Mayhoub said.

A large number of foreign fighters have also been killed in Damascus’ southwestern suburb of Darayya.
The Syrian Army is now making a “serious advance” toward the ancient city of Palmyra.
“Our armed forces have taken control over two heights in the Homs Province. We have also made serious advance toward the city of Pal myra near al-Barayat,” Mayhoub added. “Islamic State terrirst sustained heavy losses. Six vehicles and over 25 terrorists have been killed in the western outskirts of the Mheen village.”

Source: sputniknews.com

Syria army retakes control of Dukhaniyeh near Damascus

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Syria-librated-townThe Syrian army has managed to regain control of the strategic area of Dukhaniyeh in the southeastern part of the capital city of Damascus, reports say.

Local media reported on Monday that “security and stability” have been restored in Dukhaniyeh and its surroundings after militants were pushed out of the region.

State television broadcast live images from the strategic area and the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the withdrawal of the militants from the region.

Syrian forces launched an operation to flush militants out of Dukhaniyeh after it was captured by foreign-backed militants in September.

Terrorist groups reportedly used the area to launch mortar attacks on the Old City of Damascus and Jaramana district outside the capital.

An unnamed security source said the Syrian government troops can now “tighten the noose on terrorist groups in Ain Tarma and Jobar,” two other militant-held areas located in the eastern Ghouta area near Damascus.

“The operation in Ghouta will continue until it is completely cleared of any terrorist presence,” the source added.

In recent months, Syrian forces have managed to retake several militant-held areas around the capital.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. Western powers and their regional allies – especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – are reportedly supporting the militants operating in Syria.

More than 191,000 people have been killed in over three years of fighting in the war-ravaged country, says the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), calling the figure a probable “underestimate of the real total number of people killed.”