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So they say… kind of. According to state-run TASS, Sergei Lavrov met with new Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi during the UN General Assembly currently taking place in New York, and pledged to support them against ISIS: Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed Russia is ready to support Iraq in its efforts to fight the terrorist threat, first of all the one from the Islamic State (IS). Lavrov had meeting with Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday. …“During the meeting, Lavrov confirmed Russia’s support for Iraq’s independence, territory integrity and sovereignty,” the ministry said....

merican airstrikes against ISIS targets are under way in Syria, according to a Pentagon official. "I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIL [ISIS] terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said. "Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time. The decision to conduct theses strikes was made earlier today by the U.S. Central Command commander under authorization granted him by the commander in chief. We will...

BAGHDAD: France carried out its first air strike against the Islamic State group in Iraq on Friday, boosting US-led efforts to unite the world against the growing threat posed by the Jihadists. More than a decade after Paris famously refused to back the invasion of Iraq, France became the first nation to join the US campaign of air strikes in the war-torn country. “This morning at 9:40, our Rafale planes carried out a first strike against a logistics depot of the terrorist organisation (IS),” President Francois Hollande said. His office said the target was in northeastern Iraq, without specifying exactly...

The UN Security Council on Wednesday demanded the release of 45 Fijian peacekeepers held in the Golan Heights by Syrian Al-Nusra Front terrorists, according to AFP. The 15 members of the council unanimously approved a declaration condemning "in the strongest terms" the detention of the Fijians. They were captured almost a week ago, when the rebels stormed a Golan Heights crossing. The council "reiterated their call for the peacekeepers' immediate and unconditional release," adding in its statement that "there can never be any justification for attacks on or the detention of UN peacekeepers." The government of Fiji also has called...

A 26-year-old commando has become the 20th Dutch soldier to die in Afghanistan since the Dutch mission began in 2006. Corporal Keven van der Rijdt was killed in a gun battle with suspected Taliban fighters. A number of them were also killed, the defence ministry said. Van der Rijdt is the first member of the elite commando corps to be killed in Afghanistan.

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that German troops would stay in Afghanistan until their goals were achieved, dismissing the possibility of setting a timeline for withdrawal. In an interview with ZDF television being aired Sunday night, provided in advance to the AP, Merkel said she could not commit to bringing the troops home in a specific timeframe. She said she wanted them home “as soon as possible” but not until the mission was complete. “We have a goal, and that is self-sustaining security for Afghanistan,” she said. She would not speculate on when that goal might be reached....

AFTER two days of intense preparation in searing 45-degree desert heat, Australia's newest band of brothers went to war under the command of 22-year-old Lieutenant Todd O'Callaghan. The troops from the Townsville-based 1st Battalion's Pioneer Platoon will face the most intense enemy threat of the seven-year campaign just 10 days out from crucial national elections. The Taliban launched four roadside bomb attacks against Diggers from the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force in Oruzgan Province over just 24 hours, wounding two men and damaging two armoured vehicles. The threat from the insidious weapons, known as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), has featured...

U.S. officials believe Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a CIA drone attack last week, President Obama’s national security adviser said Sunday. “We think so,” Gen. James Jones told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding, “We put it in the 90 percent category.” Government officials in Pakistan said Friday they were still waiting for results of DNA analysis to ensure that the man killed Wednesday in an unmanned aerial vehicle strike is indeed Mehsud. Taliban officials have denied the death of the man targeted at the home of Mehsud’s father-in-law. If Mehsud was killed, Jones said it’s an important...

Several hundred Bundeswehr soldiers, backed by heavy “Marder” tanks and fighter jets, are currently helping about 1,200 Afghan National Army forces conduct major anti-terrorist operations near the Taliban stronghold of Chahar Dara, southwest of the city of Kunduz, where the bulk of Germany’s roughly 4,000 troops are stationed. The fighting--which started on Sunday and involves looking for Taliban / Al Qaeda fighters “village by village and house by house”--is expected to go on until at least next week. The Bundeswehr soldiers are part of the German-led NATO Quick Reaction Force (QRF), which provides force protection and serves as emergency back-up...

CBS) U.S. forces are about to get some much-needed help as they fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, reports CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan in an exclusive report. The Colombian commandos are U.S. trained and battle-tested from having defeated terrorists in their own country. Ten years ago, they didn't even exist. Today, elite Colombian Special Operations troops are preparing to fight alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan, reports CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan.

