ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Iraqi army forces. Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Two-hundred Islamic State militants were killed as officials in Salahuddin province said Friday they launched a “preemptive” offensive against the group. The province’s statement said the offensive was codenamed “Revenge for the Martyrs of Iraq and Salahuddin”. Samarra, Salahuddin, Iraq (Google Maps) Salahuddin province, Iraq (google maps) Salahuddin has witnessed an escalation in IS attacks on deployments by Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary troops al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units). PMUs said Thursday they killed 14 IS members after an attempted attack on the city of Baiji, north of the province. The news came hours after six suicide bombers from the group were reportedly killed before carrying out an attack at the city. On Wednesday, a violent attack by the Islamic State on Salahuddin’s city of Tikrit left 31 dead, including 14 policemen. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq says 1115 people, excluding...

According to a former marine, he voted for Trump “to make America great again, not make the Middle East great again.” Photo: Twitter / AngeloJohnGage Marine veteran Angelo John Gage, who served two tours in Iraq, has warned US President Donald Trump that he is being “duped” about Syria, as well as that the most part of Trump’s supporters will not endorse change of the regime in the Arab country. Gage posted a video message, addressed to the US President, on his Twitter. The veteran claimed that the US President was cozying up to the same media and the deep state that has tried to destroy him at every turn, as well as noted that he voted for Trump “to make America great again, not make the Middle East great again.” “We have no interest in Syria….we have to focus on our own country and you’re being distracted and duped – it’s so obvious – it’s blatantly obvious how ridiculous this narrative is and how fake it is,” Gage said. “They lied about your taxes, they lied about Russian collusion...

Kim Jong-un (L), Donald Trump (R) 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. There are a number of possible explanations for the U.S. cruise missile strike on the Syrian Base of Ash Sha’irat in Homs province. The neo-con establishment may have already convinced President Trump that it is in his best interest to play ball and carry on their agenda, just like Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton before him. Trump may already be proving that being a successful businessman does not equate to being a good political and military strategist, and that this is an early sign of his incompetence; however, there is another explanation. What if the cruise missile attack on the airfield, which appears to have been light and did not result in major damage to the facility or the assets of the Syrian Air Force, was a...

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is currently deploying additional forces to the Deir Ezzor Airport besieged by ISIS terrorists. Loyalist sources published pictures showing the relocation of dozens of soldiers to the airbase. Several sources talked about a noticeable increase in Russian and Syrian supply drops across the city of Deir Ezzor and its airport. The efforts aimed at increasing a manpower of government forces involved in the battle of Deir Ezzor indicate that the Syrian military could seek to launch an offensive in order to re-establish control over the Deir Ezzor areas lost to ISIS last year. Meanwhile, ISIS mobilized many fighters in western Deir Ezzor following the US Special Forces operation in the Hummat al-Tabny area . ISIS fighters set up several checkpoints and deployed armored vehicles armed with anti-aircraft guns. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the formation of a new faction named “Fursan al-Jazira” meaning “The Knights of the Island” in the village of A...