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First batch of Armenian police forces head to frontline positions

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Armenian police forces

The police forces of Armenia will conduct military duty, replacing the draftees across the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was the initiator of the move, was present today at the solemn ceremony, marking the leave of the police troops to the frontline.

“From today on, the police forces join the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia to defend our motherland and stand by our soldiers and the army. I have already thanked the servicemen of the police forces and their family members for the shown commitment to take part in this important mission,” PM Pashinyan ssaid in a Facebook live stream.

Mosul Update: Iraqi forces, allies inch closer to Daesh-controlled Mosul

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Iraqi government forces and fighters from Popular Mobilization Units advance towards the village of Ayn Nasir, southwest of Mosul, on October 29, 2016, during the ongoing battle against Daesh terrorists to liberate the city of Mosul. (Photo by AFP)

Iraqi government forces and fighters from Popular Mobilization Units advance towards the village of Ayn Nasir, southwest of Mosul, on October 29, 2016, during the ongoing battle against Daesh terrorists to liberate the city of Mosul. (Photo by AFP)

Iraqi government soldiers, backed by allied fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, have recaptured more areas and villages around the strategic northern city of Mosul in a large-scale offensive aimed at ending the control of Daesh militants there.

On Saturday, the media bureau of Iraq’s Badr Organization announced that the Popular Mobilization Units had liberated the region of Ayn Nasir southwest of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, from the grip of Daesh terrorists.

The pro-government forces also established control over the road linking Hammam al-Alil region to Albu Hammad village.

Additionally, Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced that the 9th Division of the Army and units from Nineveh Liberation Operations Command had taken control of the villages of al-Hamidiyah, al-Shorouq, al-Mokhlat and Jayaf southwest of Mosul, and raised the national Iraqi flags over a number of buildings there.

Iraqi security personnel also freed al-Dawajel region and nearby villages on Saturday.

Moreover, Iraqi fighter jets carried out a precision airstrike against an area in Ta’an region, east of Mosul, and destroyed an arms depot and a bomb-making workshop belonging to Daesh terrorists.

In another Saturday development, Iraqi forces wrested full control over the al-Shoura region, located 45 kilometers south of Mosul, and flew the national flag above several buildings in the area.

Moreover, fighters from Popular Mobilization Units established control over Abu al-Aris and Zuwairaj villages southwest of Mosul.

Popular Mobilization Units also kicked off an operation on Saturday to retake the city of Tal Afar, which is situated 63 kilometers west of Mosul and serves as a supply line between Daesh’s main stronghold in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

“The operation aims to cut supplies between Mosul and Raqqah, and tighten the siege of in Mosul and liberate Tal Afar,” the spokesman for the volunteer forces, Ahmed al-Assadi, said.

Assadi said the operation was launched from the Sin al-Dhaban area south of Mosul, and aims to liberate the ancient city of Hatra  as well as the cities of Tal Abta and Tal Afar.

There are reports that about 50,000 Iraqi ground troops are involved in the Mosul offensive, including 30,000 army troops, 10,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and the remaining 10,000 from police and Popular Mobilization Units.

Iraqi forces have so far liberated nearly 80 towns and villages ever since they began the decisive battle on October 17.

Iraqi Forces Link Up South Of Mosul, Tightening Control On Islamic State

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A member of Iraqi government forces inspects a wreckage on the side of a road Qayara Air Base late last month.

A member of Iraqi government forces inspects a wreckage on the side of a road Qayara Air Base late last month.

Iraqi government forces advancing toward the city of Mosul, which is held by the extremist Islamic State (IS) group, retook a village from the militants on July 12, linking up along the Tigris River with army troops that have been advancing from a separate direction.

Iraq’s Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi said the territorial gain further isolates Mosul ahead of a planned government assault to recapture the northern city.

The advance to the south of Mosul brought the village of Ajhala back under government control to the north of the Qayara Air Base, which was retaken by government forces on July 9.

It also cuts off IS fighters near Mosul that are now in towns behind the front lines of government forces.

The development comes a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during a visit to Baghdad that 560 more U.S. soldiers are being deployed at Qayara Air Base to establish a combat staging hub for the long-awaited battle to recapture Mosul from IS militants.

