Media turns up in Geneva for Syria talks -- but will they start on time?
The Wall Street Journal's Sam Dagher tweets this image of media trucks at the UN palace in Geneva ahead of the Syria peace talks, set to start tomorrow morning.
But will they start on time? And even if they do, who will actually show up? The Saudi-backed Syrian opposition is still debating whether to attend tomorrow, saying that it has not yet heard back from UN chief Ban regarding its demands on halting bombardments and blockades.
'I have no fear of the Russians,' says Turkish killer of Russian Su-24 pilot
As Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, continue to advance in Syria's Latakia province, including in an area that is home to ethnic Turkomans and Turkoman rebels, the Turkish media is making the most of a visit to Istanbul by a Turkish fighter who claims he killed Oleg Peskov, the Russian pilot shot dead after Turkey downed his jet in November.
The Dogan news agency interviewed the fighter, Alparsan Celik, today -- a day after he was reported to have attended the Istanbul funeral of another fighter killed in Latakia.
Celik told Dogan that he "has no fear" of the Russians.
“When I went to the Turkmen Mountain [in Latakia province] about two-and-a-half years ago, I went with faith in God. It was He who gave our soul and it is He who takes it away. We are fighting there with this faith. Everyone’s day of death is already decided and mine is too ... So I definitely do not have such fear. We will continue our struggle until our last soldier, our last breath and our last drop of blood,” he said.
Celik also commented on the downing of the Russian Su-24 jet.
“It was the day when Kızıldağ [mountain] had just fallen [to the Syrian regime, supported by Russia]. It was Friday and we took action along with the morning prayers. We conducted an operation to retake Kızıldağ and as we were in the middle of the operation Russian warplanes came and bombed our operation line. The Russian warplane was shot down by Turkish F-16s, our brave pilots, while returning from the Turkish side,” he said.
Celik's account suggests that Turkey shot down the Su-24 after it bombed Turkoman rebels who were carrying out an offensive against Syrian government forces along the Syrian border.
While he praised the downing, Celik went on to say that Turkey was not giving Turkoman rebels enough support.
“We do not have armed power to respond to their technological weapons. Of course, Turkey provides weapons that work in hand-to-hand struggle, but we don’t have air defense systems and technological infrastructure. We only have an infrastructure that we built by our own means. What we want from the Turkish Republic is for it to give air defense weapons and to create better technological infrastructure for us,” he said.
While Turkey has maintained that it shot down the jet because it violated Turkish airspace, Celik's account suggests that Turkey was also acting in support of Turkoman rebels.
The account comes as two Turkish journalists are facing multiple life sentences for a news report alleging that Turkey had tried to send arms to Syrian Islamist rebels. The two journalists have been charged with obtaining and revealing state secrets for "espionage purposes."
IS claims Dutch suicide bomber carried out attack on Yemen president's residence
The IS group has claimed responsibility for a bombing outside Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's residence, which killed seven people.
IS released a statement online that said the bomb had been carried out by a suicide attacker named Abu Hunaifa al-Hollandi, whose nom de guerre suggests that he is Dutch. IS also released a photograph that it claims is of the attacker as well as images of the explosion.
As Twitter user Bilad Al Fransa noted, this is the first European suicide bomber IS has used in Yemen, at least according to his nom de guerre. The move indicates that foreign militants have joined the IS group in Yemen.
IS appears to claim responsibility for IED attack on Egyptian army in Sinai
The IS group's Egyptian affiliate, Wilayat Sinai, has apparently claimed responsibility for an improvised explosive device (IED) attack on an Egyptian army convoy on the outskirts of the city of Arish in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula yesterday that killed at least four soldiers and injured 12 more.
IS appeared to make its claim in a statement circulated on social media on Jan. 28. However, analysts noted that the claim, shared on Twitter, had a slightly different format than the messages usually sent by IS.
The message had a blue title rather than the red title:
Belgian court adjourns Syria militant recruitment appeal hearing for security reasons
A Belgian court has adjourned an appeal hearing for several defendants against prison sentences for recruiting militants for Syria, citing security reasons, AFP reports.
The security reasons seem linked to concerns about personal protection for the judges.
Some of the defendants are linked to key figures in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
The appeals follow sentencing in July that handed down prison terms of up to 20 years after 32 people were tried -- many in absentia -- on charges of running one of Belgium's largest militant recruitment networks to send fighters to Syria.
Australian police raid homes of IS medico's ex-wives
The Australian has more on reports that counter-terrorism police in Melbourne raided two homes linked to an IS militant yesterday.
The two homes belonged to two former wives of Mohomed Unais Mohomed Ameen, a Sri Lankan born man who appeared in an IS propaganda video last year calling on Australians and other foreigners to travel to Syria and help provide medical services.
Another Australian, Tareq Kamleh, also appeared in the video to urge Australians with medical experience to join IS.
The Australian understands the warrants were executed yesterday to try to learn whether Ameen has been communicating with other Islamic State sympathisers in Australia. Police are seeking enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant against Ameen, who was studying sports coaching before leaving for Syria in May 2014.
Turkish army captures 25 'militants,' 22 children near Syria border: Hurriyet
The Turkish army says it has captured 25 alleged IS militants as well as 25 children in two operations near the Syrian border.
The first operation on Jan. 27 resulted in the capture of 21 alleged militants and 22 children in Kilis province as they tried to cross into Turkey from Syria.
The second operation on the same day saw four people captured as they tried to enter Syria from Turkey.
'We're still starving': besieged Syrian town
Snow and falling temperatures in the Syrian town of Madaya have worsened the suffering of thousands of people at risk of starvation because of a government siege, residents and aid workers say.
"We were starving before the U.N. came here, and we’re still starving, and it’s getting colder and colder," Abdullah, 25, a resident, told the Washington Post.
Syrian peace talks face further delays as opposition sticks to demands
Syrian peace talks are set to start tomorrow but look likely to be delayed yet again as the Saudi-backed opposition High Negotiations Committee stuck to its demands for an end to bombardments and blockades.
The opposition is still waiting for a response to its demands from UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Reuters reports.