US and Russia to join forces to tackle the twin threats of ISIS and Al-Qaida

A landmark agreement has been announced that will see the US and Russia join forces to tackle the twin threats of ISIS and Al-Qaida. Both countries announced a ceasefire after a day-long meeting between secretary of state John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov in Geneva, Switzerland. If the ceasefire, which begins Monday, holds for a week, the two countries will then launch a military partnership to target Islamic extremists in the region.
The deal comes after months of diplomacy that included four meetings between Kerry and Lavrov since August 26 followed by a lengthy face-to-face meeting between Presidents Obama and Putin in China.
This has been reported in dailymail.,co.uk dated 10 September 2016.

At a joint news conference, John Kerry has indicated that the plan could reduce violence in Syria and lead to a long-sought-after political transition because, it would end more than five years of bloodshed that has claimed the lives of 500,000 people.
Of course, success of the deal would depend upon support from both Syria's Russian-backed government, led by President Bashar Assad, and US-supported anti-Assad rebels. The arrangement hinges on Moscow pressuring Assad's government to halt all offensive operations against Syria's armed opposition and civilian areas.
Simultaneously, it would be the responsibility of Washington to persuade 'moderate' rebels to break away from the Nusra Front which is al-Qaida's Syria affiliate, and other extremist groups. Moreover, both sides would have to withdraw from demilitarized zones to allow civilian traffic and humanitarian deliveries. The ceasefire and traffic must hold for a week before collaboration between the countries begins after which the US and Russia will then begin intelligence sharing and targeting coordination and Assad's forces will focus their attention on ISIS instead of Nusra.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Super powers Russia and America still undecided on military cooperation in Syria

In spite of several meetings and discussions at different forums, the solution to the situation in Syria keeps eluding the super powers. America and Russia have, yet again, failed to arrive at an agreement on military co-operation and a cessation of hostilities in Syria.
The latest round of talks in Geneva between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went on for nine hours and, at the end of the talks, all they agreed upon was that they had "achieved clarity on the path forward", but still have issues to resolve before an agreement could be reached.
They have indicated that teams on both sides would try to finalize details in the coming days.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 27 August 2016.

Both the sides agreed that they were looking for a deal that would work for the people of Syria and make the region more stable and secure. Kerry's counterpart echoed the same sentiments and said that "very important steps" had been made on a deal to stop the violence.
It is now for the technical teams comprising US and Russian military and intelligence experts, to try and figure out how best to separate the opposition groups, backed by the US and Gulf Arab countries, from the jihadis. The future of President Assad is not a part of the current talks. Rather, the focus is on finding an effective and lasting solution to end the violence, which would open negotiations on a political transition in Syria.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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US warns Russia about it setting up a ‘forward operating base’ in war torn Syria

#syria #ISIS #johnkerry #Latakia It is understood that the United States has warned Moscow about dangers of increased aid to the government of Syria amid multiple reports that soldiers from Russia had begun to participate in the country's civil war.
Secretary of State John Kerry has called upon hid counterpart Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and had issued a warning about the increased presence of the Russian military in the war-torn country of Syria.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 6 September 2015.

The rumors are that Russia has built an air traffic control tower and housing in western Syria for setting up a 'forward operating base'. Russian government have already admitted to sending its advisers, specialists and weapons to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, but does not accept that its soldiers are actively involved in Syria’s battle against various rebel groups.
Incidentally, Russia has requested air right from surrounding countries to fly military cargo to their airfield near the Syrian city of Latakia. Moreover, it also maintains a naval base in the port city of Tartus.
Obviously, the world leaders must maintain calm and restraint and keep a check on activities that could aggravate the existing volatile situation in Syria and, added to the threats of the ISIS, it needs handing with care and caution.
(Image courtesy wikmediacommons.org)

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Iraqi city of Ramadi falls to Islamic State, troops abandon weapons and flee

#ramadi #ISIS #Iraq #johnkerry The Iraqi city of Ramadi has fallen to the Islamic State following days of intense fighting and bombings by the terror group and Iraqi troops have abandoned their weapons and have fled the scene. Black flags have been raised over local government headquarters.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 18 May 2015.
Spokesman for the governor of Anbar province has confirmed that Ramadi has fallen … the military is fleeing. The provincial command center in the city had fallen into the hands of the ISIS – this has been informed by a colonel who is among troops who had withdrawn.

However, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has issued orders for the government forces to "hold their positions" and has called on troops, tribesmen and other elite forces to push the militants out of Ramadi.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is on an official visit to South Korea. He has said that he was confident the loss of Ramadi would be reversed and also re-iterated his warning that the fight against IS would be a long one.
The number of casualties is continuously on the increase and approximately 500 people - militants and civilians - have been killed in Ramadi in the last two days. Moreover, around 8,000 have fled as IS launched a fierce offensive of suicide car bomb attacks.
It has also been reported that 15 Iraqi troops and police died on Sunday in four near-simultaneous car bombings. AS a result, the soldiers retreated leaving behind their vehicles and weapons.
(Image courtesy wikimedia.org)

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