This just in from AFP regarding the planned Syrian peace talks:
Residents of the besieged Syrian city of Madaya have expelled the head of the rebel military council in the city from his place of residence after he tried to direct aid shipments into warehouses, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting, citing several sources in the city.
The residents demanded that the aid be given to them directly, SOHR says.
The Red Cross, Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the UN sent an aid convoy to Madaya today.
SOHR adds:
Reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the distribution will as following:
after the entry of the aid they will be distributed to warehouses in Madaya, then the shares will be delivered to each family according to the list of the relief office, each share will be handed to the head of the household, while the surplus of the aid will be distributed after the completion of the first round of distribution in Madaya.
An Iraqi man has been arrested in Finland on suspicion of war crimes, Finnish police have said. The man is suspected of carrying out the crimes while fighting alongside Iraqi forces against IS.
AP report:
Detective Superintendent Jari Raty says the 23-year-old man is suspected of being involved in war crimes in Tikrit while fighting on the side of Iraqi forces when they recaptured the city from the Islamic State group in April 2015. Raty did not specify the nature of the alleged crimes or give further details about the suspect pending the outcome of an investigation.
Libya's Channel has more -- though no answers -- on the unconfirmed reports that unidentified jets struck IS positions near Sirte yesterday. The reports remain a mystery.
The air raid reportedly hit an IS convoy between the group’s strongholds of Sirte and Bin Jawad, around 150km to the east, according to local witnesses.
The country’s official air force, which answers to the internationally-recognized parliament anchored in the east, said they were not behind the sorties.
There was speculation it could have been ordered by West Libya’s Chief of Staff Jadallah al-Obeidi, who is loyal to the country’s rival administration Libya Dawn, that controls Tripoli. Last week Al-Obeidi’s planes carried out strikes in the nearby Oil Crescent in coordination with forces in the eastern city of Ajdabiya.
Other reports circulating on social media pointed to French planes but none of the accounts could be independently verified.
Residents in Madaya have gathered to wait for the humanitarian convoy, which has reached the edge of the town.
From our news desk:
Suspected Russian Air Strike Hits Syrian School
Asuspected Russian air strike has struck a school in northern Syria, killing at least 12 children.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on January 11 that the air strike on the town of Ain Jara, in rebel-controlled Aleppo Province, also killed three teachers and wounded 20 others.
The monitoring group said Aleppo had been the scene of air strikes and heavy clashes between government and rebel forces since January 10.
Russia, a staunch ally of Syria President Bashar al-Assad's regime, has been conducting air strikes in support of the central government since September.
The monitoring group said in late December that Russian air strikes had killed more than 2,300 people since they began on September 30, among them 792 civilians.
Moscow has denied its strikes have killed civilians.
France Calls For Civilian Relief
Earlier, France called on the Syrian government and Russia to stop military operations against civilians, just two weeks before peace talks are scheduled.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius singled out the situation in the city of Madaya, besieged by government forces, where aid groups say residents are dying of starvation.
Fabius said France would consult the UN Security Council to press Syria to end what he described as "inadmissible" attacks.
"We discussed the absolute necessity that Syria and Russia end their military operations against civilians," Fabius told reporters in Paris.
Russia, which has been conducting air strikes in Syria since September, denies targeting civilians.
Aid convoys were due to enter Madaya and the cities of Al-Foua and Kefraya in Idlib Province on January 11.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Russia's Defense Ministry says that the security zone around the Kweiris military air base in Syria's Aleppo province is expanding and the Syrian army has moved five km north in the past few days.
The Syrian army, backed by Russian air support and Iranian fighters, retook the Kweiris air base in November, breaking a two-year siege, most recently by the IS group.
Russia, the United States and the UN are scheduled to meet in Geneva on January 13 to discuss Syria, a diplomatic source has told the TASS news agency.
AFP has posted this video showing the aftermath of Syrian government strikes yesterday on rebel-held Douma near Damascus.
The 23-second video includes scenes from inside a field hospital where the injured, including children, are being treated.