Russia Calls For Aid To Be Delivered To All Areas Besieged By Militants
Russia's Foreign Ministry has said that all parties to the Syrian conflict including those countries who have influence over those parties, should make efforts to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to areas besieged by "militants from the terrorist groups the Al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and the Islam Army."
"Moscow is concerned about the dire humanitarian situation in populated areas in Syria as a result of the ongoing armed conflict in the country," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that Moscow was particularly concerned about Madaya, Foua and Kefraya.
Jakarta Grenades Inspired By Al-Qaeda 'How To' Guide?
Matthew Henman of Janes tweets that photos of the grenades recovered from the attackers in Jakarta appear similar in construction to grenades described in a how-to guide in issue 14 of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's English language magazine, Inspire.
Issue 14 of Inspire was released on September 9 and includes a guide titled "Designing a Timed Hand Grenade."
According to the SITE Intelligence Group, the manual "broke the process down and listed materials needed to make such a weapon, accompanied by pictures of each step."
Over 500 Kyrgyz Nationals Went To Syria In 2015 -- Ministry
Some 508 Kyrgyz nationals went to Syria and Iraq in 2015, including 387 men and 121 women, Kyrgyz Interior Ministry official Stalbek Rakhmanov has said.
Some 83 of those who went to Syria and Iraq were minors and 58 were taken to Syrian with their families.
According to Rakhmanov, 33 Kyrgyz nationals have been killed fighting in Syria.
Some 40 of those who left have returned to Kyrgyzstan.
Background On The Syrian Rebel Sieges Of Kefraya and Foua
Sam Heller, who blogs as Abu Jamajem, has written some interesting and timely background on the siege by rebels of two of Syria's Shi'ite villages, Foua and Kefraya, which have also received aid this week at the same time as the rebel-held besieged town of Madaya.
The rebels behind the siege include the hardline Sunni Islamist Ahrar al-Sham and Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate the Al-Nusra Front.
Heller writes:
My impression, and what I’ve heard from others, is that Ahrar and Nusrah have not exercised leverage on al-Fou’ah and Kafarya (and thus Iran, Hizbullah and the Assad regime) by imposing the sort of crushing deprivation we’ve seen in Madaya. As Abu Khaled argues, al-Fou’ah and Kafarya benefit not just from relief shipments that fall under the Zabadani truce, but also from opportunistic residents of neighboring towns willing to sell supplies and from regime airdrops. Instead, rebels have leaned on the towns by shelling them indiscriminately and threatening them through conventional military means. Indeed, we saw Saudi jihadist evangelist and chief Jeish al-Fateh judge Abdullah al-Muheisini argue earlier this month al-Fou’ah should be “exterminated” if the siege on Madaya weren’t lifted.
AFP have tweeted this map showing the locations of three besieged Syrian towns were aid has arrived this week.
Madaya is a rebel-held town under siege by government forces since July.
Foua and Kefraya are Shi'ite villages under siege by rebel forces.
UNICEF Confirms Severe Malnutrition In Madaya, Syria
UNICEF has said that it has confirmed cases of severe malnutrition among children in the besieged rebel-held town of Madaya.
UNICEF also said that its staff witnessed the death of a severely malnourished 16-year-old boy.
Four Of The Jakarta Attackers Have Been Identified
Police in Indonesia say they have identified four of the five militants who carried out yesterday's attacks in the capital Jakarta.
They say that two were previously convicted militants and named one as Afif Sunakim, who served a seven-year prison term for attending a militant camp in Aceh.
That concludes our live-blogging of the crisis surrounding Islamic State for Thursday, January 14. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
New Aid Convoy Enters Madaya
AFP has more on the reports from earlier this afternoon that a second aid convoy had reached and entered the besieged rebel-held town of Madaya in Syria.
AFP reports:
Six white trucks emblazoned with the logo of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent entered the town -- where the United Nations says suffering is the worst seen in Syria's nearly five-year war -- late on Thursday afternoon, an AFP reporter said.
Dozens of additional trucks were waiting on the edges of the town after arriving from Damascus as part of the convoy carrying flour and other foodstuffs, medical supplies and a range of basic supplies.
Russia has published its agreement with Damascus over the deployment of Russian war planes to Syria.
Here are some more extracts, translated from the Russian:
The agreement states that the deployment of a Russian air group to Syria was done out of a "mutual striving for the defense of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the security of the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic"
The agreement continues:
"Recognizing that the deployment of a Russian air group to the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic meets the objectives of supporting peace and stability in the region, has a defensive character and is not directed against other states.
Confirming the common challenges of fighting terror and extremism,
Recognizing the necessity of consolidating forces to oppose the terrorist threat."
The agreement was made at the request of Syria.
The agreement says that Russia is permitted to bring into Syria without any fees levied by Syria "any weapons, ammunition, equipment and materials required for the performance of tasks according to its mission, while ensuring the security and livelihoods of its staff."
The agreement states that the Russian air group "shall enjoy full immunity from civil and administrative jurisdiction of the Syrian Arab Republic."