As many as 45,000 members of the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri group have been killed in the Middle East during the past two years, a senior American military official says.

US Army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland made the announcement during a press briefing on Wednesday, adding that the terrorist group has now become an easier target after losing thousands of its members.

“We don’t see them operating nearly as effectively as they have in the past, which makes them even easier targets for us, so as a result their attrition has accelerated here of late,” he noted.

The American commander attributed some of the success in the battle against Daesh to the US-led campaign that started in late 2014, claiming that the coalition has killed 25,000 terrorists over the past 11 months.

The general’s claim comes at a time when Washington is under fire for the high rate of civilian deaths arising from its airstrikes.

In late July, more than a dozen civilians were killed or injured after US warplanes conducted airstrikes in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo.

Presstv

The UK is playing a substantial role in tackling security threats across Africa, with deployments in Nigeria and Somalia. Around 30 British troops have recently arrived in Somalia to bolster a United Nations mission, while a 35 strong Royal Air Force (RAF) team have been training Nigerian personnel helping to fight Boko Haram. An RAF Short Term Training Team have been advising the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in how to defend their airbases from threats such as that from extremist group Boko Haram, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. Personnel from No.5 Force Protection Wing and 51 Squadron RAF Regiment are also helping to boost the NAF’s skills in improvised explosive devices (IEDs), tracking insurgents, identifying weapons caches and navigation. They have also worked with the Nigerian Army on improving ground-to-air coordination.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that, “We stand united with Nigerian efforts to defeat this brutal terrorist organisation. That is why we are increasing our support to their armed forces as they fight extremism. This mission is part of a step up in UK support announced by the Defence Secretary in December, paving the way for multiple deployments of up to 300 UK military personnel across 2016.” More than 5,000 members of the Nigerian Armed Forces have now benefited from UK training since April 2015, which has also included medical training, infantry skills, media operations, command and leadership, and support to Nigerian military training schools.

Around 30 British troops have recently arrived in Somalia to bolster a United Nations mission helping to ensure security against the threat of extremism. In a demonstration of the flexibility and global reach of the UK’s armed forces, the personnel will provide medical, logistical and engineering support as part of UN support to the African Mission in Somalia, which is working to build stability and help counter the threat posed by terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Fallon said that, “We are determined to tackle terrorism wherever it appears and this deployment demonstrates our commitment to help stabilise Somalia.”

The extra 30 troops brings the current number in-country to around 40, after an initial British team arrived in May to help strengthen infrastructure ready for this deployment. Up to 70 UK personnel will travel to Somalia in 2016 as part of the deployment.

Defenceweb

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran will never back down from distancing itself from the United States. “Keeping a distance from the head of the arrogant movement i.e. the US is one of the most important definitive principles of the great founder of the Islamic Republic (the late Imam Khomeini) and there is no room for any compromise or negligence in this regard,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi and other senior personnel of the ministry on Tuesday.

Ayatollah Khamenei hailed the relentless efforts of the ministry, describing it as a “very important and crucial bastion” and “the wakeful and observant eye of the Islamic establishment.” “The Intelligence Ministry is the hard shell of the Islamic establishment and should never become vulnerable,” the Leader added. The Leader further called for the presence and operation of the ministry anywhere suspected of becoming a hideout for the enemy to deal a blow to the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Khamenei also said the survival and victory of the Islamic Revolution are tied to maintaining faith, adding, “The failure of the global arrogance against the Islamic establishment, despite massive and varied plots and methods that they have deployed since the first day against the [Islamic] Revolution, could not have been possible without the support of faith.”

The Leader stated that any move to weaken the faith of the Iranian people and officials would be treason and added, “The defensive force that has sustained the country throughout all these years has been the power of faith and if this strong and efficient weapon is undermined, it will lead to many plights.”

