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A bus carrying members of the Daesh group leaves the Qara area in Syria's Qalamoun region on August 28, 2017 as the terrorists are transported to Deir Ezzor as part of an unprecedented deal to end three years of their presence. (Photo by AFP)

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 09:00 GMT to 17:00 GMT, August 29, 2017.

Daesh Terrorists Dislodged

A convoy of Daesh terrorists has reached an exchange point in eastern Syria under a truce deal with the army and Hezbollah movement. The convoy of buses, carrying Daesh members and their families, left the Lebanon-Syria border region of Qalamoun. Earlier, the leader of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has announced the end of the operation to force the terrorists out of the region. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the movement and the Syrian army lost eleven fighters and seven soldiers respectively during their battle against Daesh.

Rohingya Muslims Misery

The UN secretary-general has expressed concerns over reports of mass killing of fleeing Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s troops. Antonio Guterres has demanded Myanmar’s neighbor, Bangladesh, to allow the fleeing Rohingya to seek safety there. Guterres also called for humanitarian agencies to be granted free access to the affected communities. The statement comes as thousands of Rohingya are fleeing Myanmar’s Rakhine state as government troops intensify a crackdown on the country’s Muslim minority. An estimated five-thousand people have so far crossed the border into Bangladesh over the past few days.

Hajj Pilgrimage

Muslims from all over the world have converged on the holy city of Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The religious event is set to begin on Wednesday. About two-million pilgrims are in Mecca to perform the pilgrimage. Tens of thousands of Iranians have also flocked to Islam’s holiest site for the event. Hajj is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, which every Muslim is required to complete at least once in a lifetime if they have the means to do so.

Access Denied

Iran dismisses as a dream a call by the US for the inspection of its military sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Government Spokesman, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, made the comment in reaction to the call by US Envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley. Nobakht said the details of Iran’s military sites are confidential. He said the demand by the US is not worthy of attention. He stressed that Iran accepts nothing outside its frameworks, saying Tehran will protect its national interests. Haley claimed, last week, that the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries allows inspection of the country’s military sites. Iran has rejected the claim, saying this is off-limits under the nuclear agreement.

US Drone Attack

Local Afghan officials say a US drone strike has killed at least 13 civilians in the country’s western province of Herat. 15 other people were wounded in the attack that happened in Shindand region. Authorities are investigating the deadly incident. The air raid comes as both the US and Afghan forces are carrying out attacks against the Taliban. The group has stepped up its militancy across Afghanistan in recent months. According to a UN report which was published last month, civilian deaths and injuries from airstrikes increased 43 percent in the first half of this year. The attacks have left 95 people dead and nearly 140 more wounded.

Plight of Rohingya Muslims

The Bangladeshi army has been reportedly returning the Rohingya to Myanmar while separating children from their parents. Dhaka has proposed joint military operations with Myanmar against armed men fighting in Rakhine state to stem the flow of refugees. Myanmar’s army launched an offensive against the Muslim minority following attacks on security posts which left a dozen troops dead.

‘No Alternative to JCPOA’

French president Emmanuel Macron has thrown his full weight behind the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries, saying there is no alternative to the agreement. Macron, who was making a major foreign policy speech, added that the 2015 deal was a good one because it allowed Western countries to establish a constructive and demanding dialog with the Islamic Republic. Macron’s comments come amid reports that President Donald Trump has put pressure on the US intelligence community to produce a justification to sabotage the Iran nuclear deal. American officials say a faction within the US administration is trying to cook books and lay the grounds for Washington to get out of the accord. Trump is simultaneously coercing the International Atomic Energy Agency to go beyond the agreed inspection regimes.

Korean Peninsula Tensions

North Korea has defended its missile program, accusing Washington of stoking tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The North’s ambassador to the UN, Han Tae-song, added that the US is driving the Korean peninsula toward an extreme level of explosion by deploying huge strategic assets and conducting war games in the region. He made the remarks after North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile, which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific waters, off Hokkaido Island.


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