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An American researcher says it is highly likely that the United States is responsible for the crash of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt this week. On Saturday, the Airbus A321-200 broke up in midair and crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people on board. An investigation is underway to find out how the disaster happened; however, the airline has said that technical faults or human errors could not have caused the tragic crash. "New information from sources with contacts in the CIA are reporting that the US recently sold ships to Egypt in return for a drone base...

Russia says Syria 'opposition' guided warplanes to bombing targets AFP 22 hours ago Moscow (AFP) - Russian jets bombed 24 targets in Syria Tuesday using coordinates supplied by "opposition representatives" -- the first time Moscow has claimed to work with opposition groups since the start of its air offensive. "The coordinates of all of these targets were given to us by opposition representatives," senior military official Andrei Kartapolov said, without specifying which groups Moscow had cooperated with. Kartapolov said Moscow's jets hit targets close to Palmyra, Deir Ezzor, Ithriya and eastern Aleppo with assistance from the opposition, destroying "terrorist" command...

One point we’ve been particularly keen on driving home since the beginning of Russian airstrikes in Syria is that The Kremlin’s move to step in on behalf of Bashar al-Assad along with Vladimir Putin’s open “invitation” to Washington with regard to joining forces in the fight against terrorism effectively let the cat out of the proverbial bag. That is, it simply wasn’t possible for the US to explain why the Pentagon refused to partner with the Russians without admitting that i) the government views Assad, Russia, and Iran as a greater threat than ISIS, and ii) Washington and its regional...

Russian warplanes are conducting dozens of sorties in Syria to target terrorist forces in the country. The airstrikes are being conducted day and night, keeping militants under constant pressure. The aircraft launch their combat missions from an airbase south of Latakia. The jet flames pierce the Arabian night’s sky as Su-24M bombers prepare for take-off. Meticulous reconnaissance and advanced instruments make sure the airstrikes undertaken at night are as precise as those in day. Advanced Su-34s find it just as easy to drop their devastating cargo into the dark night’s sky. The jihadists have to sleep with one eye open...

Once it became clear that Moscow and Tehran had jointly planned the incursion in Syria with Russia promising full air support and Iran pledging ground troops from Hezbollah, its various Shiite militias, and the IRGC, we immediately suggested that Iraq was next on the agenda after the Assad regime is restored. For those unfamiliar with the situation on the ground, we encourage you to read “Who Really Controls Iraq? Inside Iran's Powerful Proxy Armies,” in which we outline the extent to which Tehran effectively controls both the Iraqi military and the politicians in Baghdad.The US allows this because i) there’s...

The leader of an al Qaeda-linked group allegedly bent on attacking the West has been killed in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, U.S. officials said Sunday. Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi citizen whose real name is Abdul Mohsen Adballah Ibrahim al Charekh, was the highest-ranking member of the Khorasan Group -- a collection of veteran al Qaeda jihadis which had moved into Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement. He was killed in an airstrike in northwest Syria on Thursday, the statement said. Nasr, who was once al Qaeda's chief financial officer and had been designated a Specially...

"Russia plans to carry out up to 300 aerial missions over Syria every day and intends to build a new runway to accommodate its warplane, it has been claimed. This shocking escalation comes as Syrian troops advance on rebel areas in the province of Aleppo, backed up by Russian jets that have been bombing Syria for more than two weeks. Images taken only today show the destruction caused by Russia's planes in the strategically important village of Al-Hader, just south of Aleppo city, which activists claim is the next target in Syria's ground offensive. . . . [Medvedev] claims that...

Kurdish forces have carried out a wave of forced displacement and mass house demolitions - amounting to war crimes - in northern Syria, a rights group says. A report by Amnesty International accuses the Popular Protection Units (YPG) of razing entire villages after capturing them from Islamic State (IS). This appeared to be in retaliation for residents' perceived sympathies with or links to the jihadist group, it says. The YPG has consistently denied accusations of forced displacements. However, the YPG - a key ally of the US-led international coalition against IS - and its political parent the PYD have admitted...