Presstv

Former Saudi intelligence chief and long-time Ambassador to Washington Prince Bandar bin Sultan has been linked to an al-Qaeda operative by the co-chair of a recent US probe into the 9/11 terror incidents. The recently declassified part of the 9/11 report regarding suspected Saudi ties to some of the hijackers involved in the terror events revealed that a phone log maintained by an alleged senior al-Qaeda operative, identified as Abu Zubaydah, included the unlisted phone number of a Colorado company associated with Bandar as well as the phone number of a bodyguard working at the Saudi Embassy in Washington at the time, CNN reported Friday.

The company in Aspen, Colorado used to manage Prince Bandar’s estate in the Western US state. “Both of those numbers were unpublished, so they had to have gotten into Zubaydah’s phone book through a personal contact who knew what those numbers were and what they represented,” said former Senator Bob Graham, who co-chaired the congressional commission that compiled the 28 pages of the 9/11 report that remained secret until its release last month.

Although both US intelligence agencies, the CIA and FBI, concluded that there was no evidence that anyone from the Saudi royal family knowingly provided support for the 9/11 attacks, Graham insisted that connection between Zubaydah’s contact list and the company associated with the senior Saudi official was “one of the most stunning parts of the investigation” and worthy of further investigation.

Bandar served as the Saudi ambassador to the US from 1983 to 2005, during the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He later served as secretary general of Saudi Arabia’s National Security Council and the head of the kingdom’s General Intelligence Presidency, the equivalent of the CIA, until last year.

Bandar “is probably the most effective ambassador in Washington ever. Full stop,” said former CIA analyst Bruce Riedel. “He was highly regarded by every president.” The senior Saudi official was known to have the closest relationship with George H. W. Bush, in part due to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in the 1990 Persian Gulf War, in which Riyadh viewed the Iraqi aggression as a threat and supported the subsequent US military action.

“Bandar was in the Bush White House, I would say, every other day and in some periods every day. It was a very, very close relationship,” Riedel added. “And I think the president and Bandar genuinely liked each other.” Saudi authorities have denied allegations on their involvement in the September 2001 incidents in which nearly 3,000 people were killed in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers involved in the 9/11 attacks were Saudi nationals.

Presstv

A passenger plane has declared a mid-air emergency and seemingly disappeared from radar, according to reports.

The Air Algerie Boeing 737-600 took off from Algiers this afternoon on a flight to Marseille but let out an emergency call shortly after take-off.

Flight radar showed the plane turn around and head back towards the point where it took-off but before arriving, the jet disappeared from radar.

Plane tracking site Flight Radar 24 currently lists the plane’s status as “unknown”. Some flight enthusiasts have claimed the plane may have not been picked up below 17,000ft if it landed safely.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the West on Tuesday of “supporting terror” in Turkey and backing those who masterminded of the abortive coup of July 15. During a speech at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, the Turkish president lashed out at the country’s Western allies, saying the failed coup was a “scenario written from outside,” in an apparent reference to the involvement of foreign powers.

“Unfortunately, the West is supporting terror and standing by the coup plotters.” “This coup was not just an event planned from the inside. The actors inside acted out a scenario for a coup written from the outside,” the Turkish president stated.

The Turkish president had previously hinted at the potential involvement of foreign powers in the coup attempt, but the Tuesday remarks saw some of the strongest allegations raised by him against Turkey’s Western allies. Erdogan also denounced “those who we imagined to be friends.”

The Turkish government accuses Fethullah Gulen, a cleric based in the United States, of orchestrating the coup attempt. Ankara has even called for the extradition of Gulen. Washington, however, insists that Turkey must verify its allegations.

“How can it be, when we are strategic partners and I ask you on behalf of my country to hand someone over on the basis of a national security strategy document, you keep on hiding and sheltering him?” Erdogan asked.

German court ruling

The Turkish president also slammed Germany over a court ruling that prohibited Erdogan and other Turkish officials to address a weekend rally in the city of Cologne in support of the Turkish government.

Using heavy irony, Erdogan said, “Bravo! The courts in Germany work very fast!” More than 60,000 people have been sacked, dismissed or detained in Turkey over allegations of involvement in the coup attempt and their links to Gulen. Ankara is under fire for its heavy crackdown on elements believed to be behind the failed coup.

