Terrorist provocations in Syria

1 Syria. Terrorist provocations.

The deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria, rear-admiral Alexander Karpov, stated that terrorists from the ’Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham’ group are planning a provocation in the west of the Syrian province of Idlib. On 23rd of May, the terrorists, together with some representatives of the pseudo-humanitarian organization «White Helmets», delivered 6 containers with toxic substances, possibly chlorine, to the settlement of Jisr al-Shugur. On the eve of the presidential elections in Syria, the terrorists plan to carry out a fake chemical attack, with the fake consequences of such an attack in the form of casualties and injuries among the locals. After that, the terrorists plan to accuse the Syrian government forces of using chemical weapons against civilians.

2 Iraq. Missile strike.

The Iraqi air force base ’Ain al-Assad’ was hit by a missile attack. The air base, located 110 kilometers west of Baghdad, is one of the largest military bases that hosts the US troops in Iraq. The ’Al-Hadath’ TV reported that at least 1 missile hit the base. 2 missed couldn’t reach the target, and exploded outside. There is no information about the destruction and casualties yet.

3 Russia. The US military in Asia.

The Russian presidential special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, announced that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan won’t allow to build US military bases on their territory. According to him, there was no official request from the USA to establish military bases on the territory of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan is a member of the CSTO, and such decisions must be approved by the organization. Uzbekistan has a strategic partnership with Russia. Uzbekistan also has a law that prohibits the building of foreign military bases in Uzbekistan. Earlier, ’The Wall Street Journal’ reported that the USA are considering the possibility of deploying the troops, pulled from Afghanistan, to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

4 Afghanistan. Settlement.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia is ready for any turn of events in Afghanistan, even though the Russian goal is to stabilize the situation in the country. He noted that Russia, together with other countries, is actively promoting the process of national reconciliation. The promotion also takes place via the joint participation of Russia, the USA, China, and Pakistan. «In the future, we plan to intensify the work of the Moscow format, which includes all the countries of the region, and the USA» — Sergey Lavrov concluded. He added that «for a sustainable settlement, it is necessary to form a government that would take into account the interests of all ethno-political groups of the Afghan society».

5 Palestine. Assistance to the Gaza Strip

The Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Staye, stated the Gaza Strip needs urgent aid and development programs — the ’Al Jazeera’ TV quoted his words. He added that the rebuilding of the enclave after the hostilities requires Israel to lift the blockade from Gaza. Mohammed Staye added that Palestine considers «Egypt, Qatar, other Arab countries, the EU, the USA, and the UN as partners in the reconstruction of Gaza’’.

6 Belarus. Airplane landing.

On 23rd of May, a ’Ryanair’ aircraft landed at the Minsk National Airport after receiving a message about a bomb on-board. The airplane headed from Athens to Vilnius. The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, personally gave the command to land the airplane in Minsk. The information about the bomb wasn’t confirmed. The former editor-in-chief and one of the founders of the ’NEXTA’ Telegram channel, Roman Protasevich, was on board. He was detained. This Telegram channel is recognized as ’extremist’ in Belarus. The ’Ryanair’ airlines stated that they received instructions to land the airplane in Minsk from the Belarusian air traffic controllers. The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, called the incident «dangerous». The EU has summoned the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the EU, Alexander Mikhnevich, to condemn the unacceptable step of the Belarusian authorities. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS.