Explosions in Idlib

The Syrian news agency SANA reports while citing their sources that the terrorists blew up a bridge in order to disrupt the joint Russian-Turkish patrols in the province of Idlib, to the west of the city of Ariha, on the M4 Latakia-Aleppo highway. The source specified that the explosion completely destroyed a bridge over which lies a part of the patrol route. “The terrorists scattered piercing metal objects on other sections of the route” — the source added. It was reported that the terrorists threatened and forced dozens of civilians to organize live barriers on the highway by setting up tents and blocking it with burning tires. The terrorists offered cash rewards to some of the locals if they remain on the road in tents on an on-going basis.

The Iraqi TV channel »As-Sumariya» reports that the US military, stationed in Iraq, have officially handed over the ‘al-Qaim’ base, which was used by the troops of the international anti-terrorist coalition, to the Iraqi army, on Thursday. The ‘Al-Sumariya’ TV noted that the Iraqi military have formally began to arrive several days ago, after the complete withdrawal of the international coalition forces. On 17th of March the press service of the Central Command of the US Armed Forces announced that the US-led coalition, made to fight the ISIS terrorist group, would soon leave the base Al-Qaim located in Iraq.

The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, stated that Tehran will continue to take actions against the US in response to the assassination of General Kassem Suleimani — the commander of the ‘Al-Quds’ — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — by the US forces. “We didn’t leave this matter unanswered, and we won’t stop either” — Hassan Rouhani stated. He reminded that «the Iranian military has already responded and attacked an American base in the region with missiles in response to the assassination of Suleymani. I think the USA will never forget it since for the first time in the history of the region, a decisive and quick response was given to the barbaric actions of the Americans» — the Iranian president underlined.

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.

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.

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. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.