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MOSCOW Russia, Syria and Iran strongly warned the United States Friday against launching new strikes on Syria and called for an international investigation of the chemical weapons attack there that killed nearly 90 people.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who hosted his Iranian and Syrian counterparts in Moscow, denounced the U.S. missile strikes on Syria as a flagrant violation of international law. Additional such actions would entail grave consequences not only for regional but global security, Lavrov said.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said the meeting sent a strong message to Washington. Irans Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized that the participants agreed that unilateral actions by the U.S. were unacceptable.

The U.S. accuses the Syrian government of deliberately launching the deadly chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4. Russia has alleged that the victims were killed by toxic agents from a rebel chemical arsenal hit by Syrian war planes.

Moscow has warned against putting the blame on Damascus until an independent inquiry is conducted and vetoed a proposed U.N. resolution on the attack, saying it failed to mention the need to inspect the affected area.

Lavrov on Friday expressed skepticism about a preliminary investigation conducted by the U.N.s chemical weapons watchdog. He alleged that its experts failed to visit the site and said it was unclear to Russia where evidence was taken and how it was

In Russias view, the probe conducted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons should be widened to include experts from many nations, he said.

If our U.S. colleagues and some European nations believe that their version is right, they have no reason to fear the creation of such an independent group, Lavrov added. The investigation into this high-profile incident must be transparent and leave no doubt that someone is trying to hide something.

Lavrov said the U.S. strike on the Syrian base has undermined peace efforts in Syria and reflected Washingtons focus on ousting Syrian President Bashar Assads government.

Such attempts wont succeed, he said.

The three ministers also discussed the beefing up of U.S. forces on Jordans border with Syria, Moallem said. He added that Russia, Iran and Syria have common procedures against any aggression, but wouldnt offer specifics.

Lavrov said Moscow has asked Washington about the purpose of the buildup and received assurances that the U.S. troops were deployed there to cut supply lines between the Islamic State group factions in Syria and Iraq.

We will keep monitoring the issue, since the only possible reason for using military force on the territory of Syria is to fight terrorism, Lavrov said.

Russia has staunchly backed Assads government throughout Syrias six-year civil war. It has conducted an air campaign in Syria since September 2015, saving Assads government from imminent collapse and helping to reverse the Syrian militarys fortunes.

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Russia, Iran and Syria strongly warn US against further military action - The Denver Post

Syrian children, wounded in a car bombing that targeted their buses in Rashideen, west of Aleppo, as they were being evacuated from al-Foua and Kefraya as part of a deal between the militants and the Syrian government receive treatment at a hospital in the government-held part of Aleppo on April 15, 2017.

Iran has condemned a deadly Takfiri bomb attack on buses carrying people from two Shia-majority villages in Syrias northwestern province of Idlib.

Iran'sForeign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi made the condemnation on Saturday while offering his condolences to the Syrian government and nation.

Earlier, at least 40 people were killed in the blast, which hit al-Rashideen district on the western outskirts ofAleppo, located some 355 kilometersnorth of the capital Damascus, as buses were stopping at a checkpoint.

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The buses were evacuating residents of Kefraya and al-Foua villages in accordance with an agreement reached between the Syrian government and foreign-sponsored Takfiri militant groups last month.

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The shameful criminal act by Takfiri terrorists in the cowardly attack on buses carrying the people of al-Foua and Kefraya in Syria and killing tens of innocent and defenseless women and children have added to the record of atrocities carried out by terrorists and their supporters, said Qassemi.

He went on to slam those who claim to be supporters of the Syrian nation but refrain from commenting on such actions.

Qassemi further stressed that dividing militants into good and bad by supporters of such groups only serves to embolden terrorists.

Evacuee buses arrive in Aleppo

Later on Saturday, the SANA news agency announced that the final series of buses taking people from the villages of al-Foua and Kefraya have arrived in Aleppo.

Some 15 buses transporting hundreds of civilians arrived in al-Ramousawhere they were put up in a fully stocked temporary housing center.

Before that, several ambulances transporting those injured in the earlier attacks arrived in the city.

A total of 75 buses and 20 ambulances had been scheduled to arrive in Aleppo on Friday, but infighting between the terrorists had halted the convoys departure.

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Iran condemns deadly Takfiri bombing of bus convoy in Syria's Aleppo - Press TV

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 15, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 12 strikes consisting of 55 engagements against ISIS targets yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterdays strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 10 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike damaged an ISIS fuel facility.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike damaged an ISIS fuel facility.

-- Near Raqqa, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three fighting positions and a weapons cache.

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building

-- Near Tabqa, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 46 engagements against ISIS targets, coordinated with and in support of Iraqs government:

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed two rocket-propelled grenade systems and two fighting positions, damaged four supply routes and a fighting position, and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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Officials Release Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq - Department of Defense

About eight months later, Army Spc. Erik W. Hayes would have been home.

