Middle East

Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Haidar Mansour Hadi claims that the final liberation of Iraq's Mosul from Daesh terrorists will take less than two months.

Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Haidar Mansour Hadi said that Baghdad rejects the referendum in Kurdistan.

A military source said that Lebanese military intelligence units have detained a Daesh senior member.

The press service of Iraq's Shia militia reported that several foreign militants of Daesh terrorist group were killed as the Iraqi army and supporting militias continues their offensive to retake Daesh-held Tal Afar.

A source told Sputnik that clashes between different Palestinian factions in the Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon left two people killed and eight more injured.

It was revealed Monday that Turkey and Iran are considering joining forces against Kurdish groups the governments of both countries oppose. They’ve also agreed that Syrian government authority must be restored in areas of that country with mostly Kurdish populations.

The liberation of the Iraqi city of Tal Afar from Daesh will clear the way to the Syrian border and will be the group's final and decisive military defeat, the commander of the northern front of the Iraqi Shiite People's Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd Shaabi) told Sputnik.

The Lebanese Army has launched the ‘Fajr al-Joroud’ (Dawn of the Outskirts) offensive to drive Daesh militants out of the Lebanese-Syrian border region.

In an interview with Sputnik, political expert Mazhar al-Saadi, explained why the operation to liberate the last major Daesh stronghold in Nineveh province, Tal Afar, is so important and what results it may bring. The Iraqi Army and militia, backed by the US-led coalition, began the operation on August 20.

Iraqi Air Force planes have dropped leaflets containing calls to surrender over a number of settlements controlled by Daesh amid a new operation to retake the terrorist group's stronghold of Tal Afar.

A speaker of the Syrian Parliament, Najdat Anzour, in an interview with Sputnik said that the victory in the war on terrorism is very close, as the militants are suffering huge losses. The country is reforming its political system as it prepares for the return of peace.

The Russian military said Monday that the UN and the International Committee of Red Cross have sent 14 humanitarian aid convoys to Syria's safe zones since July.

The commander of a detachment which is part of Iraq's Shiite militia (Hashd Shaabi), Mukhtar Baba, told Sputnik he expected that the center of the city of Tal Afar would be stormed on Tuesday morning.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called on the Muslims of the world to show solidarity in issues related to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

Lebanon is interested in maintaining ties with Syria, Lebanese Industry Minister Husein al Haj Hasan said in an interview with Sputnik Arabic. However, there are forces among Lebanese political elites who do not share this point of view and seek to escalate tensions between the countries.

A total of 35 Daesh jihadists were killed in the clashes in the Daesh-occupied Syrian city of Raqqa with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Kurdish media reported Monday.

About 30,000 Afghans are fighting foreign wars in Iraq and Syria according to former Afghani Prime Minister and leader of the Islamic Party, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The Iraqi army and supporting militias have seized control over the road between Mosul and Daesh-held (outlawed in numerous countries) Tal Afar during operations against the terrorist group, Iraqi militias said in a statement on Monday.

Commenting on recent developments on the Syrian battleground, analyst Stanislav Tarasov told Radio Sputnik that the counterterrorist tactic in Syria is currently changing, which will soon lead to the complete defeat of Daesh.

Another Daesh's encirclement has been created in Syria to the east of the village of Ithriya, the chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff, Col. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy, said Monday.