ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

SOURCE: TASS Written by  Sergei Ischenko ; Originally appeared  Svpressa , translated by  AlexD  exclusively for  SouthFront What the Departmental Board Meeting with the Participation of the President Showed Every New Year’s Eve, the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Defence turns red from all the generals’ stripes. At the annual extended board meeting in the last days of December the entire team of the Armed Forces, the General Staff, Arms and Services, military districts and fleets from across the country meet. And almost always, the President of Russia, members of the government and the Security Council of the Russian Federation and the representatives of the defence industry. Thus, the results of the past year are summarised from each participant and the challenges facing the troops in the near future. Those who for some time observe attentively this gathering would certainly notice that in the current 2017, all was similar but not quite. The expa...

On December 30, forces loyal to Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi captured al-Yatiymah area in Khabb wa Sha’af district of the northern province of al-Jawf, according to the UAE-based al-Arabiya TV. The media outlet said that pro-Hadi fighters captured 59 fighters of the Houthis and killed many others during their advance in Khabb wa Sha’af. The Saudi-led coalition military operation in al-Jawf is aimed at besieging the heartland of the Houthis, Saada city. However, the Saudi-led coalition is still over 150km east of Saada. Meanwhile, in western Yemen, the Houthis conducted a series of hit and run attacks against several positions of pro-Hadi forces and the Saudi-led coalition north of the coastal town of Yakhtul in the province of Taiz, according to the Yemeni al-Masirah TV. During the attacks, the Houthis destroyed several vehicles and fortifications of the Saudi-led coalitions with ATGMs, rocket-propelled grenades and IEDs. Over the last two weeks, the Houthis have i...

On December 29, thousands of Palestinians took at the streets in the Gaza Strip, the Western Bank and the city of Jerusalem to protest  the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel  in what was called the fourth “day of rage”, according to Palestinian sources. Israeli security forces clashed with the protestors in the Western Bank and used tear gas and rubber bullets against them in an attempt to disperse the protests. The Israeli Army used light weapons against the protestors in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian activists. The Palestinian Red Crescent announced that Israeli security forces injured 133 protestors in the Western bank. Another 33 protestors were injured with live bullets fired by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip. Earlier,  the Israeli Army announced that three rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip  at the Israeli settlements north of Gaza. Such rockets attacks have become a regular tradition that accompanied...

A screenshot from the video Following the liberation of the strategic village of Abu Dali in southern Idlib , the Syrian military had deployed additional troops and military equipment to further develop momentum against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) in the area. Russian-made TOS-1A heavy flamethrower systems were deployed within this effort.  Previously, the TOS-1A system was spotted in the area on December 24.  Since then, the Syrian Arab Army, the Tiger Forces and the National Defense Forces have liberted a large area, including the villages of Tal Maraq, Hamdaniyah, Naseriyah, Mushayrifah, Dajjaj, Tamat Khalifah and Tal Warid. Now, government forces are developing momentum in the direction of Khuwayn Kabir in order to isolate the militant-held town of Tamanah from the eastern direction. If they are able to reach Khuwayn Kabir or even capture it, the army and its allies will create a direct threat of resu...

For decades, North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs were the butt of jokes inside the Pentagon and throughout the Western defense structure, known more for their duds and misses than for their successes. But nobody in the U.S. Department of Defense or throughout NATO is laughing anymore, following a series of successful nuclear and missile tests throughout 2017 that showed increasingly sophisticated capability for North Korea to  pose a serious threat to the world, and the United States  in particular. It was a feat that many once believed would be impossible, but not anymore. As noted by  Zero Hedge , American defense officials are not only taking the North Korean nuclear threat seriously, but they are dusting off Cold War-era plans for dealing with and surviving an  electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack  that Pyongyang now appears capable of launching. The tactic is simple: If a nuclear device is exploded at just the right distanc...