Swedish military forces were involved in a battle in Aqchah in northern Afghanistan on Thursday night. No Swedish soldiers have been reported injured. The battle began around 6.30pm on Thursday night when opposition groups ambushed the Swedish troops. The Swedes were in armoured wheeled vehicles and later received reinforcements from several soldiers in a Combat Vehicle 90. “The firefights were intermittant during the evening and night,” Veronica Sandström, press officer for the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten), told the TT news agency. The Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reported Friday that three members of the attacking troops were killed and an additional...

Col. Ion Manci (right), senior national representative, Romania, presents the Honor Emblem of the Romanian Land Forces to Lt. Col. Brian Pierce, Forward Operating Base Delta garrison commander, during a ceremony at the Romanian contingent headquarters, June 16. Manci also presented the award to Maj. Jennifer Finch, 41st Fires Brigade military intelligence officer-in-charge. Photo by Sgt. Allison Churchill, Multi-National Division – South. FOB DELTA — The Romanian contingent here recently signaled the end of their Army's operations in Wasit province with a ceremony at their headquarters building. The ceremony gave both the Romanians and U.S. Soldiers the opportunity to show...

They have a beer ration of up to a litre a day, and wurst for dinner. Taleban or no Taleban, Germans take a little bit of home with them when they serve in trouble spots. Even their carefully sorted rubbish gets dumped in wheelie bins before being sent from Afghanistan to Germany for recycling. Now Germany’s most senior officer has berated his troops for going soft. “We cannot guarantee soldiers that they will have an all-round feel-good experience,” said General Wolfgang Schneiderhan. His outburst follows complaints made by German soldiers to the official ombudsman about their tours abroad. Some have...

MORE than $550 million will be spent during the next 12 months to better protect Australia's 1090 troops fighting in Afghanistan. The money will fund armoured vehicle improvements, protected living containers, more bomb disposal robots and boost spy plane flights targeting Taliban forces. The half-billion dollar taxpayer investment is by far the biggest chunk of a proposed financial "surge'' that will double annual military spending on Operation Slipper to $1.4 billion in 2009-2010. That is a massive $26,923,076 a week, or $3,835,616 for every day of operations. On a per head basis it amounts to $1,288,403 for every Australian soldier...

Queen Beatrix awarded a Dutch commando the country's highest military medal on Friday for his heroics leading an elite military unit in Afghanistan. Beatrix pinned the Willems Order cross and orange ribbon on Capt. Marco Kroon before slapping him on the left shoulder with her right hand to knight him at a ceremony in The Hague. It was the first time in more than 50 years that the medal has been awarded to an individual soldier. It also can be awarded to entire military units. Beatrix said Kroon showed "courage, discretion and dedication" in leading a commando unit in the...

The US ambassador to Georgia has made a statement regarding the involvement of the Georgian military contingent in the peace operation in Afghanistan. John Tefft said, the Georgian soldiers may deploy with the American, instead of the French soldiers. `There was the idea that the Georgian troops will deploy with the American troops in Afghanistan. It was discussed in the Defence Ministry in Washington, and I don`t still have a full report on this conversation`, the US ambassador said.

Britain cannot afford to send more troops to Afghanistan because of the mounting costs of dealing with the recession, military commanders have been told.

Europe praises Obama, pledges few Afghan troops STRASBOURG, France – European leaders enthusiastically praised President Barack Obama's new Afghan strategy at a NATO summit Saturday but held their ground on a central disagreement and offered only military trainers and extra security forces for upcoming elections. Violent anti-war protests that marred the alliance's 60th anniversary celebrations were a stark reminder that much of Europe has no appetite for the other, costlier half of Obama's Afghan equation: more combat troops. "I am pleased that our NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support for our new strategy," Obama said. "We'll need more...

France and Germany fully endorsed President Barack Obama's new Afghan war strategy but continued to firmly resist U.S. demands for more combat troops on Saturday in a rift that overshadowed symbols of unity at NATO's 60th-anniversary summit. Obama told NATO leaders the alliance should remain open to new members, another stance that is likely to meet resistance from his allies. Germany, France and many other NATO nations believe that any more eastward expansion will further damage ties Russia that the alliance is trying hard to mend. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and two dozen other NATO leaders walked across a bridge...

Yesterday, I wrote about the abject failure of Barack Obama to use his “smart power” to shake loose any new troop commitments for Afghanistan from our NATO partners. In fact, while Obama prostrated himself in Europe, apologizing for American arrogance in the past, our allies were so unimpressed that only the French offered any new assistance at all to match the 17,000 additional troops the US has already added. They’ve pledged 300 more troops — and will not allow them to fight. Today, a few more troop commitments have trickled in … and when I say trickled, that’s exactly what...