Dmitry Kiselyov:
A scandal is brewing in the UN Security Council.
Russia has vetoed the US initiative to automatically extend the mission in Syria of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the so-called Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM). Russia believes all these structures are ineffective and are only serving US political interests, which is unacceptable.
In turn, the Russia-China-Bolivia joint draft UN Security Council resolution on the issue has been blocked by the United States, Britain, France, Ukraine and several non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. That's it, nothing good.
Though, China and Russia didn't allow anything bad to happen, either.
Meanwhile, in Syria, the war with terrorists of the pseudo-Caliphate is nearing completion. The elimination of their last stronghold in Abu Kamal is going successfully. Our correspondent Evgeny Poddubny is reporting from Syria.
The Syrian military completed the liquidation of ISIS groups which remained in the city after the main forces of the pseudo-Caliphate had been destroyed by the government forces. The so-called clearing operation lasted for more than a week, facing local resistance by scattered groups of terrorists.
They attacked units of government forces usually at night or early in the morning, using suicide bombers in cars loaded with explosives, hand grenade launchers and small arms were also used.
Abu Kamal is the last major settlement that was controlled by the Islamic State, now it has been liberated. But the offensive of the Syrian army continues. The troops are fighting to the north of the city.
You're hearing trenchant rocket artillery of government forces. It's attacking the positions of the Islamic State militants near the river to liberate the territory between the cities of Mayadin and Abu Kamal within the next few days.
Houses and streets are mined in Abu Kamal. Before the retreat, the militants planted improvised explosive devices of directional action. During the so-called clearing, engineering units could not work to demine the territory of the city. In the coming days, Syrian EOD specialists will begin to search for and destroy landmines and bombs left by the ISIS terrorists. As a result of the hostilities in the city, communications have been destroyed, there is no electricity and water.
Almost all civilians left Abu Kamal a few weeks ago, before hostilities broke out. The militants are retreating, trying to get on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, where the pro-American units of the so-called armed opposition are located. Detachments of militants led by the officers of US special operations units don't attack the radicals of the pseudo-Caliphate, but let terrorists through their combat units. They give them an opportunity to regroup. There were no reported instances of clashes between the pro-American SDF units and the ISIS militants on the eastern bank of the river.
Moreover, the so-called Islamic State leaders are known to be planning a counterattack to recapture a number of settlements on the western bank of the Euphrates. To this end, they try to capitalize on weather conditions. There’s a dust storm near Abu Kamal now, the visibility is no more than 50 meters.
Evgeny Poddubny, Ruben Mirobov, and Stanislav Yelovsky for Vesti — News of the Week from Abu Kamal, Syria.
