HOMS, Syria (AP) — The latest developments on the war in Syria. All times local.
3:06 p.m.
Syria’s state-run news agency says four people have been killed and 21 were wounded by rebel mortar shelling of residential areas in the city of Aleppo.
The city in northern Syria has been one of the central theaters of the country’s five-year-long civil war. Government forces supported by allied militias are mired in a devastating stalemate with an array of opposition factions, which include Islamic groups.
Indiscriminate mortar and bombing campaigns have killed thousands of civilians and driven hundreds of thousands more out.
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2:53 p.m.
In Syria, hundreds of civilians and rebels have completed their pullout from the last opposition-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs.
Homs governor Talal Barazzi tells The Associated Press that 272 gunmen and 447 civilians left the district of Waer on Wednesday, heading to opposition-held areas further north in the country.
The United Nations presided over implementation of the deal, which allowed those leaving Waer safe passage to the north.
A few thousand rebels had been holed up in Waer, which Syrian government forces had blockaded for nearly three years, only sporadically allowing in food.
Once the evacuation of the rebels is completed, the city of Homs will fully return to government control.
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1:25 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked Britain to send aviation experts to examine data from the black box belonging to the Russian warplane downed over the Turkish-Syria border last month.
The Su-24 on a bombing mission in Syria was shot down by Turkey on Nov. 24. Two Russian servicemen were killed.
The Kremlin said on its website Wednesday that Putin talked by phone with British Prime Minister David Cameron and invited the British experts.
Russian officials have vigorously rejected Turkey’s claim that its plane violated Turkish airspace and said data from the black box should prove them right.
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12:45 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he would like international experts to examine data from the black box belonging to the Russian warplane downed over the Turkish-Syria border last month.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday brought to the Kremlin the black box from the Russian Su-24 on a bombing mission in Syria which Turkey shot down on Nov. 24 for allegedly violating its airspace. Two Russian servicemen were killed. Putin asked Shoigu not to open the box until Russia invites international experts to examine them.
Russian officials have vigorously rejected Turkey’s claim that its plane violated Turkish airspace and said data from the black box should prove them right.
The downing of the warplane has brought Russia’s previously warm ties with Turkey to a post-Cold War low, with Russia imposing economic sanctions on Turkey.
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12:30 p.m.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Russia’s air force operation in Syria is not a burden on the country’s budget.
The Russian economy, which is forecast to decline 4 percent this year, is going through a difficult time because of Western economic sanctions coupled with low oil prices. Critics have accused the Kremlin of spending taxpayer money on the bombing operation against Islamic State militants in Syria while the budget is scheduled to run a 3 percent deficit next year.
Speaking Wednesday at a televised press conference in Moscow, Medvedev said by launching the air force operation on Sept. 30, the defense ministry did not go over its planned budget. He said the Russian military has not asked the government for further funds for the campaign.
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