ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The Daesh militant group used chemical weapons for attack on the northern Iraqi town of Taza, a spokesman for Shiite militia al-Hashd ash-Shaabi said Saturday. DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — In February, CIA Director John Brennan said that Daesh had used chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq, and had capabilities to produce small amounts of mustard gas or chlorine gas and possibly export it to the Western countries. "Southern part of Taza has become the target for a heavy attack conducted by Daesh militants. During the attack, the terrorists have launched two missiles rigged with toxic substances from [the settlement of] Kasbah al-Bashir," Ali Huseini said, as quoted by the Al Sumaria television broadcaster. © SPUTNIK/ EXCLUSIVE: Daesh Used Corrosive Chemicals Against Iraqi Civilians (PHOTO, VIDEO) Huseini added that the Iraqi authorities should take steps to provide the region with necessary security, as well as to liberate the region controlled by Daesh . Daesh is a terrorist group, wh

Syrian Army troops and allied popular units have significantly advanced against Daesh terrorists in the southeastern parts of Aleppo province and are now moving towards the Euphrates and its nearby regions in Raqqa province, Iran’s Fars news agency reported. "The Syrian army, Liwa al-Quds (Jerusalem Brigade), the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Kataebat al-Ba’ath (Al-Ba’ath Battalions have secured the southern bank of Al-Hamourat Lake in southeastern Aleppo, while also making a substantial advance towards al-Maskanah Plain," Fars News wrote citing military sources on the ground. © SPUTNIK/ Dealing a Blow: Syrian Army Destroys Daesh Command Center, Firing Positions Near Palmyra On Thursday, government forces seized the main headquarters of the Daesh terrorist group in the northeastern neighborhoods of Khanasser town whose full control was recently won back by Syrian forces. Earlier the Syrian army and volunteer forces retook full control of five villages in close vicinity o

New mercenaries of the US company DynCorp have recently arrived in Yemen to fight rebels in the country. They should replace the mercenaries of the company Blackwater, many of whom had been killed in battle, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) reported. The first mercenaries of the private US military company DynCorp arrived on Wednesday at the Yemeni port of Ras Omran southwest of Aden. They will replace Blackwater's mercenaries, since the latter were unable to defeat the Houthi rebels, DWN wrote , citing the Greek newspaper tribune. © AP PHOTO/ HANI MOHAMMED Yemen Receives Just 2% of Required $1.8Bln in Aid In recent weeks, about 39 Blackwater soldiers were killed in Yemen during the fighting. For instance, on February 1 the US Blackwater Commander Nicholas Boutros was killed in battle in the Yemeni province of Lahij. The deployment of new DynCorp soldiers was initiated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which supports the official government in Sanaa and promi

Clashes intensified on Friday between Shiite rebels and local fighters in the besieged city of Taiz, killing at least 45 fighters on both sides and six civilians over the past 24 hours. The city has seen heavy fighting between rebels known as Houthis and local resistance units financed and armed by the Saudi-led coalition that is backing Yemen's internationally recognized government. The local fighters have been advancing and have taken control of Taiz's western outskirts. The medical officials said Friday that most of the 45 killed over the past 24 hours died in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition. They also said that six civilians were killed in random shelling of residential areas. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. According to witnesses, Islamic militants who are fighting next to the local resistance have kidnapped a number of Houthi supporters and members of the ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh's party in