Instead, Hayes, who grew up in Thurmont and Harney, was killed on Nov. 29, 2004, when an improvised explosive device exploded near his vehicle in Miqdadiyah, Iraq. He was 24.

On Saturday, friends, family and others gathered to honor him at the dedication of a sign on a bridge running over the Monocacy River on Md. 140, outside Emmitsburg.

After the ceremony, Daniel Hopson of Oklahoma, who served with Hayes in the Army in Iraq, remembered his friend as quiet and humble.

Erik was not a social butterfly, Hopson said.

But he was reliable and mature for his age, the kind of soldier who would volunteer to do something because it had to be done, he said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Hopson remembered sitting on the roof of an Iraqi police station with Hayes on the day he died.

Hopson asked where he would go on vacation if he could go anywhere in the world.

Hayes said he would go home and work several jobs to help take care of his brother, Bradley, who had been seriously injured in a car crash several years earlier.

The members of the platoon loved Hayes, Hopson said.

The love that all of us had for him, I cant even express it, he said.

Hayes graduated in 1998 from Living Word Academy in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania.

When he died, The News-Post reported that he had enlisted in the Army five days before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Timothy Grossman, who also served with Hayes, remembered his friends generosity, his easy way of speaking, and his wisdom that seemed far beyond his 24 years.

Grossman said he was grateful to see the crowd at the event.

We must do this for him, Grossman said.

About 100 people came to the State Highway Administration property near the bridge, which carries Md. 140 over the river between Emmitsburg and Taneytown in Carroll County.

After the ceremony, Hayes mother, Debora Reckley, said it meant a lot that so many people came out to honor her son, many years after he died.

Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner spoke at the ceremony, along with County Council President Bud Otis, Delegate William Folden, and several county commissioners from Carroll County. Councilman Kirby Delauter was the master of ceremonies.

Folden is an Army veteran and sponsored a bill, which was signed in 2015, that allows families to ask the states Department of Transportation to name structures after their loved ones.

It was the first bill he filed after arriving in Annapolis, Folden said, and was intended to help remember both people who have served and the families left behind.

This bill is about honoring them. Honor them every day, he told the crowd.

As the ceremony was wrapping up, officials unveiled the brown sign with white lettering that notes Hayes name, his service in Iraq, and the date of his death.

His father, Douglas Hayes, said Erik had spent almost four years in the Army, and had about eight months left on his tour when he was killed.

Hayes said the sign was a good way to honor his son.

That will be Eriks bridge now, he said.

Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP.

Excerpt from:
Thirteen years after Frederick County soldier's death in Iraq, a bridge bears his name - Frederick News Post (subscription)

Handicap International began its weapons clearance operations in Iraq in January 2017. Since the start of the year, the organization has destroyed more than 2,000 explosive remnants of war in areas affected by heavy fighting.

Outside Kirkuk, Iraq, Handicap International weapons clearance experts dressed in protective blue clothing inspect a field, under the curious gaze of locals. This area was heavily contaminated by bombing in 2003, says Nizar Abdul Karim, technical manager of Handicap Internationals weapons clearance operations in Iraq. We are dealing explosive remnants of war from more than a decade of fighting. There are still a lot of cluster bombs from the beginning of the Iraq War, for example.

Slightly further away, closer to a village, one of the Handicap International risk education teams is hard at work. Before 2014, more than 70 families lived in this village, but they had to flee, says Nizar. This area has seen heavy fighting and we are just a few miles from the front lines. Before people return to the area, our teams mark dangerous zones heavily contaminated with explosive remnants of war to help people avoid injury.

Wherever they operate, Handicap International tries to work as closely with local people. Youre doing very important work, a villager tells Nizar. Im glad youve put up these signs around the village so that people know that they cant farm this field or even approach it before you come to clear it of explosives.

One woman says: I returned to the village five or six months ago, with my family. When we arrived outside our house, we found a shell in the garden. Handicap Internationals teams came and destroyed it. Since then, I feel confident enough to let my children play outside again.

Handicap International has destroyed more than 2,000 explosive remnants of war in Iraq in just two months. But the road ahead is long: After several decades of conflict, Iraq is one of the most contaminated countries in the world.

PRESS CONTACTS

Mica Bevington +1 (240) 450-3531 +1 (202) 290-9264 mbevington@handicap-international.us

Michele Lunsford +1 (240) 450-3538 +1 (814) 386-3853 mlunsford@handicap-international.us

DONOR SERVICES

+1 (301) 891-2138 donorservices@handicap-international.us

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Iraq: More than 2000 Explosives Destroyed in Two Months - ReliefWeb