This concludes our live blogging of the crisis surrounding Islamic State. Check back here tomorrow morning for more of our continuing coverage.
More fallout from the spat between Russia and Turkey:
From our news desk:
Thousands of Iraqis Protest Turkish Troop Deployment
Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets of Baghdad and Basra to protest against Turkey's deployment of troops in the north of the country.
"We consider any military presence on Iraqi land as foreign aggression which we should stand against using all possible means," Hadi al-Amiri, a Shi'ite lawmaker who heads the armed Badr Organization, told protesters gathered in central Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on December 12.
Many participants were members of Shi'ite paramilitary forces who held up banners reading "Death to Turkey."
A similar rally was held in the southern city of Basra.
News of the deployment of Turkish soldiers to a base near Mosul last week has triggered a crisis between Ankara and Baghdad, which demands their immediate withdrawal.
Turkey refuses, saying the troops were deployed to protect trainers working with Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting the Islamic State group.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has expressed support to his Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, over Turkey’s deployment of troops in northern Iraq.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on December 12 that Lavrov and Jaafari had spoken by phone to discuss the "unlawful incursion."
"The Russian side expressed its firm position in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq," the statement said.
(Reuters, AFP, TASS, Interfax)
Our news desk reports on how a suspected IS cell may have been busted in Switzerland:
Switzerland Arrests Two Suspects In Terror Probe
Swiss authorities say they have arrested two people of Syrian origin on suspicion of making, hiding, and transporting explosives and toxic gas.
Switzerland's attorney general said on December 12 that criminal proceedings have been opened against the pair under a law prohibiting extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS).
The two arrests were made in the Geneva region on December 11.
Geneva, home to the European headquarters of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and many banks and trading houses, has been on high alert amid fears that an IS cell was in the area.
The country’s president, Simonetta Sommaruga, said on December 11 that a "foreign authority" had provided the information about "a potential IS cell in the Geneva area."
(Reuters, AFP)