There have also been reports of a deadly friendly fire incident in Iraq:
U.S. Air Strike Likely Killed Iraqi Soldiers In First Friendly Fire Incident
An air strike by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) may have inadvertently killed as many as 10 Iraqi soldiers, in the first "friendly fire" incident in the war on the extremist group.
The incident on December 18 described by the U.S. military appears to be the same one that Iraq's joint operations command said left 10 Iraqi soldiers killed or wounded south of Fallujah in western Iraq.
"Despite coordination with the Iraqi security forces on the ground, initial reports indicate the possibility one of the strikes resulted in the death of Iraqi soldiers," the Pentagon said, adding that it is investigating the matter.
"The coalition offers condolences on the unfortunate loss of life of brave Iraq security forces on the front lines in the fight against Daesh today," the Pentagon said, using the Arab acronym for the militant group.
The air strikes were conducted at the request of Iraqi security forces and using information they provided, the Pentagon said.
"To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous incidents of friendly fire in Iraq involving the coalition during the course of Operation Inherent Resolve," it said.
(AP, AFP, Reuters)
Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling this morning with some news stories that came in over night, starting with this one:
U.S. Says Air Strikes Killed Nearly 200 IS Militants In Major Iraq Battle
Nearly 200 Islamic State militants were killed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes during a major battle in northern Iraq this week, the U.S. military said on December 18.
U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the coalition in Baghdad, said about 500 militants carried out a major offensive against Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the northern province of Ninevah on December 16, and the coalition responded by dropping nearly 100 bombs on them.
"Air power alone killed nearly 200 of them, about 187 by last count," Warren told Pentagon reporters in a video call.
"So, a significant blow to this enemy. And then, of course, ground forces. We don't have a good count yet for how much damage the pesh were able to inflict on this enemy during the course of this fairly long battle. But we know it was significant," he said.
"This is the most significant attack that the enemy has been able to mount, really since Ramadi [was captured in May]. And, if this is all they've got, things are going to begin to get worse and worse for this enemy," Warren said.
(Reuters, AFP)
We are now closing the live blog for today. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the latest developments concerning Islamic State.
And here's our news desk's item on the Security Council passing the UN resolution on Syria:
UN Security Council Approves Resolution on Syrian Peace Process
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution drafted by the United States and Russia that endorses an international roadmap for a Syrian peace process.
A resolution's text was hammered out at a New York hotel during a December 18 meeting of 20 foreign ministers that was convened by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.
The resolution calls on the United Nations to bring together representatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and moderate opposition groups that have been fighting Assad's regime for nearly five years.
It suggests the peace talks could start as soon as January.
It makes no mention of Assad's future -- with Russia and the West remaining divided in talks of a political transition about the fate of the Syrian president.
Moscow and Iran support Assad, while key backers of the Syrian opposition -- including the United States, European nations, and Saudi Arabia -- insist he must leave power.
Shortly before the UN Security Council vote on December 18, President Barack Obama reiterated Washington’s position that as long as Assad is president, Syria cannot be stable.
Speaking at his end-of-the-year press conference in Washington, Obama said there must be a conclusion to the civil war in Syria so that Islamic State militants don’t have a safe haven.
The drafting by Russia and the United States of the UN Security Council resolution follows a December 15 visit to Moscow by Kerry in which he met with Lavrov and with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kerry said after those talks with Putin that the United States is ready to work with Russia to destroy the Islamic State group.
He said he and Putin reached "common ground" on which Syrian opposition groups would be invited to participate in the Syrian peace talks in New York.
Kerry said neither IS militants nor the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front would be involved.
Kerry also said he and Putin discussed an exchange of information on the location of antiterrorist operations in Syria.
With reporting by Carl Schreck in Washington, AP, Reuters, AFP, and The New York Times
They've passed the Syrian resolution, but they're still talking about it if you fancy watching the live stream:
This came out before the draft UN resolution was approved by the Security Council, but it's probably still relevant:
Here's an item from our news desk about a big development concerning Syria on the sidelines of the UN in New York:
World Powers Agree Upon Draft UN Resolution On Syria
A draft UN resolution to be presented to the Security Council that calls for Syrian peace talks to begin in early January has been agreed upon by some 20 foreign ministers who've met in New York.
The draft text, to be voted upon by the UN Security Council later on December 18, was hammered out at a meeting convened by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.
It calls on the United Nations to bring together representatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and moderate opposition groups that have been fighting Assad's regime for nearly five years.
Russia and the West have remained divided over a central issue in discussions of a political transition: the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Moscow and Iran support Assad, while key backers of the Syrian opposition -- including the United States, European nations, and Saudi Arabia -- insist he must leave power.
President Barack Obama on December 18 reiterated Washington's position that as long as Assad is president, Syria cannot be stable.
Speaking in his end-of-the-year press conference in Washington, Obama said there must be an end to the civil war in Syria so that Islamic State militants don't have a safe haven there.
The drafting of the final language in the UN Security Council resolution follows a December 15 visit to Moscow by Kerry in which he met with Lavrov and with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kerry said after those talks with Putin that the United States is ready to work with Russia to destroy the Islamic State group.
He said he and Putin reached "common ground" on which Syrian opposition groups would be invited to participate in the Syrian peace talks in New York.
Kerry said neither IS militants nor the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front would be involved.
Kerry also said he and Putin discussed an exchange of information on the location of antiterrorist operations in Syria.
The Reuters news agency cited unnamed diplomats as saying earlier this week that Russia had indicated it may support Assad's eventual exit at the end of a transition period.