On Tuesday, Turkey issued arrest warrants for 100 staff, including doctors, at the main military hospital in the capital Ankara, with officials saying the move was part of an investigation into the coup

Presstv

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says from now on all military commanders will report directly to the country’s defense minister and that all military academies will be closed. During an interview with the Turkish broadcaster A Haber on Saturday, Erdogan said that the new measures were aimed at bringing the military under full civilian control. He added that the military academies would be replaced with a national defense university.

“We are going to introduce a small constitutional package (to parliament) which, if approved, will bring the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and chief of staff under the control of the presidency,” he said. Erdogan also announced cuts in the size of the country’s gendarmerie security forces along with upgrades to their weaponry. He also noted that his lawyers had started work on withdrawing lawsuits against persons who had insulted him.

The Turkish president has filed hundreds of court cases against critics, including many journalists, for insulting him since he took office in August 2014. On Friday, he had announced that in the spirit of “unity” following the coup he would revoke the said lawsuits. Earlier, Turkish authorities announced the release of over 750 soldiers who were detained following the failed coup, noting that 231 soldiers still remain in custody.

Presstv

At least 16 people have been killed after a large hot air balloon caught fire and crashed into a field in the US state of Texas. The accident happened early Saturday morning near Lockhart, south of Austin, after a blaze broke out in the basket section of the balloon, according to Aviation officials.

“It does not appear at this time that there were any survivors,” the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators have been sent to the scene to determine the number of victims and their identities. “When the Emergency Responders and the Sheriff’s Office arrived it was apparent that the reported fire was the basket portion of a hot air balloon,” said the statement.

A photo was posted on social media reportedly showing the the balloon in the air with huge flames spurting underneath. Texas Governor Greg Abbott expressed condolences to those affected by the crash and promised an investigation into the “heartbreaking tragedy.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, as well as the Lockhart community,” he said in a statement. The incident is probably the second-deadliest balloon accident in history. The first hot air balloon crash occurred in Luxor, Egypt in 2013. The balloon caught fire when it was attempting to land. The accident killed 19 of the 21 passengers on board the balloon.

Presstv

A number of militants operating in the eastern areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo have laid down their weapons and surrendered themselves to government troops, who are making more gains in the embattled province. The capitulation took place in Aleppo’s Salaheddine neighborhood on Saturday, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported.

The report further noted that tens of families went out through the corridors set up by army forces for the safe departure of the civilians trapped by terrorist groups in Aleppo’s eastern districts. The families were sent by the Syrian army to makeshift centers upon their arrival to the Salaheddine neighborhood, the report added.

Earlier this week, the Syrian army sent text messages to residents and terrorists in eastern Aleppo, saying it will grant safe passage to people wishing to leave the area. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also vowed amnesty for those who turn in their weapons, stressing that the policy has been exercised by Damascus since the beginning of the crisis in the Middle Eastern country.

Meanwhile, Russia announced several corridors for civilians and surrendering militants to leave Aleppo’s eastern parts.Aleppo Province also completed arrangements to receive the citizens fleeing militant-held eastern Aleppo and house them in well-equipped temporary accommodation centers.

Presstv

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree merging the Crimean Peninsula, which separated from Ukraine and rejoined Russia two years ago, into the mainland’s southern region. “Reorganize the Southern Federal District and the Crimean Federal District into the Southern Federal District,” read the decree published on the Kremlin’s website on Thursday. The Russian leader also appointed Vladimir Vasilyavich Ustinov as the presidential commissioner to the Southern Federal District in the decree.

Putin further submitted corresponding legislation amendments to the State Duma. The decree angered Ukraine, with its UN Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko rejecting the order as “null and void as any other decision taken by Crimea so far.” He asked the UN Security Council to issue a statement in response to Putin’s decree.

The ambassador circulated a draft statement calling on the 15-member council, to express its “deep concern” over Putin’s decision and to assert its “full respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” Yelchenko however said he expected Russia, one of the five countries with veto power on the council, to block the statement. Diplomatic sources have already confirmed that it was rejected by Moscow.

Presstv