Middle East & North Africa

KOBANI /Syria/, October 27. /TASS/: A unit of the Russian military police has arrived in the Syrian town of Kobani to patrol the territory in cooperation with Turkey, Russian military police officer Mikhail Elsukov told reporters on Sunday.

"A military police unit has arrived here to implement the fifth point of the memorandum and coordinate joint patrolling with the Turkish military, and to ensure control of posts and maintain peace and calm on this territory," he informed.

27 October 2019; AFP: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed warned Saturday of further instability and vowed to bring to justice those responsible for violence that left at least 67 people dead this week.

"The crisis we have faced will become even more fearsome and difficult if Ethiopians don't unite and stand as one," Abiy said in a statement issued by his office, his first remarks since the violence broke out.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The bodies of three men and three women were found at the scene of an attack targeting Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose body was taken away by attacking U.S. forces, a commander with a jihadist group in the area said.

The commander said a second body, believed to be that Baghdadi’s deputy, was also removed by the attacking forces in the northwestern Idlib region of Syria.

(This story corrects to show commander saying purported body of Baghdadi not found with others but believed to be taken away by attacking forces)

ISTANBUL, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's plan to resettle Syrians on recently-captured territory in Syria does not look feasible, analysts argued, as Ankara hopes to involve the United Nations for collection of funds for the project amid failure to find donors so far.

Ankara is planning to send back 1 million to 2 million Syrian refugees being sheltered on Turkish soil to a so-called safe zone being established on land seized by the Turkish military from the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in northern Syria around mid-month.

ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified gunmen early on Sunday blew up a pipeline for transporting crude oil to an exporting port in Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa, a government official told Xinhua.

The explosion, which occurred for the second time in less than a month, targeted the crude oil pipeline in Rawdah district in the east of Shabwa, the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

ANKARA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish soldier was killed and five others wounded in northern Syria in an attack by the Syrian Kurdish group, Turkey's Defense Ministry said Sunday.

The casualties of the Turkish army were "a result of the harassment attacks committed by PKK/YPG terrorists against our elements conducting reconnaissance-surveillance activities in Ras al-Ain, the area of Operation Peace Spring," the ministry said in a statement.

CAIRO, Oct 27 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt has accepted a US invitation for a meeting with Sudan and Ethiopia, over a Nile dam dispute, the foreign ministry said.

The meeting, to be held in Washington, would bring together foreign ministers from the three Nile basin countries, to try to break the stalemate in talks, on Ethiopia’s giant hydro-power dam.

Egypt’s foreign ministry, said that, Cairo had “immediately accepted” the invitation from Washington, without specifying when the meeting would take place.

TEHRAN, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the Spokesman of Yemen's Houthi movement Mohammad Abdul-Salam met in Tehran on Saturday.

Both sides held talks on a range of issues, including the latest efforts to end conflicts between Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi movement.

Zarif expressed "deep sorrow" over the suffering of the Yemeni people and the blockade on the country during the talks.

He further urged an immediate strike on Yemen and removal of the siege on the country by the Saudi-led coalition.

RABAT, Morocco, Oct 27 (NNN-MAP) – Moroccan police arrested an Israeli citizen for Moroccan identity forgery, at Casablanca airport, local press reported, on Saturday.

According to the news website, barlamane, the Israeli, named Miny Nahmani, arrived from Istanbul.

The criminal police suspected that she is linked to a criminal network, involved in the falsification of Moroccan identities and passports.

27 Oct 2019; MEMO: The Directorate General of Migration Management said Friday the claim of Syrians being deported to Syria unlawfully did not reflect the truth and voluntary returns were provided in accordance with international law, Anadolu reports.

“As of October 17, 2019, there are approximately 4 million asylum seekers in Turkey,” the agency said in a statement. “Of these, 3 million 674 thousand 588 are Syrians under temporary protection.”