ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Pegasus software, sold to governments for use against terrorists and criminals, found to be used against people across ‘the political and civil society spectrum’   Stickers with the image of the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, are stuck on columns outside the building of the attorney general’s office during a protest against alleged government spying. Photograph: Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images The text messages seemed innocuous enough when they buzzed on to the smartphone of Roberto Gil, a senior member of Mexico ’s opposition National Action Party. “I wanted to share this report from [the Mexican newsweekly] Proceso where your name is mentioned,” said one. “My husband just died. I’m sending you information about the wake,” read another. “Do you see what the PRD [another opposition party] is saying about us? Take a look,” said the third message. Each message carried a link, however, and, once clicked, they would have immediately allowed sophisticated spy software to infect

The prototype features a helmet covering the soldier’s face and cutting-edge body armor. The next-generation combat gear also includes a powered exoskeleton to help increase performance and stamina while fighting. The prototype was unveiled on Thursday at the opening of Russia’s largest high-tech prototyping center at the National University of Science and Technology (MISIS) in Moscow. It was developed at the Central Research Institute for Precision Machine Building, a major Russian weapons designer and primary military supplier. “We’re working on a concept for the combat suit of the future. On display is our vision of the suit we would like to develop within the next couple of years,” said Oleg Chikarev, deputy chief of weapons systems at the institute. “We're also working with [Russian] companies specializing in various elements of combat equipment and we’re creating the features which, in our opinion, will help our soldiers carry out their missions on the battl

US-backed militants, operating under the brand of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), have made another attempt to justify their operations against the Syrian army and its allies in southeastern Syria, along the border with Iraq. The FSA media wing released an “official” map of the military situation in southeastern Syria claiming that the US-backed force have some “frontlines” with ISIS in the area. The map argues that the FSA cotnrols wide areas north and northwest of the US-led coalition garrison in the border town of At Tanf. Click to see the full-size map The real map of the military situation in Syria: Click to see the full-size map Earlier this year, the US-led coalition and its proxies made an attempt to build a buffer zone between the Syrian army and its allies from the Iraqi army and the Popular Mobilization Units in Iraq. However, the attempt failed when Syrian government forces reached the border area northeast of At Tanf. Since then, the Syrian army has widely ex

Alleged photo confirming the death of the ISIS leader An alleged photo of the dead ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is circulating online. The photo has been released by the Iranian media outlet “IRIB” ( source ) and was widely spread by various media outlets. However, it seems the same photo was already circulating online in 2014 when the reports about the death of al-Baghdadi appeared to be untrue. The video was uploaded on Youtube on November 12, 2014: On Thursday, Representative of Iran’s Leader in IRGC Quds Force, Ali Shirazi, said tht “the death of this terrorist [al-Baghdadi] is certain,” according to  the IFP . However, no details confirming the alleged death of the  terrorist organization has been provided yet.

Written by  Scott Ritter ; Originally appeared at  TheAmericanConservative.com On the night of June 26, the White House Press Secretary released a statement, via Twitter, that, “the United States has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children.”  The tweet went on to declare that, “the activities are similar to preparations the regime made before its April 4 chemical weapons attack,” before warning that if “Mr. Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price.” A Pentagon spokesman backed up the White House tweet, stating that U.S. intelligence had observed “activity” at a Syrian air base that indicated “active preparation for chemical weapons use” was underway.  The air base in question, Shayrat, had been implicated by the United States as the origin of aircraft and munitions used in an al

A bomb attack hit the Donetsk National Univercity of Economy and Commerce in the capital of the Donetsk People’s Republc in eastern Ukraine on June 29. According to media reports  an explosion of the improvised explosive device resulted in destruction  of a part of the univercity building. The DPR authorities said that no people were injured or killed as a result of the incident. In turn, media reports suggested that at least 1 person was injured. The bomb attack in Donetsk  followed a series of bombings in the Kiev-controlled part of Ukraine .

Source: pravda.com.ua A series of car bombings has hit officers of Ukrainian intelligence services this week. On June 27,  Col. Maxim Shapoval of the Chief Directorate of Ukrainian military intelligence was killed in Kiev . His car was blown up. Some Ukrainian media reported that Shapoval was chief of military intelligence’s special forces. On June 28, a car with servicemen of the Security Service of Ukraine was hit by an IED in the Kiev controlled part of the Donetsk region.  SBU Col. Yuriy Vozny was killed , three other servicemen were injured. The deaths of Ukrainian intelligence officers caused significant jitters in the Ukrainian media and among experts following the conflict in eastern Ukraine. According to experts there are two main versions of the events: The recent deaths is a part of the ongoing internal standoff in the Ukrainian intelligence services. Few factions are combating for the control over the money flows and criminal businesses as well as for the po

FILE IMAGE: ypgrojava.org The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have advanced in the southern and southeastern Raqqa countryside. The SDF took control of Mustajd Naqib village and Al-Kamb area southern Raqqa. Moreover, the SDF seized Qusra Afnan village in the southwestern Raqqa countryside and killed 4 ISIS fighters. In Raqqa City, an ISIS VBIED targeted a gathering of SDF troops in Al-Mashlabi district. Another VBIED targeted the SDF in Al-Sabahia village west of Raqqa. Moreover, ISIS claimed that its snipers killed two SDF fighters and wounded three others in the Al-Barazi Roundabout. The United Nations said that more than 100,000 civilians are still inside the ISIS-held areas in Raqqa city. Opposition sources published a new video of a displaced man from Raqqa talking about practices and insults, including physical violence, directed at him and his wife by the SDF after they left Raqqa. It seems that tensions between the people of Raqqa and the SDF are not goi

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has launched a counterattack against Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the vicinity of Al-Baath City and Al-Hamidiya in the Quneitra province. According to a source from the SAA, government troops have retaken three positions in the vicinity of Al-Baath city so far. From its side, the Operations Room Jaish Muhammad, which includes FSA and HTS, claimed that it managed to kill 109 Syrian soldiers and destroy 3 tanks and 3 vehicles of the SAA during the attack on Al-Baath. Click to see the full-size image In Daraa, the commander of the ISIS-linked Jaish Khalid was killed along with a group of field commanders in an air strike carried out by unidentified warplanes. The airstrike hit the headquarters of Jaish Khalid in Jalin village in the western Daraa countryside. According to opposition sources, the air strike was carried out by the US-led coalition. However, the US-led coalition hasn’t officially claimed

Written by  Brian Kalman  exclusively for  SouthFront ; Brian Kalman is a management professional in the marine transportation industry. He was an officer in the US Navy for eleven years. He currently resides and works in the Caribbean. Introduction China has begun construction of the first Type 075 Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) at the Shanghai based Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding Company. Construction most likely started in January or February of this year, with some satellite imagery and digital photos appearing online of at least one pre-fabricated hull cell. The Type 075 will be the largest amphibious warfare vessel in the Peoples’ Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), with similar displacement and dimensions as the U.S. Navy  Wasp  Class LHD. The PLA has also made it known through non-official channels that the force plans to expand the current PLA Marine Corps from 20,000 personnel to 100,000. As China completes preparations for its new military base in Djibouti, located in the stra