ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Illustrative image Bouthaina Shaaban, the political and media adviser to Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad, discussed  the possibility of deploying Chinese Special Forces to Syria with Chinese Army officials during her latest visit to China, the Russian news agency Sputnik reported on November 28. According to Sputnik’s report, the Chinese Army is planning to deploy the Shenyang Military Region Special Forces Unit “Siberian Tiger”, and the Lanzhou Military Region Special Forces Unit “Night Tiger” to Syria in order to counter the threat of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), which had recruited thousands of Chinese Uyghurs and sent them to Syria during the last few years. On November 23, Reuters reported that Shaaban only met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during her visit to China. The two sides discussed the political process in Syria and the reconstruction of the country, according to Reuters. “China hopes the Syrian side can seize the opportunity, display flex...

Click to see the full-size image On November 29, the Syrian Intelligence foiled a double terrorist attack in Homs city, after successfully arresting two suicide bombers, according to the Syrian al-Ekhbariya TV.  The pro-government media outlet said that the arrested suicide bombers were members of ISIS. Al-Ekhbariya revealed that the two suicide bombers were on their way to the Ba’ath Party headquarters and a culture center in Homs when the Syrian intelligence intercepted and arrested them both. The attackers were wearing suicide belts backed with 3kg of explosives and shrapnel. Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image On October 15,  Syrian security forces foiled a suicide attack in Baniyas city north of Tartus cit y and arrested the suicide bomber. On August 7,  the Syrian National Defense Forces (NDF) foiled a terrorist attack in Salhab town in the northern Hama countryside  after kill...

On November 29, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the Egyptian Army to restore security in Sinai Peninsula within three months during a public speech, according to the British Daily Mail newspaper. “Allow me to take this opportunity to commit General Mohamed Farid Hegazy, in front of you and all the Egyptian people: you are responsible for restoring security and stability in Sinai within three months, you and the interior ministry,” al-Sisi told the chief of staff of the Egyptian Army who was attending the speech, according to the report. Al-Sisi also said that the Egyptian Army will use “complete brutal force” during its upcoming anti-terrorism operation in the Sinai Peninsula. However, the Egyptian president didn’t reveal any other details of the operation. Al-Sisi’s order is likely a response to  the terrorist attack on Al Rawdah mosque west of the city of El Arish in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on November 24 . 305 civilians including 27 children were kill...

On November 29, unknown aircraft destroyed two headquarters of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) in the town of Kherbet Eljoz in the northern Idlib countryside, according to Syrian opposition sources. Several fighters of the TIP were killed in the airstrikes. Opposition sources also reported that the unknown aircraft destroyed two vehicles of the TIP on the road between Kerbet Eljoz and Jisr al-Shughur in the northeastern Idlib countryside. While some Syrian opposition activists claimed that US-led coalition aircraft conducted the airstrikes against the TIP, others believe that the Russian Air Force was behind them. The TIP is currently supporting a military operation of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) against  the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the northern Hama countryside. However, Syrian opposition figure Bassam Jaara claimed on twitter that the airstrikes on the TIP positions were conducted by the Chinese Special Operations Forces. “The targeting of the Turkistan [TIP] i...