Some 300 Militants, Trucks With Arms Move to Syria's Tel Rifat From Turkey
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941126001442
A group of approximately 300 militants with trucks laden with weapons attempted to break into the northern Syrian city of Tel Rifaat in Aleppo from Turkey, but most of the militants were killed, a source in the Kurdish self-defense forces said Monday.
“Reinforcements were sent to Tel Rifaat from Turkish territory. Around 300 militants and weapons. Airstrikes were conducted against the convoy heading out of Turkey on the Azaz-Tel Rifaat road. Most of the reinforcements were destroyed, some were able to reach the city,” the source told RIA Novosti.
Over the weekend, Turkey demanded the the Syrian Kurdish militia withdraw from the areas on Syria's northern border they have been in control of. When the fighters refused, Turkey-backed armed rebels crossed into Syria from Turkey to support rebels fighting Kurds near Tel Rifaat.
Senior Israeli officials urge sectarian partition of Syria
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/15/450384/Israeli-official-Syria-sectarian-partition
Officials with the Israeli regime, which is already widely accused of supporting Takfiri militants wreaking havoc in Syria, have called for the partition of the Arab country along sectarian lines.
Ram Ben-Barak, the director general of Israel's Intelligence Ministry, said the proposed breakup was “the only possible solution” to the conflict in Syria.
"I think that ultimately Syria should be turned into regions, under the control of whoever is there - the Alawites where they are, the Sunnis where they are," Ben-Barak told Israel's Army Radio on Sunday.
Israel's Minister of Military Affairs Moshe Ya'alon, who was in Munich to meet with European counterparts and Jordan's King Abdullah, also echoed Ben-Barak’s remarks.
"Syria as we have known it will not be united anew in the foreseeable future, and at some point I reckon that we will see enclaves, whether organized or not, formed by the various sectors that live and are fighting there," he said in a statement on Sunday.
The Israeli officials' statements come as reports say Israel has been supporting the militants fighting the government of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
The Israeli regime has set up hospitals near the border with Syria to treat the injured militants coming in from the battlefield there. Locals in the occupied Golan Heights have also intercepted Israeli vehicles transporting injured militants on the road between al-Sheikh Mountain and the village of Majdal Sham.
The Israeli calls for dividing Syria was raised as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, two regional sponsors of militant groups in Syria, have in recent weeks voiced their interest in launching a ground operation inside the country.
Chechen leader: Saudi-led coalition protects ISIS from full destruction
https://www.rt.com/politics/332515-chechen-leader-saudi-led-coalition/?
Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, has said that the latest actions by pro-Western military forces in Syria show that in reality they do not intend to fully destroy ISIS and return power to the legitimate government of the country.
Kadyrov issued the comment Monday, soon after news agencies reported about planned military exercises by the Saudi-led anti-terrorist coalition, which includes over 20 Muslim nations. “We cannot exclude the possibility that by these exercises they are preparing themselves for active operations in Syria,” the Chechen leader said in an Instagram post.
88 combat vessels, boats put to sea as part of Southern Military District inspection
http://tass.ru/en/defense/856084
A total of 88 combat vessels, boats and service ships have put to sea as part of a check of combat readiness of the Southern Military District, Russian Armed Forces General Staff Chief Army General Valery Gerasimov said Thursday.
"Operational-tactical aircraft got redeployed to operational airfields where a group was formed to fulfill tasks to repel the hypothetical aggressor and make a massive airstrike. A total of 48 aircraft and 24 helicopters have been redeployed," Gerasimov reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a video conference call.
"A total of 88 combat vessels, boats and support ships were taken to sea areas," he said.
The snap check of the combat readiness of the Southern Military District’s troops, a number of formations of the Airborne Troops and military-transport aviation started Monday morning.
The Defense Ministry said the maneuvers involve up to 8,500 personnel, 900 units of military hardware, 200 aircraft and helicopters, as well as 50 vessels. The ministry said forces and facilities of the Central Military District are involved in the maneuvers.
Two policemen killed, seven wounded in car bomb blast in Russia’s Dagestan republic — NAC
http://tass.ru/en/politics/856863
According to the NAC Information Center, an improvised explosive device made of two artillery shells with the total yield of about 30 kg of TNT went off in a car at a traffic police post.
