– Air strikes hit Damascus day after 45 were killed
– Russia says Riyadh talks do not speak for entire Syrian opposition; Kerry to Moscow on Tuesday 
– ISIS-claimed attack kills 16 in Syria’s Homs
– Russian destroyer wards off Turkish fishing ship in Aegean
– Turkish police, protesters clash in southeast as new curfews declared 
– Turkey withdraws some troops from camp in Iraq 
– Suicide bomber kills six on Iraq-Saudi border; oil official killed in Kirkuk

Air strikes hit Damascus day after 45 were killed
The Syrian government struck a suburb of the capital, Damascus, on Monday, the day after air strikes in the area killed at least 45 people, activists said. Sunday’s barrage saw government air strikes and bombardment of several opposition-held eastern Damascus suburbs, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Visiting UN Humanitarian Chief Stephen O’Brien said the humanitarian situation in Syria is “a blot on our collective conscience,” and that he was “deeply saddened” by the uptick in violence Sunday. O’Brien called the attacks a “tragic reminder of the urgency of finding a political solution and securing a nationwide ceasefire.” There was no immediate word on casualties from Monday’s attacks, which targeted the southwestern suburb of Daraya. [AP , 12/14/2015]

Russia says Riyadh talks do not speak for entire Syrian opposition; Kerry to Moscow on Tuesday
A meeting of Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh Thursday did not represent all opposition groups from the country, Russia’s foreign ministry said Saturday. “We cannot accept the attempt by the group which met in Riyadh to assign itself the right to speak on behalf of the entire Syrian opposition,” the ministry said in a statement. The talks between Syrian opposition groups in Saudi Arabia this week called for an all-inclusive, democratic Syria and said Moscow’s regional ally President Bashar al-Assad should leave power at the start of a transitional period. Amidst continued disagreements, US Secretary of State John Kerry will head to Moscow on Tuesday to keep the Syrian peace process on track at the invitation of the Russian foreign ministry. [Reuters , 12/14/2015]

ISIS-claimed attack kills 16 in Syria’s Homs
A car bomb exploded near a hospital in the central Syrian city of Homs Saturday, killing 16 people and wounding dozens in an attack claimed by ISIS, Provincial Governor Talal al-Barazi and an activist group said. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement and said it consisted of a car bombing and a suicide bomber. Barazi said the blast near the al-Ahli hospital, in the al-Zahraa neighborhood where most residents belong to the same Alawite sect as President Bashar al-Assad, killed 16 people. Another 54 were wounded, some seriously, and were being treated at hospitals throughout the city. [ Reuters, 12/12/2015]

Russian destroyer wards off Turkish fishing ship in Aegean
A Russian destroyer used small arms fire on Sunday to ward off a Turkish fishing ship and prevent a collision in the Aegean Sea, the defense ministry said, calling the actions of Turkey’s vessel “provocative.” The guided missile destroyer Smetlivy was unable to establish radio contact with the approaching Turkish seiner, which also failed to respond to visual signals and flares, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry summoned the Turkish defense attache in Moscow over what it described as the “provocative actions” of the Turkish ship. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would get the Turkish fishing ship’s side of the story before making an announcement on the issue, but added that Turkey does not favor an escalation of tensions. [AP, 12/14/2015]

Turkish police, protesters clash in southeast as new curfews declared
Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse a protest against a security crackdown in the main southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Monday, while curfews were declared elsewhere in the region. The latest clashes began as hundreds gathered for a march called by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party to demonstrate against a nearly two-week-long curfew in the city’s historic district of Sur. In Sirnak province, the governor imposed a curfew in two towns near the borders of both Syria and Iraq from Monday night. “A curfew is declared to neutralize separatist terror group members, remove explosives-laden barricades and ditches…and secure public order,” the Sirnak governor’s office said in a statement. According to data compiled by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, 52 curfews have been imposed since mid-August across seven Turkish provinces in the region, affecting areas where some 1.3 million people live. [Reuters, 12/14/2015]

Turkey withdraws some troops from camp in Iraq
On Monday, Turkey withdrew some of its soldiers from a camp in Iraq, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced, days after Iraq demanded that Turkish troops immediately leave Iraqi territory. Davutoglu said “a group of soldiers” were pulled out due to “military necessity.” Atheel al-Nujaifi, former Mosul governor who established the Sunni militia camp where Turkish trainers and troops were stationed, confirmed that Turkey pulled out some troops. “They withdrew Turkish soldiers as well as some tanks. Not all of them but some, I can’t say exactly how many,” he said, adding that “Turkish trainers are still in the camp providing training.” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Iraq in a national address Friday night, insisting that no foreign forces are needed to fight ISIS in the country. Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alkhakim also complained to the UN Security Council about the presence of Turkish troops. [ AP, 12/14/2015]

Suicide bomber kills six on Iraq-Saudi border; oil official killed in Kirkuk
A suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi position on the border with Saudi Arabia on Saturday, killing six guards, including a commander, officials said. The attack by the bomber, who detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at the headquarters of the Hafr Zawiyah border post in Iraq’s vast Anbar province, also wounded fourteen guards. An army lieutenant colonel said the bomber was dressed in a military uniform with captain’s insignia and was driving an explosives-rigged military vehicle. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. In a separate incident on Monday, gunmen shot dead a senior employee of Iraq’s state-run North Oil Company (NOC), the third company official to be killed in the past four months. NOC Deputy Inspector-General Hassan Salim and three other employees were driving to their office in the northern oil city of Kirkuk when assailants in a speeding car sprayed their minibus with bullets. [ AFP, 12/12/2015]

Russia says Riyadh talks do not speak for entire Syrian opposition; Kerry to Moscow on Tuesday