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Islamic State registered significant gains on Friday in the area of northwestern Syria that Russian warplanes have been bombing, taking six villages near Aleppo and threatening to cut off an important route north to the Turkish border. Late in the day, there were reports that rebels had reasserted control in one village. The Kremlin has said its military had entered Syria to fight the Islamic State, but the Russian forces have concentrated much of their firepower on insurgent groups aligned against President Bashar al-Assad, including the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, and relatively secular...

A Saudi Arabian official has reportedly disclosed that the Sunni kingdom sent Syrian rebels a new batch of one of the most effective weapons for battling against the Assad regime this week. BBC correspondent Frank Gardner tweeted that a Saudi official confirmed the delivery of 500 TOW antitank missiles to the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The FSA is currently being squeezed from all directions by the Syrian military, Russian airstrikes, and competition from jihadist fighters, including ISIS. The delivery of the TOW missiles — which have also been provided by the CIA — will increase the capabilities of the FSA...

Thu Sep 24, 2015 11:19am EDT Related: World, Russia, Syria Syrian army uses new Russian jets to strike Islamic State: monitor Syrian government forces used newly arrived Russian warplanes to bombard Islamic State insurgents in Aleppo province in northern Syria, a group monitoring the civil war said on Thursday, in an attempt to break a siege on a nearby air base. Russia is bolstering its ally Damascus against rebels with military aid that U.S. officials say has included fighter jets, helicopter gunships, artillery and ground forces. The air strikes, which began earlier this week, were accompanied by ground attacks near...

On the 10th of April 2010, the Polish military plane, Tu-154, was involved in a fatal crash in the city of Smolensk, Russia, killing all the crew and passengers aboard. The deaths included the Polish President and First Lady, the last Polish President in exile, the Chief of the General Staff, Commanders-in-Chief, the Chairman of the Polish National Bank, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance, as well as a number of MP's, senators and prominent figures of the Polish elite, among the 96 dead. April 10, 2010 Polish Air Crash This incident, which includes these prominent deaths, naturally...

New York, September 16, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores a decree signed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko today which, according to a copy viewed by CPJ, bans at least 41 international journalists and bloggers from Ukraine for one year. The journalists and bloggers were among 388 people named as representing an "actual or potential threat to national interests, national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," according to news reports. "We are dismayed by President Poroshenko's actions, including a ban on dozens of international media covering Ukraine," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "While the...

What has been well-known amongst informed observers for quite some time is now becoming so obvious that it is almost impossible to hide except from the most gullible members of the general public – that fact the United States is not only not interested in fighting ISIS, but they are actively protecting and shielding it. In truth, the US relationship with ISIS goes much deeper since the US created, armed, and trained the terrorist organization from its inception for the purpose of destroying the secular government of Bashar al-Assad and providing a bogeyman for the fearful masses back home...

(Translated via Google Translator) Russia has information that the US know the specific location point of the "Islamic State" (extremist organization banned in Russia), but did not give an order to strike on the positions "of the IG," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In the program "Sunday times" on the "First Channel" Lavrov said that the US government "was not originally a very carefully created a coalition, or conspired to it so that it is not the goals that have been declared." According to the Foreign Minister, the coalition was created spontaneously, "just a few days it was announced...

Beirut, Lebanon — Mounting evidence suggests Russia is significantly increasing military assistance to the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in what is seen as a bid to solidify Moscow’s position in one of few Middle Eastern countries where it still has influence. The move, analysts say, capitalizes on a low-risk opportunity created by the United States’ reticence to get more closely involved in the Syrian conflict, which has lasted for more than four years and claimed the lives of nearly a quarter million people. The reports of a Russian military buildup in northwest Syria have raised alarms in...

The Kremlin isn’t sending just any troops to prop up the Assad regime. It’s dispatching units that spearheaded Russia’s slow-rolling invasion of Ukraine.Reuters confirmed Wednesday what The Daily Beast first reported last week—not only have Russian troops been deployed to Syria but they are indeed taking part in active combat operations, although against which of the manifold enemies of the Assad regime remains unclear.U.S. government sources told the news agency that two tank landing ships, aircraft and naval infantry forces have arrived in Syria in the past 24 hours, with the largest buildup occurring in Latakia, the northwest coastal province...