Two policemen were killed and 13 people wounded at a traffic police post in the Derbent district of Russia’s Dagestan republic on Monday morning, the Information Centre of the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) told TASS.
"Two policemen were killed and seven wounded in the explosion. Also, six civilians were wounded," NAC reported.
The crime scene investigation team of the Russian Investigative Committee’s department for the Republic of Dagestan is ascertaining all the crime circumstances within the opened criminal case.
"An improvised explosive device went off in a car at a traffic police post in Dagestan. Bomb-disposal experts that examined the incident scene in the Derbent district of Dagestan where a cab bomb exploded this morning have found out that the car was blown up by an improvised explosive device made of two artillery shells with the yield of about 30 kg of TNT," NAC said.
The explosion occurred at the Dzhimikentsky checkpoint at 09:05 am on Monday when the police officers were checking a Lada Priora car.
Car bomb carnage - explosions at police checkpoint in Dagestan, Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzRCffzz07E
US plane impounded in Zimbabwe; body and cash found on board
http://www.stltoday.com/news/world/us-plane-impounded-in-zimbabwe-body-and-cash-found-on/article_da15c05a-8d76-54e2-b43a-014e76b95e08.html
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean aviation authorities impounded a U.S.-registered cargo jet, a senior official said Monday, after a dead body later believed to be a stowaway and millions of South African rand were found on board.
The Herald, a state-run newspaper, reported that the MD-11 trijet was traveling from Germany to South Africa "with millions of rands." At today's exchange rate, 1 million rand is worth $62,500.
Authorities here learned the money belonged to the South Africa Reserve Bank, the country's central bank. Police planned to issue a statement later Monday.
The plane had landed in Harare for refueling, said Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe general manager David Chawota. He said the jet, registered with Western Global Airlines, was impounded at Harare airport on Sunday. A web site says Western Global Airlines is based in Estero, Florida. The airline on Monday said the cargo belonged to the South African Reserve Bank and the dead body belonged presumably to a stowaway. Zimbabwe police said it was still investigating the matter.
The crew did not know there was someone else on the plane, according to a police officer, who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press. It appears from photos on social media that the dead person had sneaked into the plane's landing gear which severed his arm when it contracted, causing blood to splatter onto the fuselage and arousing suspicion of the ground crew when the flight landed here.
In a response to AP queries, Western Global Airlines said it didn't have the identity of the dead person, believed to be a stowaway.
"The aircraft is leased to Network Airline Management, a longtime customer based in the UK, and the shipment consignee was the South African Reserve Bank. This particular flight was from Germany to South Africa, we are told for the South African government. During a routine fuel stop in Zimbabwe, a body was found in the lower compartment. The body is presumed to be a stowaway who may have entered the airplane during a previous stop. The situation is currently under review," the airline said in an e-mail response to The Associated Press.
New Report of U.S.-Made Cluster Bomb Use by Saudis in Yemen
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/15/world/middleeast/new-report-of-us-made-cluster-bomb-use-by-saudis-in-yemen.html?_r=0
Human Rights Watch released a report Sunday providing new indications that Saudi Arabia has fired American-made cluster munitions, banned by international treaty, in civilian areas of Yemen, and said their use may also violate United States law.
The report included photographs from Yemen purporting to show unexploded but potentially lethal remnants of American cluster weapons, suggesting that they had failed legally required reliability standards.
If confirmed, the report could put new pressure on the United States over support for its ally Saudi Arabia in the Yemen conflict. The Americans have sold arms and furnished training and expertise to a Saudi-led coalition that has faced widespread criticism for what rights groups call an indiscriminate bombing campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in nearly a year of fighting.
“Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, as well as their U.S. supplier, are blatantly disregarding the global standard that says cluster munitions should never be used under any circumstances,”
Steve Goose, the arms director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report.
Human Rights Watch and other groups have previously accused Saudi Arabia of using cluster munitions in Yemen, including in a Jan. 6 strike in Sana, the capital, and have criticized the United States as an accomplice.
