Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Jan. 20

ANKARA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started.

"The Afrin operation has actively begun on the field. The Manbij operation will follow," he said during a televised speech in the Aegean province of Kutahya. (Turkey-Syria-Military Operation)

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DAMASCUS -- The Syrian army fully captured the strategic Abu al-Duhur air base in the northwestern province of Idlib Saturday, a military source told Xinhua.

The capture of Abu al-Duhur was achieved after intense battles with the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee (LLC), otherwise known as the Nusra Front, said the source on condition of anonymity. (Syria-Idlib)

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BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Saturday met with the Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani for the first time since the Kurds' controversial independence referendum last year, Iraqi government and Kurdish media said.

A statement by Abadi's office said that the prime minister "received a delegation from the Kurdistan region headed by Nechirvan Barzani accompanied by his deputy Qubad Talabani and Fuad Hussein." (Iraq-Kurdish)

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CAIRO -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday arrived in Cairo, the first destination of his Middle East tour covering Egypt, Jordan and Israel, Egyptian state-run MENA news agency reported.

It is the first visit of a senior U.S. official to the Middle East since President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in last December. (U.S.-Egypt-Visit) Enditem