Russia calls for 'maximum security' for journalists

By Elena Teslova</p> <p>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.</p> <p>&quot;All the states have obligations to ensure the safety of journalists, and each state must do its maximum to implement these obligations,&quot; Russian Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Anadolu Agency.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>According to Zakharova, Idlib and the east of the Euphrates face the most challenging situations in Syria.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Arab population protest against local Kurdish administrations east of the Euphrates, Zakharova stated.</p> <p>&quot;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.”</p> <p>Zakharova also said two Syrians, Ahmad Hamiz and Zeydan Tabi were released from the Israeli prisons with intermediacy of Moscow as an &quot;important humanitarian gesture&quot;.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.