Protest actions in Minsk

1 Belarus

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus reported that about 1,400 people took part in the protest action in Minsk on 27th of August. «The most active protest actions took place in the capital. In the evening, about 1400 people gathered on the Independence Square, near the Church of St. Simeon and St. Helena. 114 citizens were detained for administrative violations» — the ministry specified. «Rallies in support of peace and security were held in different regions of the country. More than 2,400 people took part in the event» — the ministry concluded.

2 Libya

The spokesman of the LNA, General Ahmed al-Mismari, stated that the Libyan National Army did not attack the National Accord Government forces, stationed to the west of the strategically important city of Sirt. «The statements of the GNA regarding our alleged attack against the GNA forces to the west of Sirt were made in order to distract the attention from the protests that are taking place in Tripoli» — Ahmed al-Mismari said, the ‘Al Arabiya’ TV quoted his words. Earlier on Thursday, the GNA accused the LNA of violating the ceasefire that was announced on 21st of August. General Abdelhadi Dyra, the spokesman for the Libyan Armed Forces Joint Operations Center for the city of Sirt and the Al-Jufra region, announced during an interview to the ‘Anadolu’ news agency that the LNA «fired at the positions of the GNA to the west of Sirt with the MRLS ‘Grad’ .»

3 Syria

The ‘Al-Mayadeen’ TV reported that on Thursday, a group of Saudi Arabian military personnel arrived in the Hasakah province, in north-eastern Syria. The group was previously stationed at a base of the US-led international coalition forces to the north of Baghdad. According to the ‘Al-Mayadeen’, a group of 20 servicemen were stationed at the largest American base in the city of Al Shaddadi. It was reported that they were relocated from the ‘Al-Tajji’ base, north of Baghdad, which was handed over to the Iraqi authorities on 23rd of August by the command of the international coalition. Damascus has yet to comment on the arrival of the Saudi servicemen in Syria.

4 Syria

On Thursday, the Pentagon spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman stated that the USA expect to return to the compliance with the deconflicting mechanism with Russia in Syria after the incident in north-east of Syria. Hoffman stated that the behavior of the Russian military was dangerous and unacceptable. The USA reserve the right to actively defend their forces when «their security is being compromised». Hoffman thanked the US servicemen for the fact that they, in his opinion, defused the situation «during that problematic meeting by showing their professionalism and restraint». Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that during the incident on 25th of August, a Russian military patrol in Syria acted in response to the US attempts to block their movement, which was a violation of the agreements. On Wednesday, the incident was discussed by telephone by the chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Mark Milli. The Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria reported that the route of the Russian patrol in Syria had been agreed upon with the US forces a day before the incident. The center added that the Russian convoy was pursued by 2 US armored vehicles. Another 2 blocked the road.

5 Israel — the Gaza Strip

In response to the 6 rockets, launched on Friday morning at the south of Israel from the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian radicals — the IDF attacked the military positions of the Hamas group once again — the IDF press service reported on Twitter. Earlier on Friday, the IDF press service reported that «in response to the launch of balloons with explosives and combustible materials from the Gaza Strip at Israel over the past day — jet fighters, aircraft, and tanks of the IDF attacked the underground infrastructure and military posts of the terrorist organization ‘Hamas’ in the Gaza Strip». The launch of explosive balloons from the Gaza Strip at the Israeli territory resumed after a long pause in early August.