Based on reporting by Retuers, AP, and AFP

Iraqi forces say Fallujah ‘fully liberated’

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General al-Saadi (center) is in charge of anti-terror forces

General al-Saadi (center) is in charge of anti-terror forces

Iraqi troops have cleared out the last pocket of “Islamic State” (IS) resistance and ended the battle in Fallujah, a general said. The news comes over a week after Baghdad declared victory in the war-ravaged city.

The IS militants were routed from Fallujah’s northwestern al-Julan district, marking the end of the month-long battle for the city, Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahad al-Saadi said on Sunday.

The area had been “cleared by the counterterrorism service,” according to al-Saadi.

“From the center of al-Julan neighborhood, we congratulate the Iraqi people and the commander in chief… and declare that the Fallujah fight is over,” Wahad told state TV.

At least 1,800 insurgents were killed in the battle for the western city, he added.

The troops are now set to start removing bombs from the streets and buildings.

Never-ending war

The ancient city, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad, was the first to fall to the IS insurgency in early 2014. It has been under the jihadist group’s control ever since.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the IS forces last week, when Iraqi troops raised their flag above the government complex in the center of the city.

On Tuesday, however, the US-led coalition said that only one -hird of the city could be described as “cleared,” as fighting still continued in several city areas.

The city was only “fully liberated” on Sunday, according to al-Saadi.

The IS still controls large swaths of Iraq, including the country’s second-largest city of Mosul.

Fallujah also saw fierce fighting between US troops and al Qaeda militants in 2004.

Israeli forces demolish home of Palestinian teen in West Bank

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palastinian home demolishIsrael’s military has demolished the house of a Palestinian teen accused of stabbing an Israeli woman in the occupied West Bank.   

The Israeli forces destroyed the home of 16-year-old Mourad Badir Adais in Beit Amrah west of Yatta in the occupied West Bank at dawn on Saturday.

Adais, currently held in Israeli detention, is accused of stabbing and killing a female Israeli settler on January 17.

Israeli forces reportedly raided several other homes and a medical lab in Beit Amrah village as well.

Tel Aviv has stepped up its demolitions of Palestinian homes over the past months.

In a report in April, the UN said the Israeli military has tripled its demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied territories since January.

The demolitions have raised alarm among diplomats and human rights groups over what they regard as the Tel Aviv regime’s sustained violation of international law.

The demolished structures include houses and schools.

Tensions have heightened in the occupied territories since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

More than 210 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October. Some 30 Israelis have also been killed since then.

Kurdish Forces PKK trade deadly attacks with Turkish military in southeast of country

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0,,19255407_303,00At least five soldiers and 10 rebels have died during intensified fighting in southeastern Turkey in the past 48 hours. The two sides traded roadside bombings and airstrikes, as both sides dig in for a prolonged fight.

Fighting in southeast Turkey is intensifying as both the Turkish army and rebel Kurdish fighters claimed deadly attacks on Wednesday.

Kurdish militants killed four Turkish soldiers and injured nine more – four of them seriously – when a roadside bomb exploded as their military convoy drove past.

Turkey-PKK conflict: Clashes in southeast

The attack by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) occurred in southeast Turkey, near the Iraqi border. The Turkish army is responding with additional ground troops backed by helicopters to the area.

Shortly after news of the PKK attack, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported that Turkish fighter jets had killed 10 Kurdish rebels. Citing a military source, the Anadolu Agency reported Wednesday afternoon that the air strike occurred on Monday.

It is unclear why news of the Turkish attack took two days to filter out.

Deadly attacks in Hakkari province

Both attacks occurred in the southeastern province of Hakkari. The PKK attack on the Turkish soldiers occurred 45 miles (70 km) from the town of Semdinli, near the Iraqi border. It’s unclear where, exactly, the Turkish attack on the Kurdish rebels occurred.

Another statement put out by the Turkish army claims that its warplanes bombed arms depots, shelters and caves used by PKK rebels in the Daglica region in Hakkari province, as well as in northern Iraq.

Earlier in the day PKK rebels killed another Turkish soldier in the town of Nusaybin, near the Syrian border – 310 miles (500 km) away. The city of 100,000 people has been under a round-the-clock curfew for more than two months as security forces battle militants.

Turkey’s army has been battling the PKK in the southeast of the country since the collapse of a 2-year-old ceasefire in July 2015. The renewed fighting has claimed thousands of lives, including 450 Turkish soldiers.

