The IS group is making authentic-looking Syrian and Iraqi passports that could be used to disguise as refugees IS operatives seeking to carry out attacks in Europe or the United States -- and Western security officials are struggling to respond to this crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports.
While IS has likely obtained printing equipment and blank passport books from Raqqa and Deir al-Zor in Syria, as well as from Mosul in Iraq, a lack of communication with the Syrian government means Western officials do not have key information they need to identify fake passports.
Russian Lawmakers Slam Amnesty International Report On Syria Strikes
Russian lawmakers have been reacting this morning to the new report by Amnesty International that says Russia's air campaign in Syria has caused civilian casualties
Nikolai Levichev, deputy speaker of the Russia's State Duma, slammed the report as supporting terrorists.
"By accusing Russia of war crimes in Syria, Amnesty International is giving amnesty to IS terrorists. In essence, it is defending the rights of those who blow up women and children and behead those of other faiths," Levichev said.
Communist Party lawmaker Vasily Likhachev said the report had an "anti-Russian character."
"I assume that their goal is to compromise the Russian air campaign and Russia's participation in the peaceful resolution [of the Syrian conflict]," Likhachev said.
Lavrov To Discuss Syria With Qatari Foreign Minister On December 25
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to meet with his Qatari counterpart Khaled al-Attiyah on December 25 for talks on resolving the Syrian crisis, TASS reports.
"We continue to see as an absolute priority the creation of a wide international coalition for the fight against IS and other terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq," the Foreign Ministry said.
Activists in Syria have accused Bashar al-Assad's forces of a chemical attack during fighting in the town of Moadamiyet al-Sham southwest of Damascus.
The activists say that five men were killed when government troops fired barrel bombs containing a "toxic gas" on December 22.
Activists have posted video footage on social media that they say show victims gasping for breath in a field hospital following the attack. At least one of the victims is wearing military-style fatigues, according to AFP.
AFP reports that the activists posted a statement on Facebook saying that "the Assad regime again used chemical weapons against civilians in Moadamiyet earlier today, with regime warplanes dropping barrel bombs containing a so-far unidentified toxic gas on the south of the town. Five people have died so far as a result with others suffering severe breathing problems."
A local activist named as Firas al-Doumi told the London-based Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news website that government forces used helicopters to drop the barrel bombs on the town on the evening of December 22.
It has not been possible to verify the claims.
Hundreds of people died in Moadamiyet al-Sham in chemical strikes in August 2013.
A Syrian security source who talked to AFP denied that armed forces had used chemical weapons on the town, calling the accusations "baseless".
"This is a cheap ruse and a broken record that they are using in an attempt to justify their defeats," he told AFP.
From our news desk:
Ramadi 'To Be Liberated' From IS
Asenior Iraqi military officer predicts government forces will dislodge Islamic State militants from the western Iraqi city of Ramadi within days.
"In the coming days [there will be] good news [about] the complete liberation of Ramadi," Iraqia TV cited Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant Othman al-Ghanemi as saying on December 23.
Iraq's armed forces began advancing on December 22 on the last district held by the militants in the center of Ramadi, a Sunni city on the Euphrates river some 100 kilometers west of Baghdad that they captured in May.
If Ramadi is captured, it will be the second major city after Tikrit to be retaken from Islamic State in Iraq.
Progress has been slow because the government wants to rely entirely on its own troops and not use Shi'ite militias in order to avoid rights abuses such as occurred after the recapture of the city of Tikrit from the militants in April.
From our news desk:
One Killed, One Injured In Blast At Istanbul Airport
One person has been killed and another injured in an explosion at the second largest airport in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Authorities are investigating whether the blast at the Sabiha Gokcen airport early on December 23 was caused by a bomb or not.
The blast occurred when no passengers were in the area. The casualties were among cleaning staff.
Police tightened security at entrances to the airport after the incident, searching vehicles as a helicopter flew overhead.
Bomb attacks by Kurdish, leftist and Islamist militants are common in Turkey.
A three-decades-old conflict between the state and the militant Kurdistan Workers Party has flared up in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since the collapse of a ceasefire in July.
Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP
The U.S.-led coalition against the IS group in Syria and Iraq have posted this infographic showing IS targets destroyed or damaged between December 15-21.
As well as saying that the Kremlin does not have information about the Amnesty International report claiming that Russian air strikes in Syria have caused civilian casualties, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said that the Kremlin has not seen the report.
"Who did they send it to? No, we haven't seen it," Peskov said, when asked if the Kremlin had seen the report.
Peskov said that the Defense Ministry had all the relevant information about Russia's air campaign in Syria.
"You know, this is probably a question for the next Defense Ministry briefing. These are details connected with the operation and only the Defense Ministry has the full information," Peskov replied to a question of whether the Kremlin would analyze the report.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that Moscow has no information about the reliability of the information in a new report published today by Amnesty International that claims Russian air strikes have killed civilians in Syria.
Peskov was asked to comment on the report in his morning press briefing.
"Of course the Defense Ministry and other relevant authorities will familiarize themselves with the provisions of this report," Peskov added.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this morning that Moscow is ready to work with anyone who fights terror in Syria, according to the pro-Kremlin RIA Novosti.
Speaking ahead of a meeting this morning in Moscow with the chairman of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtas, Lavrov said that it was "fundamentally important to assemble the the possibilities of all those who are putting up a determined fight against terrorism."
Lavrov said that he would discuss the situation in Syria with Demirtas, noting that the Kurds were fighting against IS in Syria and Iraq.
"We know that among those who are on the ground and using weapons to oppose the threat of IS, [who are] against the extremist groups, there are Syria and Iraqi Kurds. Together with the Syrian army, with the Iraqi army, they are fighting for their right to live on their land," Lavrov added.
Relations between Russia and Turkey have take a nosedive after the Turkish air force shot down a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border last month. Moscow has since accused Turkey of profiting from the illegal trafficking of IS oil.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has criticized Demirtas' visit to Moscow.