ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

On Satuday, the Iraqi Army captured a major part of the Al-Najjar district on the right side of Mosul city. This psuhed ISIS militants to withdraw from large areas in the 17 Tamoz district and the Hawi al-Kanisah area. Now, the Iraqi Army almost fully controls these strategic districts. Click to see the full-size map If the Iraqi Army manages to get a full control over these districts, ISIS will only remain in control of Zinjili, Al-Shifa, Bab Sinjar districts and the Old Mosul area. The Iraqi Army is currently focusing on evacuating civilians from the remaining areas under the control of ISIS. According to local sources, on Friday ISIS burned many civilians alive, including children and women for unknown reason. At the same day, the Counter-Terrorism Forces announced the end of their operation in the right side of Mosul. Now, this force might move to the Tal Afar area to work with the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in joint operations against ISIS. The PMU repe

On Saturday, a convoy of military supplies, including weapons and equipment for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), entered the Syrian city of Qamishli. The convoy included mostly logistical equipment such as water tanks, large containers, a Hilux pickup, two Land Cruiser vehicles, as well as a FMTV A1P2 military truck, which is often used by the US-led coalition forces in Syria. The White House decided to provide arms supplies directly to Kurdish militias on May 9. It is believed that the US may supply advanced weapons, such as TOW missiles, that have not been obtained by the SDF before. The US weapons and equipment entered the Syrian territory from Turkey despite a large opposition of Ankara to the American decision. Turkish Prime Minister, Ben Yildirim, said that the US decision to arm the Kurdish Popular Mobilization Units fighting ISIS organization in Syria could have “negative consequences” for Washington and said he could not imagine how the United

© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov The Syrian and Russian air forces carried out multiple airstrikes on ISIS positions in the southern part of Deir Ezzor. The airstrikes hit the cemetery area, where large numbers of militants were killed and wounded, as well as a large number of weapons and ammunition were destroyed. Moreover, Syrian and Russian warplanes bombed ISIS on the Malha road in the vicinity of the Regiment 137 Base. The operation of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) against ISIS militants in the vicinity of the cemetery area and the vicinity of the Regiment 137 base resulted in the killing of 14 ISIS militants, and the destruction of a mortar site and an armed vehicle belongiing to the terrorist group. Fifteen civilians lost their life and 63 were injured during the last 24 hours in the Harbash and Joura districts in Deir Ezzor city as a result of heavy shelling by ISIS. From its side, ISIS announced that 420 young men from Deir Ezzor have joined the organization after a seri

Russia may deploy Special Operations Forces servicemen in order to support Syrian government forces  advancing along the border in southeastern Syria , according to various pro-government media sources. Some media outlets even argued that Moscow had already deployed its servicemen in the area, but failed to provide any evidence of this. The Russian Special Operations Forces actively operate across in central, western and northern Syria supporting operations against ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) terrorists. If it’s confirmed that Russian military servicemen are embeded with pro-government fighters during the advance on al-Tanf, it will mean that Moscow has decided providing a direct support to Damascus and Tehran in their joint attempt to push US-led forces away from the borders with Jordan and Iraq. Photos of pro-government troops advancing along the Syrian-Jordanian border (from open soources): Click to see the full