Kremlin: no credible evidence of casualties in Russia's Syria air strikes
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that there is no credible evidence that Russian air strikes in Syria have caused civilian casualties, RIA Novosti reports.
Peskov was responding to comments yesterday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that she was "appalled" by the suffering in Syria caused by Russia's bombing campaign.
But Peskov dismissed Merkel's comments.
"As for the German chancellor's words about alleged civilian casualties as a result of Russian air strikes in Syria, we need to draw attention to the fact that despite the enormous number of such claims, so far no one has presented a single piece of evidence supporting these facts," Peskov said.
But what about...
And what about the situation two or three years ago in Syria, when "terrorists" were committing "barbaric acts" in Syria, Peskov went on to ask, rhetorically.
"Unfortunately, we did not hear a similar assessments of the barbaric actions of the terrorists, who attacked and savagely attacked Syrian territory, encircling Syrian military forces and the legitimate authorities of Syria," Peskov said.
"Then we didn't hear any similar assessments from anyone."
Only Russia, Iran operating legitimately in Syria: official
Russia's deputy foreign minister Oleg Syromolotov has said that only Russia and Iran are operating legitimately in Syria and that the U.S.-led coalition against the IS group has no legal basis for carrying out operations in the country.
"In this current situation it is not possible to speak about the legitimacy of anti-terror forces in Syria of any foreign countries apart from Russia and Iraq. The U.S.-created "anti-terrorism coalition" has no such legitimacy -- either by UN Security Council sanction or by invitation from the legal Syrian government," Syromolotov told RIA Novosti.
UN fears for hundreds of thousands if government troops encircle Aleppo
Hundreds of thousands of civilians could be cut off from food and medical supplies if Syrian government forces manage to encircle rebel-held areas of Aleppo, the UN has said.
"If the GoS (government of Syria) and allies sever the last remaining flight route out of eastern Aleppo City it would leave up to 300,000 people, still residing in the city, cut off from humanitarian aid unless cross-line access could be negotiated," the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an urgent bulletin.
Syrian government forces backed by Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Russian air strikes have embarked on a major offensive around Aleppo, which is divided between government and rebel control.
Australian IS militants 'untrained and naive'
Australian militants fighting alongside the IS group are untrained, naive and expendable, Security and Intelligence Organization director Duncan Lewis has said.
"Untrained and naive young Australians are being drawn into the conflict and finding themselves in what I would describe as highly expendable, highly dangerous positions of low importance amid the ISIL effort," Lewis said on Tuesday, Sky News Australia reports.
Lewis said that at least 45 Australians have died fighting alongside IS in Syria and Iraq, possibly as many as 49.
Iraqi woman charged with role in IS hostage Kayla Mueller's death
The wife of a senior IS militant killed in a U.S. special forces raid last year has been charged in U.S. federal court with holding American Kayla Mueller hostage and contributing to her death.
The woman, Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar a.k.a. Umm Sayyaf, admitted after her capture last May that she and her husband Abu Sayyaf held Mueller captive alongside several other female hostages.
While Mueller was held hostage by Sayyaf she was repeatedly raped by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, U.S. officials have said.
That concludes our live-blogging of the crisis surrounding Islamic State. Check back here tomorrow for more of our ongoing coverage.
Libya forces say they conducted strikes against IS in Derna
Forces allied to Libya's eastern government conducted air strikes against IS militants in Derna city, a spokesman for Libyan National Army Forces said, according to Reuters.
An LNA MiG-23 aircraft later crashed "due to a technical problem," the spokesman said, adding that the plane had been involved in air strikes and that the pilot had managed to escape.
The militant group Ansar al-Sharia, which is close to Al-Qaeda, had claimed responsibility for downing the plane.
Canada to end bombing missions in Iraq and Syria on Feb. 22
Canadian fighter jets will return home on Feb. 22 from their participation in the U.S.-led coalition against the IS group in Syria and Iraq, while the government will triple the size of its training and assisting mission there.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada's revised mission today, the Globe and Mail reports.