ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The picture below depicts the comparison of military situation in Damascus countryside in 2013 and in 2016. The Syrian government showed an incontestable progress in securing the area of its capital. Click to see the full-size map

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (3:50 A.M.) - The armed uprising in Mosul is under way, as local civilians attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham's (ISIS) installations around this provincial capital in northwest Iraq. The civilians participating in this armed rebellion are members of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU); they have played a critical role in the uprising against the Islamic State terrorists. While the civilian uprising commences, the Iraqi Army's 9th, 15th, and 16th divisions, alongside their allies, are storming several villages in southern Mosul, looking to expel the terrorist forces from the Nineveh Plains. This large-scale offensive has already gotten off to a great start, with the Iraqi forces liberating the Assyrian city of Bashiqa from the Islamic State occupiers. According to the official media wing of the Popular Mobilization Units, the Iraqi forces are currently within 30 km of Mosul's downtown area, as they continue to tighten the noose around the Islamic Sta

Saudi military lost dozens of soldiers in a failed attempt to storm a rebel-held area to the east of the Saudi city of Najran. Local source said that Houthi rebels, backed by Yemeni Army, successfully managed to repel a major attack launched by Saudi soldiers. The sources confirmed that dozens of the attacking force were killed and injured, in addition to several military vehicles destroyed.

Russia is extending by three hours the humanitarian pause in Aleppo, Syria, planned for October 20, citing requests from international humanitarian organizations. Two of the eight corridors that are to open will be meant for use by the rebels. “On October 20, starting at 8am, a humanitarian pause is to be introduced in Aleppo to allow civilians to escape and sick and injured people to be evacuated, and for militants to leave the eastern part of the city,” Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy said. He added that the people leaving eastern Aleppo would be monitored in real time via web cameras and surveillance drones. The footage will be broadcast on the Russian Defense Ministry’s website. The general said it took measures to inform Aleppo residents of the opportunity to leave the city by airdropped leaflets, loudspeakers, mobile phone text messages and through Internet. There are eight corridors in Aleppo, with six of them for civilians and humanitarian aid deliveries, Rudskoy said. Two of the corri