Jan. 12 Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT.

ISTANBUL/ANKARA — Nine German tourists were among 10 people killed in an explosion that hit Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet Square on Tuesday, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed on a Syrian suicide bomber.

An official from the Turkish prime ministry gave the figure but declined to be named. (Turkey-Bombing-Germans)
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BAQUBA, Iraq — An Iraqi TV reporter and a cameraman were killed in the eastern province of Diyala on Tuesday, where sectarian tensions are high after a deadly bomb attacks the day before, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

The bodies of TV reporter Sayf Talal and cameraman Hassan al-Anbaki, both working for al-Sharqiyah satellite channel, were found dumped on the sidewalk of a road in Wajihiyah area, north of the provincial capital city Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity. (Iraq-Journalists-Diyala)
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JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH — Israeli security forces shot and killed two Palestinians during clashes in the West Bank, as the current of violence entered a fourth month. (Israel-Palestine)
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DAMASCUS — Syrian forces have stormed a key town in the country’s seaside city of Latakia, the hometown of President Bashar al-Assad, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

The military units stormed the southeastern part of the town of Salma and a number of hills surrounding that strategic town in the northeastern countryside of Latakia, said SANA. (Syria-Latakia) Enditem

Source: Xinhua.