ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

A combination photo of U.S. Army Special Forces Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson (L to R), U.S. Special Forces Sgt. Bryan Black, U.S. Special Forces Sgt. Dustin Wright and U.S. Special Forces Sgt. La David Johnson killed in Niger, West Africa, Oct. 4, 2017, in these handout photos released October 18, 2017. Four members of the US Special Operations Forces were killed in southwest Niger near the Mali-Niger border when a joint US-Nigerien patrol was attacked on October 3. Pentagon officials have blamed the attack on what they described as self-radicalized, ISIS-affiliated militants.  According  to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces Joseph Dunford, the US soldiers were accompanying the local military forces and did not expect to meet heavy resistance. They have called in the air support about an hour after the firefight begun. French Mirage jets arrived on the scene approximately one hour later. Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson and S...

The Russian Foreign Ministry has responded to the recent media allegations circulating over the US-sponsored UNSC “draft resolution over the mandate of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism into the use of chemical weapons in Syria.” Statement by the Foreign Ministry on the UN Security Council vote on the resolution to extend the JIM’s mandate ( source ): On October 24, 2017, the UN Security Council voted on the US-sponsored draft resolution calling for a hasty extension of the mandate of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) into the use of chemical weapons in Syria even before the release of a report on its activities this year. Russia voted against it for reasons that we have explained repeatedly in public statements and in working contacts with other UN Security Council members. The main reason is that it makes no sense to adopt such important decisions without even assessing the JIM’s performance. Without such an assessment, it is impossible...

Click to see the full-size image On October 25, several Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups agreed to join the so-called National Army under command of the Turkish-backed Syrian Interim Government, according to Turkish sources. The agreement was reportedly reached during a meeting between Turkish officials, representatives of the Syrian Interim Government and the FSA in the Turkish city of Kilis. Click to see the full-size image For now, only the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad Division and al-Shamiyah Front agreed to join the National Army, according to Syrian opposition sources. According to the agreement, the two groups will hand over all their weapons, ammunition and vehicles to the command of the National Army. The new Turkish-backed National Army should see the light after 2 months if the agreement is taken seriously. However, previously many FSA groups have made dozens of attempts to establish a joint army with no success what so ever. Turkey is likely plannin...

On October 25,  Hamid Saifi, an officer of the Afghan Army, announced that Afghan forces captured Tapa-e-Muhibullah and Se Rahi Mohammad Alam areas in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, according to the Afghan Tolo news TV channel. “We retook the Se Rahi Mohammad Alam and Tapa-e-Mohibullah areas. We call on government and aid organizations to help those civilians who are living in poverty and are living in areas between the two sides. They need emergency aid,” Saifi told Tolo. According to Saifi, Tapa-e-Muhibullah and Se Rahi Mohammad Alam areas had been a strongholds of the Taliban for the last two years. Saifi also said that civilians are slowly coming back to the two areas after the battle there ended. Also in northern Afghanistan, Tolo claimed that two ISIS fighters attacked a position of the Taliban in in Chaqma Chaqor village in Qoshtepa district in Jowzjan province. Qoshtepa district governor Aminullah said that Taliban fighters we...