An attack on a checkpoint in Afghanistan

1 Afghanistan

At least 25 soldiers died as a result of an attack at a checkpoint in Zabul province — the ‘Tolo News’ TV reports while citing the local officials in eastern Afghanistan. The incident occurred on Friday morning, during the ‘Navruz’ — a local celebration of the onset of spring and the new year. It was reported that during the attack on the checkpoint — 6 to 8 soldiers, stationed at the checkpoint, switched to the side of the attackers.

2 Syria

A representative of the Russian military police, Anatoly Chaly, stated that the Russian military police patrolled the M4 highway in the region beyond the Euphrates River, in the area between Aleppo and Hasakah province. It is one of the longest routes patrolled by the Russian military police in Syria. The patrol was conducted on APC and armored vehicles ‘Typhoon’. Mi-8 and Mi-35 helicopters covered the convoy from above. During the patrol — their flight took place at a minimum height, both for a detailed assessment of the situation on the ground, and in order to ensure the flight safety. During the patrol, the military police had conversations with the locals in order to find out their needs and requirements, and to carry out humanitarian and medical tasks. The purpose of the patrol is to monitor the situation, and to ensure the ceasefire.

3 Syria

The Syrian Ambassador to Russia, Riyad Haddad, called on the international community to lift the economic sanctions in order to protect Syria from the spread of the new corona-virus. «The international community should not wait until the corona-virus spreads in Syria before they lift the economic sanctions, imposed against the country and affecting the level of the medical services» — the ambassador explained during an interview with the newspaper ‘Izvestia’. At the same time, Riyad Haddad underlined that «the Syrian health care, despite the terrorist attacks and the sanctions imposed on the Syrian people, is still at a high level of preparedness». Earlier, the ‘SANA’ news agency reported that the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the international community to lift all the sanctions against Damascus due to the presence of the new corona-virus in all neighboring states.

4 the USA — Iran

The NBC reports while citing their sources that the US president, Donald Trump, decided to refrain from a tougher response to the shelling of an Iraqi military base due to the spread of the new corona-virus. According to the NBC — Donald Trump expressed concern that «in case of a strong retaliatory strike against Iran — the US will look bad, given the difficulties faced by Iran and other countries in trying to contain the spread of the virus». The shelling of the Et-Taj base, in which some US troops are stationed, took place on the last week, on 11th of March. The shelling killed 3 people. The US blamed the Shiia group ‘Kataib Hezbollah’, and the Iranian authorities. On 12th of March the US launched airstrikes on 5 warehouses of ‘Kataib Hezbollah’ in Iraq.

5 the US

The South Korean Foreign Ministry announced that after 3 days of negotiations in Los Angeles, the US and South Korea could not overcome their differences in the distribution of the costs for the deployment of the American troops on the Korean peninsula. The heads of delegations, Jung Eun Bo and James Dehart, agreed to continue their consultations in order to minimize the negative consequences of the lack of an agreement. The date of the next negotiations was not specified.

6 Japan

The Japanese Foreign Minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, stated that during the trilateral talks via a video conference — the Foreign Ministers of South Korea and China, Kang Kyung-hwa and Wang Yi, supported the Japanese determination to host the Olympics on time. Japan strongly opposes the cancellation, re-scheduling or holding of the Games without the spectators. The parties also discussed the situation with the new corona-virus, and agreed to hold talks in the near future, via a video conference, between the heads of the health ministries of the 3 countries. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.