Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Jan. 30

ADEN, Yemen -- About 15 newly-recruited Yemeni soldiers were killed on Tuesday morning when a suicide car bombing struck a military checkpoint in the southeastern province of Shabwa, a government official told Xinhua.

"The suicide assailant died on the spot after detonating his explosives-laden car at a military checkpoint located in Nokhan area of Shabwa Province, killing about 15 soldiers," the local government official said on condition of anonymity. (Yemen-Suicide Bombing)

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DAMASCUS -- Pro-Syrian government forces have targeted the path of a Turkish military convoy in the southern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syrian, a monitor group reported on Tuesday.

The Turkish military convoy was moving toward the town of Eis in southern Aleppo when the pro-government forces hit the convoy, prompting the Turkish military vehicles and accompanied forces to withdraw to the western countryside of Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Syria-Turkish Convoy)

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TEHRAN -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the United States has been relocating the so-called Islamic State (IS) to Afghanistan to justify its military presence in the region.

By transferring the IS terror group from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan, the United States seeks "to justify the continuation of its presence in the region and to create security for the Zionist regime (of Israel)," Khamenei said according to the state TV. (Iran-U.S.)

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DAMASCUS -- The Syrian army dug out 45 bodies of soldiers killed by the al-Qaida-linked militants near a key air base in the northwestern province of Idlib, local media reported Tuesday.

The bodies were uncovered near the Abu al-Duhur air base by Syrian troops in cooperation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported. (Syria-Mass Grave-Bodies Uncovered) Enditem