Russia calls for 'maximum security' for journalists

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - States must exert maximum effort to guarantee the security for the journalists, a Russian official said Wednesday in wake of Israeli shelling of Anadolu Agency’s Gaza office in Palestine.

"All the states have obligations to ensure the safety of journalists, and each state must do its maximum to implement these obligations," Russian Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Anadolu Agency.

Also addressing the recent situation in Syria, Zakharova said 30 Syrian servicemen were killed in northwestern Idlib province last week in a series of terrorist attacks, organized by the militants of the Al-Nusra Front.

According to Zakharova, Idlib and the east of the Euphrates face the most challenging situations in Syria.

In Idlib, the militants continue heavy shelling of the neighbor territories, she said, adding they also gather forces in Hama and Aleppo provinces aiming to launch an offensive against the Syrian army.

Arab population protest against local Kurdish administrations east of the Euphrates, Zakharova stated.

"Hundreds of people took to the streets in a protest of worsening security conditions and sharp growth of food prices. During the dispersal of the demonstrators, three people were killed and several others injured.”

Zakharova also said two Syrians, Ahmad Hamiz and Zeydan Tabi were released from the Israeli prisons with intermediacy of Moscow as an "important humanitarian gesture".

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.