Despite the high death toll suffered by security forces, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed no let up in the attacks.

The Turkish air force has also been launching frequent attacks on PKK positions in the mountainous region of northern Iraq, where the rebels have camps near the Turkish border.

The PKK has been waging an armed struggle against Turkey for more autonomy, if not outright independence, for more than 30 years. More than 40,000 people have been killed in one of Europe’s longest running insurgencies, which began in 1984.

bik/bw (Reuters, AP, AFP)

Kurdish Forces PKK neutralize five Turkish security forces in Nusaybin clashes

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Turkish-security-forces-in-Turkish-Kurdistan-dec-2015-photo-epaISTANBUL,— Kurdish militants killed five members of the Turkish security forces on Thursday in a series of clashes and bomb attacks in a town under a military lockdown in Turkish Kurdistan, the southeast of the country, the Dogan news agency reported.

The Turkish security forces were carrying out an operation in the town of Nusaybin in Mardin province where the government has been waging a blistering offensive against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

A senior police officer was hit by gunfire and later died, and four other members of the security forces, including a major in the gendarmerie and another senior police officer, died in two separate bomb attacks.

Nusaybin has been under curfew since mid-March for a military operation to push the PKK out of the town, where the authorities say the group has dug trenches and put up barricades.

Hundreds of security forces have been killed in the Kurdish region, while government says thousands of PKK militants have died.

Opposition political parties say between 500 and 1,000 civilians, mostly Kurds, have also perished in the fighting, since the Turkish offensive against the PKK centred in towns and cities in Turkish Kurdistan.

Ankara launched the offensive against the PKK after the collapse in 2015 of a two-year long ceasefire with the group that has been a thorn in its side for three decades.

The renewed conflict has also struck the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels, at a time when citizens are already on high alert over bombings by the Islamic State group.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday proposed stripping Turkish citizenship from supporters of Kurdish rebels.

“These people don’t deserve to be our citizens. We are not obliged to carry anyone engaged in the betrayal of their state and their people,” he said.

A day after his comments his Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said: “Of course we will begin work on this”.

he PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 78-million population.

A large Turkey’s Kurdish community openly sympathise with PKK rebels.

The European Union has urged last week Turkey to restart the peace process with the Kurd.

Syria forces, allied fighters advance in Palmyra, capture citadel from Daesh

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syrian armySyrian forces made a major advance against terrorists in Palmyra Friday, capturing a citadel from Daesh Takfiri terrorists after closing in on the ruins of the ancient city in Homs Province.

“Our armed forces, in coordination with the popular defense forces, have taken control of the ancient Palmyra citadel after inflicting many losses in the ranks of the terrorist group Daesh,” state television said citing a military source.

Earlier, Maamoun Abdelkarim, the chief of Syria’s antiquities, said, “In the southwest, the army has liberated the district of hotels and restaurants as well as the Valley of the Tombs.”

“And in the west, the army has taken the Syriatel hilltop that overlooks the Mamluk fort built in the 13th century, which is still under IS control,” the official added, referring to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group by its alternative name.

Daesh overran the “Pearl of the Desert,” the title the city is known with, in May 2015. The terrorists have blown up UNESCO-listed temples and looted relics that dated back thousands of years ever since.

Syria’s state TV aired live footage of airstrikes targeting the positions of terrorists near the fort.

Abdelkarim also stated that the Syrian army has advanced “600 meters from the Temple of Bel, but it is advancing slowly because of mines and above all to protect the city, which is an ancient treasure.”

In September 2015, Daesh claimed to have destroyed the Temple of Bel. UNESCO says the site is one of the best preserved and most important first century religious edifices in the Middle East.

Syrian forces allied with volunteer fighters entered the ancient city, located in Homs Province, on Thursday. The initial offensive for the city was launched earlier in the month with the aerial backing of Syrian and Russian fighter jets.

Russia has been conducting combat sorties against the positions of terrorists in Syria, particularly Palmyra recently, since September 31, 2015. The airstrikes came upon a request from the government in Damascus.

Heavy clashes between Syrian forces and terrorists were also reported in Deir al-Zawr, the seventh largest city in eastern Syria.

Meanwhile, a senior US official, whose name was not mentioned in the report, said the second-in-command of Daesh in Syria was killed in a US airstrike on Thursday.