Middle East & North Africa

BAGHDAD, Sept 22 (NNN-NINA) – The United Nations (UN) Security Council voted unanimously on extending the mandate of a UN team, tasked with investigations in crimes committed by the Daesh group in Iraq.

A statement by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said, the Security Council voted to extend the mandate of UN’s Investigative Team for Accountability of Da’esh (UNITAD) for another year until Sept 21, 2020.

TEHRAN, Sept 22 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran on Saturday displayed the debris of recently downed U.S. and British drones by its air defence system.

In the showcase, called “Hunting Vultures,” Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) displayed the remaining pieces of a U.S. military drone downed by the country’s air defence system in June in its southern waters.

On June 21, Iran announced that it had downed a U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk “spy drone” which had violated Iranian airspace near the Strait of Hormuz.

RIYADH, Sept 22 (NNN-SPA) – With celebrations of Saudi Arabia’s 89th National Day in full swing this weekend, a series of spectacular shows were and will be launched in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to mark the event.

An entertainment show “Tariq Al Himma” will be held in the capital Riyadh, until tomorrow Sept 23, where the audience will embark on an artistic journey depicting the path that the kingdom is on and heading towards the future.

TRIPOLI, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The security department of the western Libyan city of Zuwaraon on Saturday announced the arrest of 28 illegal immigrants who prepared to cross the sea into Europe.

The immigrants, who are of African and Asian nationalities, were arrested inside a house in the nearby town of Abu-Kammash, said the department in a statement.

Some of the immigrants have infectious diseases, the statement said, adding that they have been taken to the department to undergo legal procedures before being handed over to competent authorities.

BAGHDAD, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), backed by the U.S.-led coalition aircraft, on Saturday carried out a large-scale operation in the central Salahudin province, killing three Islamic State (IS) militants and destroying several hideouts.

The CTS operation was conducted in the mountains of Makhoul and Khanouga and the areas between the towns of Baiji and al-Shirqat in the northern part of the province, Mohammed al-Bazi from the provincial police told Xinhua.

TRIPOLI, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- A total of 18 people were killed and dozens injured in violent clashes here on Saturday between Libya's UN-backed government forces and the east-based rebel army, according to military sources of both sides.

A military source of the government forces said that 11 of their troops were killed and dozens injured in the south of the capital.

"Seven of our troops were killed in the fighting axes of the airport road, Salah al-Din and Ain Zara (southern Tripoli), and dozens of others were wounded," a source of the east-based army told Xinhua that

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard is ready for combat and “any scenario,” its chief commander said Saturday, as the country’s nuclear deal with world powers collapses and the U.S. alleged Iran was behind a weekend attack on major oil sites in Saudi Arabia that shook global energy markets.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president says his country should lead regional security in the strategic Persian Gulf.

Hassan Rouhani said Sunday Iran extends its “hand of friendship and brotherhood” toward cooperating with regional nations.

Rouhani also said the presence of foreign forces in the Gulf could cause problems for the world’s “energy security.”

The U.S. is sending more troops to the Gulf and leading a maritime coalition, which includes the U.K., Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab nations, to secure the area’s waterways and vital oil trade routes.

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco has emerged from attacks on its oil facilities “stronger than ever”, Chief Executive Amin Nasser told employees in a message, adding that full oil production would resume by the end of this month.

The Sept. 14 attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants, some of the kingdom’s biggest, caused raging fires and significant damage that halved the crude output of the world’s top oil exporter, by shutting down 5.7 million barrels per day of production.

21 Sep 2019; MEMO: On Thursday evening, the Russian Air Force destroyed an Israeli drone in the airspace of the Syrian capital of Damascus, Israeli website Hadashot 12 reported, through information gained from Russian sources.

According to the source, the drone was on its way to carry out an attack on a target in Damascus.