Russia Strikes Islamic State With Missiles Fired From Submarine
Russia says it has for the first time struck Islamic State targets in Syria with missiles fired from a submarine.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on December 8 that the Kalibr cruise missiles were launched from the Rostov-on-Don submarine in the Mediterranean, successfully hitting their designated target.
Speaking during a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Shoigu said Tu-22 bombers also took part in the latest raids, performing 60 combat sorties in the last three days.
Shoigu told Putin that Syrian and Russian troops had recovered the flight recorder of a Russian warplane downed on November 24 by Turkey’s military on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Putin ordered it to be studied in the presence of foreign experts.
Turkey says it shot down the Su-24 after the plane crossed into its air space. Moscow denies that.
Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and Interfax
Greek Police Tried & Failed To Capture Paris Attacks Mastermind In January
Greek police tried to capture Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of the November 13 Paris attacks, in January but failed, a Belgian anti-terrorism source has told the BBC.
Abaaoud had been directing a Belgian terror cell by phone from Athens, the source said.
Abaaoud died in a police raid on a Paris apartment five days after the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people.
Russia is prepared to help Turkey close its border with Syria, Russian upper house Speaker Valentina Matviyenko has said.
"The Syria-Turkey border urgently needs to be closed, that's where the convoys with weapons and ol tankers are crossing. Turkey cannot cope with this alone, we can help Turkey close the border," Matviyenko said.
CNN has more on reports that Iraqi government forces have retaken more than half of Ramadi in Iraq's Anbar province.
The inroads came after Iraqi troops, counterterrorism unit members and federal police officers targeted [IS] militants from three sides in a 24-hour period, aided by U.S.-led airstrikes. Iraq's Joint Military Command reported 60% of the Anbar province city had been retaken, including a one-time Iraqi military headquarters in northern Ramadi as well as western and southern parts of the city.
Syrian government forces backed by Iranian troops edged closer to a major rebel-controlled highway south of Aleppo Tuesday, pushing further into rebel-held areas supported by heavy Russian airstrikes, Reuters report.
This just tweeted by Turkey's Daily Sabah:
The official account of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi just tweeted that Abadi has spoken with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg regarding the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq.
From our news desk:
Cyprus To Give Russian Warplanes Emergency Landing Rights
Cyprus's foreign minister says the country is negotiating with Russia on a deal to allow Russian warplanes returning from air strikes in Syria to use Cypriot airports in emergency situations.
Ioannis Kasoulides said on December 7 that the agreement being ironed out now will be along the lines of a similar deal permitting French warplanes to land at Cypriot airports if they're in trouble.
Kasoulides said Cyprus was bound by international law to grant such access in cases of emergency and humanitarian crisis.
He said the agreement with Russia will also permit use of Cypriot facilities to ease the possible evacuation of Russian nationals from neighboring countries.
Cyprus' easternmost tip is less than 160 kilometers from the Syrian coast.
Britain is conducting air strikes from its air base on Cyprus against Islamic State group targets in Syria and Iraq.
Russian News Agency Claims To Have Found Su-24 Flight Recorder
Russia's ANNA News, which has reporters embedded with the Syrian Arab Army, claims to have found the "black box" flight recorder from the Russian Su-24 jet downed by Turkey on November 24.
The report has been picked up by Russia's NTV and government daily Rossiskaya Gazeta.
ANNA News published a 54 second video on its YouTube channel today that shows a Russian-speaking man -- presumably one of its reporters -- holding what he claims is the flight recorder.
The reporter says that the video was made on December 7 and that the flight recorder could disprove Turkey's claims that the Su-24 was shot down while in Turkish air space, an allegation that Russia has denied. Russia insists the jet had not strayed from Syrian air space.
According to Rossiskaya Gazeta, the flight recorder is now being examined by Russian specialists but later added that the finding of the flight recorder has not yet been confirmed.
Regardless, Rossiskaya Gazeta goes on to say:
"It should be noted that the transcript will allow [us] to accurately tell whether the Turkish military informed our pilots before they hit them with rockets, or not. In addition, the "black box" records the data from all devices so we can say with certainty whether the Russian bomber crossed the Turkish border."
Turkey's Foreign Ministry says Ankara stopped the deployment of Turkish troops to the Bashiqa region of northern Iraq two days ago after Baghdad complained, Reuters reports.
"It is unacceptable to think that Turkey would take a step that would weaken Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity, over which Turkey has a high sensitivity," the foreign ministry said in a statement.