Syrian government forces temporarily halted their offensive against militants in Aleppo over the weekend to allow for evacuation of civilians from eastern parts of the city. Sputnik reports: Russia’s reconciliation center is evacuating civilians from eastern Aleppo in Syria through humanitarian corridors, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Saturday.
With Assad on the verge of retaking Aleppo, and with it, regaining full control in the ongoing Syrian proxy war, we asked last week in "With Assad On Verge Of Historic Victory, Syrian Rebels Request A Ceasefire" how long before the US intervenes in an attempt to derail the sudden Syrian (and Russian) momentum. We got the answer this morning, when US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday that the US is sending 200 additional military personnel to Syria to help drive Islamic State from its de facto capital of Raqqa.
The United States is sending 200 additional military personnel to Syria to help rebel groups drive ISIS from Raqqa, the US Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on Saturday. Speaking in Bahrain during talks on Middle East security, Ash Carter said Barack Obama had approved deployment of the extra troops, who would include special forces trainers, advisers and bomb disposal experts, last week.
Submitted by Middle East Eye via TheAntiMedia.org,
According to leaked documents released by Edward Snowden, British intelligence spied on Israeli diplomats and military officials in 2008 and 2009, the French newspaper Le Monde and Israel’s Haaretz reported on Wednesday.
One of the files from 2009 said that “Britain’s GCHQ intelligence-gathering apparatus defined Israel as ‘a true threat’ to the Middle East”.
Just hour after anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders was convicted of insulting and inciting discrimination against Maroccans, moments ago the local police announced they have arrested a man in Rotterdam, suspected of planning a terrorist attack, according to local media reports. Law enforcement found a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an Islamic State flag while raiding the man’s house, RT adds.