ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Over 2,300 facilities of the Islamic State terrorist group were destroyed by the Russian Aerospace Forces during a month. Photo: Sputnik / Dmitriy Vinogradov During a month, the Syrian Army liberated 52 populated localities and cleared 1,702 square kilometers of the country’s territory from terrorists. This became possible thanks to active actions of the Russian combat aviation, chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, said. “The Russian Aerospace Forces performed 991 sorties, destroying 2,306 facilities of Daesh [the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group]. The airstrikes were carried out on command points, depots of arms and ammunition, destruction of which plays an important role in defeating of militants. On February 28, at 1:21 pm, a headquarters of one of the armed gangs of the Jabhat al Nusra group [currently known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham] was destroyed by two KAB-500 guided aerial bombs. Sixty seven ...

The Popular Mobilization Units are going to start the second phase of its military operation to the west of Mosul city. Photo: alalam.ir The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi, are ready to launch a fresh round of military operations in order to recapture all regions, located to the west of Mosul city in Nineveh province, the Fars news agency reported, citing PMU spokesman Ahmad al-Assadi. “As the ground have been prepared for regaining control of Tal Afar, we [the PMU] are waiting for Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to determine which military units will take part in the operations in western Mosul,” Al-Assadi told the news agency on Saturday. He also noted that the first phase of the PMU operations in the area, located to the west of Mosul, resulted in regaining control over 113 square kilometers of territories and tens of villages, as well as in cutting of supply routes of terrorists. “The Hashd al-Shaabi with all its units and groups has take...

Pro-government forces, backed by the Rusian and Syrian air forces, have been rapidly advancing towards the Euphrates River in the province of Aleppo. Since March 4, the Syrian army and the National Defense Forces have liberated over 8 villages, including Abu Jarin, Atwiyat, Qasr Hadla, Tal Mai and Rasm Kbar and now are likely aiming to reach the Water Treatment plant which will allow government troops to increase the security of the water supplies to the city Aleppo. When this done, pro-government forces will likely focus on the ISIS stronghold of Deir Hafer. Meanwhile, the ISIS-linked Amaq news agency reported that over 130 airstrikes were delivered by Syrian and Russian warplanes against targets in the province. Click to see the full-size map