If you’ve been putting off buying solar-powered gear, storable foods, survival equipment and extra water, now might be a good time to begin stocking up. That’s because an intelligence insider says he’s been told by no less than CIA Director Mike Pompeo himself that war with North Korea is very likely   within the first three months of 2018. Insider James Rickards, who has worked with the U.S. intelligence community for decades, is an expert in escalation scenarios and end games. Writing in  The Daily Reckoning , he said that the geopolitical situation with North Korea will soon come to a head. Rather than the stock market, bitcoin, gold and Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, Rickards said that the most pressing global concern for the U.S. and other great powers is the escalating situation on the Korean peninsula. “The most important financial or geopolitical issue in the world today is a coming war between the U.S. and North Korea, probably in the next tw...

U.S. Soldiers wait to be picked up by helicopters south of Balad Ruz, Iraq, March 22, 2009. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Walter J. Pels, U.S. Navy/Released) On December 28, local sources revealed to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that helicopters of the US-led coalition evacuated commanders of ISIS from several positions in Deir Ezzor governorate and transferred them to its bases in al-Hasakah governorate on December 27. The SANA didn’t provide any further details regarding the supposed evacuation operation. The SANA also revealed that the US-led coalition evacuated 47 commander of ISIS earlier in December. The commanders were moved to a US base near the al-Sad camp south of the city of al-Hasakah, according to SANA. This was not the first time when the media reported that the US-led coalition is evacuating ISIS commanders.  The Russian state-run media outlet Sputnik said on September 7, that US helicopters have evacuated over 20 ISIS field com...

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA On December 29, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that their Iron Dome aerial defense system had intercepted two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip. The third rocket fell in the area of Nachal Oz kibbutz. Security forces were deployed to the area. IDF ✔ @IDFSpokesperson Moments ago, sirens sounded in the Sha'ar HaNegev & Sdot Negev regional councils, southern Israel. Three launches were identified from the Gaza Strip. The Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepted two rockets 11:20 - 29 Dec 2017   27 27 Replies     228 228 Retweets     306 306 likes Twitter Ads information and privacy There were no reports of casualties or damage. In response to the rocket launches, the IDF shelled two positions of the Palestinian movement Hamas in Gaza. IDF ✔ @IDFSpokesperson In response to the rockets fired towards Israel, IDF tan...

SOURCE: twitter.com/topspb_tv/ On December 28, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin declared  the explosion in a store in the city of St. Petersburg a “terrorist attack”.  According to the latest reports, 13 people were injured in the attack that took place on December 27. The president ordered to act in accordance with law when detaining those responsible for the crime adding that if there is a threat to the lives of law enforcement officers, they need to “act decisively.” “I have instructed the director of the Federal Security Service… to act within the framework of the law during detention [of suspected terrorists.] But if there’s a threat to a police officer’s life and health, our officers need to act decisively, take no prisoners, kill the assailants on the spot,” Putin said. The blast was caused by a homemade explosive device filled with lethal fragments. Security forces are investigating the incident.

FILE PHOTO: Sanaa, Yemen © Khaled Abdullah / Reuters Saudi-led coalition airstrikes killed 68 Yemeni civilians in one day, the UN humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Jamie McGoldrick said on December 28. The incident took on December 26. The first airstrike hit a “crowded popular market” in the province of Taiz and killed 54 civilians including eight children and wounded 32 others. Separately, airstrikes killed 14 people in the province of Hodeida. In November and December, the Saudi-led coalition intensified its air and ground campaign against the Houthis in western and northern Yemen. The Yemeni capital of Sanaa and the city of Hodeida are two main targets of the ongoing operations.

IMAGE: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised a “tremendous firepower” of the Israeli Air Force and sent a warning to Iran and the Palestinian movement Hamas. “ The air force is as its peak today, with the best tools, technologies, planes and pilots in the world. With defensive and offensive capabilities and tremendous firepower, the air force has the ability to reach short distances and faraway destinations as required,”  Netanyahu said  at an Israel Air Force Flight Academy graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim Air Base outside Beersheba on December 27. “ We are meeting major challenges in the north, in the south and in the east. On all the fronts there are centers and branches of radical Islam that have already caused a heavy calamity in our region, but now to our country . We are an island in this stormy region and have a clear policy of protecting our security.” The prime minister continued saying that  Israel “will not al...