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Post by DavidH on Mar 10, 2017 10:21:15 GMT
Turkey-PKK conflict 'has killed 2,000' in south-east - UN reportThe UN has accused Turkish forces of serious violations during unrest in the south-east of the country that left 2,000 dead less than 18 months. Up to 500,000 people, mostly Kurds, were displaced between July 2015 and December 2016, a UN report said. Meanwhile, satellite imagery showed the "enormous scale of destruction" of hundreds of buildings. In the period that followed, UN investigators documented thousands of killings, disappearances and cases of torture, as well as other human rights violations. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39228548?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central
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Post by DavidH on Mar 10, 2017 10:30:36 GMT
More U.S. Troops Bound for Afghanistan, As Marines, Commandos, Arrive In SyriaThe top general overseeing America’s wars told Congress Thursday that more U.S. troops will likely be needed in Afghanistan to help train and advise Afghan forces, and left the door open to sending more U.S. forces into Iraq and Syria to fight the Islamic State. In January, the Pentagon announced that it was preparing to deploy 300 Marines to the restive Helmand province in Afghanistan’s south. Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, said he is open to expanding the U.S. military footprint in Iraq and Syria, where there are already approximately 6,000 troops on the ground. In Syria, in addition to the Marine base near Raqqa, there is also a U.S. Army-run logistics hub dubbed Forward Operating Base Thomas near Kobani in Syria’s north, and a Special Operations base closer to Manbij, as well as several U.S.-run training centers for the SDF. But even outside of Syria, the growing U.S. footprint in key areas of the region is apparent. At one air base the U.S. military would only describe as being located in “Southwest Asia” due to host nation sensitivities, American F-15s and Belgian F-16s flew round-the-clock missions into Iraq and Syria. One area of the base had recently been given over to the U.S. and its NATO allies to build permanent housing for hundreds of troops and pilots, along with a U.S. Army unit that operated a HIMARS precision rocket system. foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/09/more-us-troops-afghanistan-marines-syria-commandos-iraq/
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Post by DavidH on Mar 10, 2017 11:38:19 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 10, 2017 11:57:37 GMT
U.S. is sending 2,500 troops to Kuwait, ready to step up the fight in Syria and IraqThe U.S. military is sending an additional 2,500 ground combat troops to a staging base in Kuwait from which they could be called upon to back up coalition forces battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The deployment will include elements of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which is based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina Today, there are about 6,000 American troops spread between Iraq and Syria. www.armytimes.com/articles/82nd-airborne-syria-iraq-kuwait-islamic-state
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Post by DavidH on Mar 10, 2017 19:26:05 GMT
Russian private security firm says it had armed men in east LibyaA force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia operated until last month in a part of Libya that is under the control of regional leader Khalifa Haftar, the head of the firm that hired the contractors told Reuters. It is the clearest signal to date that Moscow is prepared to back up its public diplomatic support for Haftar. The presence of the military contractors was, according to the head of the firm, a commercial arrangement. It is unlikely though to have been possible without Moscow's approval, according to people who work in the industry in Russia. Oleg Krinitsyn, owner of private Russian firm RSB-group, said he sent the contractors to eastern Libya last year and they were pulled out in February having completed their mission. In an interview with Reuters, he said their task was to remove mines from an industrial facility near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, in an area that Haftar's forces had liberated from Islamist rebels. He declined to say who hired his firm to provide the contractors, where they were operating or what the industrial facility was. He did not say if the operation had been approved by the U.N.-backed government, which most states view as the sovereign ruler of Libya. www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-libya-contractors-idUSKBN16H2DM
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Post by DavidH on Mar 10, 2017 19:40:58 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 11, 2017 10:48:54 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 11, 2017 13:40:24 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 11, 2017 13:44:47 GMT
Forty Iraqis killed, 120 injured in Damascus twin bombingA twin bomb attack that targeted mainly Iraqi Shiite pilgrims in the Syrian capital of Damascus has killed 40 Iraqis, and injured another 120 Saturday, the spokesperson of the Iraqi foreign ministry Ahmed Jamaal told Rudaw. Jamaal also said that his ministry has formed a “joint operation room” with the Syrian side to follow the event. www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/11032017
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Post by DavidH on Mar 11, 2017 16:13:37 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 11, 2017 16:19:15 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 11, 2017 16:48:23 GMT
Suspected rebel-planted mine hits Yemeni ship, kills 2A Yemeni coast guard vessel on Friday hit a naval mine suspected of being planted in the Red Sea by rebels and the explosion killed two sailors and wounded eight, including the ship's captain, security officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief journalists. www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/article137656853.html#storylink=cpy
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Post by DavidH on Mar 12, 2017 14:17:36 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 13, 2017 21:46:38 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 13, 2017 22:05:12 GMT
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