The Israeli planes attacked Syria

On 17th of August, during a training flight in the area of Kubinka, near Moscow, the first IL-112V prototype aircraft crashed. There were three people on board: the crew commander, first class test pilot, and Hero of Russia, Nikolai Kuimov. First class test pilot Dmitry Komarov. And first-class flight engineer Nikolai Khludeev. They all died. Last week, the airplane flew from Voronezh to Zhukovsky, near Moscow, to prepare for the participation in the ’Army-2021’ military-technical forum.

On Tuesday, the Taliban announced the suspension of all aircraft departing from the international airport in Kabul, the ’Sky News Arabia’ reported. The Qatari TV channel ’Al Jazeera’ reported that the Taliban approached the Kabul airport. In order to disperse the people gathered in the airport, the Taliban fired several times in the air. Previously, all the commercial flights from the airport were canceled. The transit aircraft were suggested to change the routes.

The militia forces launched a local offensive against the Taliban. They managed to liberate at least 1 county in the Baghlan province. The militias are working together with the Panjshir-stationed Ahmad Massoud. The militias, led by field commander Abdul Hamid Dadgar, managed to push out the Islamists from the Puli Hisar district. The fighting against the Taliban continues in Banu and Dehi Salah counties. The militias reported heavy Taliban casualties, but the claims have yet to be confirmed. After the fall of Kabul and other provinces of Afghanistan, Panjshir became the only region in the country that did not submit to the Taliban. The local forces are led by the son of the famous field commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

On the night of 19th to 20th of August the IDF airplanes attacked the Syrian territory. Missiles were launched at the targets in the provinces of Homs and Damascus. The TASS news agency reported with a reference to the news agency Al-Hadath that the targets of the Israeli attack were the camps and weapon warehouses of the Shia movement ’Hezbollah’. According to the Syrian military, they managed to intercept most of the Israeli missiles. No information about casualties and destruction was reported. The IDF did not comment on the attacks. Israel often performs such strikes on Syria. The last time it happened on the night of 17th of August. Back then the Israeli artillery fired at targets in the province of Quneitra.

Vladimir Putin commented on the August 20th meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He underlined the constructive nature of the negotiations. The politicians held a final press conference in Moscow. In his assessment — the negotiations were aimed at the prospects for the development of the Russian-German relations. Putin and Merkel summed up the results of their long-term interaction. He added during the discussions that it is necessary to take into account the fact that the control in Afghanistan is in the hands of the Taliban. This fact must be taken into account in all further steps by all the states of the world. Regarding the war in Donbass against the Ukrainian aggression — Vladimir Putin asked Angela Merkel to influence the official authorities of Ukraine and force them to comply with the Minsk agreements. After her visit to Moscow, Angela Merkel will go on a working trip to Kiev.

The Deputy Defense Minister of Russia, Andrei Kartapolov, stated that the strategic exercises ’Zapad-2021’, which will be held from 10th to 16th of September in Russia and Belarus, should show the NATO that they shouldn’t bother the «Russian bear». According to him, «the military activity of the NATO in Europe is designed to project a military threat so that we can feel and understand it» — end of quote. The training will test the readiness of the armed forces of the two countries of the Union State.

Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS.