Clashes in northern Syria

The representatives of Russia, Iran and Turkey jointly announced after the 16th International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format that the guarantor countries of the Astana process called on Israel to stop the military attacks on Syria. The parties condemned «the on-going Israeli military attacks on Syria which violate the international law, international humanitarian law, the sovereignty of Syria and nearby countries. It threatens the stability and security of the region, and it must stop». The parties added that the Syrian conflict has no military solution.

The US Embassy in Baghdad came under rocket fire on Thursday night — the ’Al Arabiya’ TV reported. It was noted that the air defense systems did their job. Two rockets were launched at the embassy. The air defenses managed to shoot down 1 rocket. The other rocket fell outside the specially protected «green zone» of Baghdad, where government buildings and foreign diplomatic missions, including the US embassy, are located.

The Iraqi military base of «Ain al-Assad», used by the forces of the international anti-terrorist coalition led by the USA, came under a rocket fire — the local mass media reported. It was noted that «more than 7 rockets were fired. They fell both inside and outside of the base’’. The Al-Baghdadi area, from where the attack took place, is surrounded by the Iraqi military. The search for the perpetrators of the attack is underway. The rocket launcher was found and destroyed. Colonel Wayne Marotto, the spokesman for the US-led international anti-terrorist coalition, stated on Twitter that 14 rockets were launched at the airbase. It was noted that 3 people were slightly injured.

The Russian Ambassador to Armenia, Sergei Kopyrkin, stated that Armenia and Russia are discussing the possibility of expanding the presence of the Russian border guards in the Syunik region of Armenia. He noted that «everything will be defined by the interests of the Armenian security, the interests of ensuring of the stability on the border, and the interests of implementing the agreements that have been reached in the trilateral agreement». He added that the issue of the return of citizens of Armenia from Azerbaijan, held as a result of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, and after the incident on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, is one of the top priorities for the Russian leadership.

The press center of the Border Service of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan stated that 1,037 Afghan servicemen retreated to Tajikistan after their battles with the Taliban. The statement noted that given the principle of good-neighborliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan — the Afghan servicemen were allowed to move to Tajik territory. The Ministry added that currently the situation on the border with Afghanistan is under control of the border guards of Tajikistan.

The ’Anadolu’ news agency reported with a reference to the Turkish Defense Ministry that the Turkish security forces have killed at least 5 fighters from the ’’Kurdistan Workers’ Party’’, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization. The shoot-outs reportedly took place in north of Syria, near the border with Turkey. The Ministry of Defense of Turkey stated that there was a preparation for a terrorist attack. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS