NATO weighs coop with Afghanistan
AP, Brussels
NATO defense ministers on Thursday weighed the future of the alliance’s operation in Afghanistan and debated how best to use its military presence to support political talks aimed at ending the conflict.
Frustrated with America’s longest war, U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to pull out troops, raising doubts about NATO’s Afghan troop training operation in the strife-torn country. Around 14,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, just over half with NATO and the rest doing counter-terror and combat operations.
Turkey detains 52 Syrians over IS links
AP, Ankara
Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have detained 52 Syrian nationals over their suspected links to the Islamic State group.
Anadolu Agency says the suspects were detained Thursday in the town of Osmangazi, in northwestern Bursa province.
The private DHA agency said police conducted simultaneous dawn raids at five separate locations to apprehend them.
Russia, Turkey, Iran to hold Syria summit
AFP, Sochi (Russia)
Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to host his Iranian and Turkish counterparts Thursday to discuss how to resolve the conflict in Syria as Islamic State jihadists made a last stand in the east of the country and Washington prepares to withdraw troops.
A flurry of diplomatic efforts this week are focusing on the eight-year conflict in which more than 350,000 people have died.
Saudi Crown Prince to visit Indonesia
AFP, Jakarta
Indonesia will host Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a state visit next week, Jakarta said Thursday, part of an Asian tour that includes stops in Pakistan, India and Malaysia.
His two-day visit to the world’s biggest Muslim majority country kicks off Monday, the prince’s second official visit to the archipelago, but Jakarta supplied few details about his itinerary.
