RFE/RL's Georgian Service has given us this heart-rending video in which the mother of an Islamist militant tries to come to term with what has become of her son:
The mother of a Georgian man, who appeared in a video released on November 23 calling on Muslims to behead infidels, expressed bewilderment at her son's transformation. In an interview with RFE/RL Georgian Service correspondent Nata Imedaishvili, Meri Iremadze said she feels anger toward her son, Badri Iremadze. The interview was conducted on November 25 in the village of Nasakirali in Guria region of western Georgia.
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this item posted by our news desk overnight on the mass grave found in Iraq:
A bomb-rigged mass grave containing the remains of more than 120 people killed by the Islamic State (IS) group has been found in northern Iraq, an official told the AFP news agency.
It is the sixth mass grave found in or near the town of Sinjar since it was recaptured from IS militants earlier this month, said Mahma Khalil, the official responsible for the area.
It is estimated that the grave site contains the remains of 123 people, based on accounts from those who witnessed the executions.
The grave site, located 10 kilometers west of Sinjar, is surrounded by a large number of bombs.
The site has not yet been excavated, but some of the remains of the victims have been exposed by rainwater.
This is the biggest of the mass graves found so far, Sinjar's mayor, Mahma Khalil, told the BBC.
(AFP, BBC)
We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again, you can catch up with some of our other Islamic State coverage here.
The Kremlin has ordered sanctions against Turkey, our news desk reports:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered sanctions against Turkey, including a ban on some goods and prohibiting the extensions of labor contracts for Turkish citizens working in Russia.
The decree, which was published on the Kremlin’s website on November 28, doesn’t specify which goods will be banned.
It also calls for ending chartered flights from Russia to Turkey and calls on Russian tour operators to stop selling vacation packages to Turkey.
The decree comes after Turkey shot down a Russian military jet near the Syrian border on November 24. The incident has drawn a harsh response from Moscow. (AP, Reuters)
Syrian army advances against IS, our news desk reports:
The Syrian Army is reported to have made advances against Islamic State (IS) militants.
According to Syrian state TV on November 28, the army has captured territory east of Aleppo, including several kilometers of the highway linking the city with the militants' de facto capital of Raqqa.
Also reported taken back by the Syrian Army were areas east of the Kweires air base, which was seized from IS control with support from Russian air strikes.
A headline flashed on state TV said the army had captured the two villages of Kaskis and Akula and wide areas of agricultural land, seizing tunnels and fortifications built by the IS militants, and were demining areas mined by the group.
The villages are about 60 kilometers east of Aleppo. (Reuters, AFP)