ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Militant groups operating in Eastern Ghouta have disrupted the first five-hour ceasefire pause in the region and have used it to launch an offensive against governmetn forces, the Russian Center for Reconciliation (RCR) said on February 27. “During the humanitarian pause, militants of the armed groups continued to attack the positions of government forces in the vicinity of the settlements of Khazram and Nawabiya, and after 13.00 they started an offensive and on other destinations. These actions were accompanied by intense artillery fire and fire from small arms, ” the RCR’s head, Maj. Gen. Yuri Yevtushenko told media. “The militants do not let anyone out,” he said emphasizing that the military situation on the ground is “compliacted”. According to Maj. Gen. Yevtushenko, militants had been conducting shelling about every 30 minutes during the humanitarian pause. He called on militant groups to observe the ceasefire and do not prevent people from leaving to safe areas. Daily

Click to see the full-size image The US is accusing Russia of spreading instability in the Middle East and violating the UN-backed ceasefire regime in Syria. “Diplomatically and militarily, Moscow plays both arsonist and firefighter, fueling tensions among all parties in Syria,” the commander of US Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, said on Feburary 27. “It is clear that Russia’s interests in Syria are Russia’s interests and not those of the wider international community,” he said. “Their role is incredibly destabilizing at this point.” Gen. Votel continued saying that Russia offers to serve as a mediator in an effort to “undermine and weaken each party’s bargaining position.” “An increase in Russian surface-to-air missile systems in the region threatens our access and ability to dominate the airspace,” the general complained. On the same day, the US State Department accused Russia of “not supporting” the UN-backed ceasefire in Syria and reavealed a disastrous fact

FILE IMAGE Over 60,000 soldiers, 3,000 differnt types of military equipment and 355 aircraft are involved in the ongoing military operation against militants in Egypt’s North Sinai. The country’s military has also deployed 15 air-defense battlaions including 259 units of various military equipment and 3,100 servicemembers. According to Chief of staff of Egypt’s Armed Forces Mohamed Farid, since the start of operation “Sinai 2018”, the country’s air force has destroyed 158 terrorist targets and army artillery units have destroyed 413 terrorist targets. Farid added that security forces had killed 71 militants and had detained 1,852 people suspected or wanted over criminal charges or for supporting ISIS. 1,282 hideouts used to hide and store administrative and medical needs, weapons and ammunition have been also destroyed, according to the cheif of staff.

Salih Muslim (ESMA CAKIR – ROMA / DHA) On February 25, the Czech authorities arrested Salih Muslim, a leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), in the Czech capital Prague upon an official request from Turkey, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency. In late 2016, the Turkish Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Salih Muslim. On February 14 2018 the ministry placed Muslim on its “most wanted terrorists” list and offered a bounty of nearly $1 million. According to Anadolu Agency, Czech officials said that Salih Muslim will be produced before a court which will decide whether or not he would be remanded in custody. The sources added that the Czech authorities had asked Turkey to submit the necessary documents for Muslim’s extradition. Meanwhile, Turkish security officials confirmed that Turkish Ministry of Justice had begun an administrative process to extradite Salih Muslim, according to Anadolu Agency. Salih Muslim occupied the position of the P

Illustrative image On February 24, a booby-trapped car targeted a camp of the Afghan Army in the Matki area of the Nad Ali district in the southern province of Helmand, according to the Afghan Tolo TV. Omar Zowak, a spokesman for Helmand governor, told Tolo that three Afghan soldiers had been killed and two others had been injured in the explosion. Three hours later, a second booby-trapped car exploded near an office of the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) in the capital of Helmand province, Lashkargah. According to Tolo, ten people including women and children were injured and an Afghan soldier was killed. A third attack, this time conducted with a booby-trapped motorcycle, hit a market in the Yahya Khil district in the eastern province of Paktika on February 25, according to the Chines Xinhua news agency. Shah Mohammad Aryan, a spokesman for the Afghan Police in Paktika, told Xinhua that four people, including an Afghan policeman, had been killed and thirteen

New York, SANA- Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari stressed that the Syrian Government has the right to retaliate against the terrorist groups if they target the civilians even with a single shell. In a speech after the Security Council voted on a resolution calling for the cessation of combat activities in Syria for 30 days at least, al-Jaafari said that over the past two days, thousands of shells fell on Damascus as the Syrian Arab Red Crescent HQ in Damascus was targeted by 10 shells fired by the so-called “moderate” terrorists located in Ghouta, killing and injuring people including a doctor. He added that the shells which fell on Damascus claimed the lives of hundreds and injured others. Al-Jaafari stressed that the Syrian government has dealt in a serious manner with all initiatives and was committed to them due to its care for the lives of Syrian citizens, and that the government has called on armed groups in the Eastern Ghouta to lay down th

By Peter Koenig   As this article goes to print, Globovision TV quotes Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announcing the launch of a new cryptocurrency, the “Petro Oro”. It will be backed by precious metals. The launch of the new cryptomoney is scheduled for the next week. No details of quantities offered for sale are available at this point.   “I do not want to rush things, but we have a surprise regarding the petro and the gold, which will have the same dimension as it has been related to oil, but it is the theme of next week,”  the President says. The first public offering, the ‘Pre-sale’ of 38.4 million of the oil-backed “Petro” on 20 February, has raised US$ 735 million equivalent which is considered a great success. ---- Imagine an international currency backed by energy? By a raw material that the entire world needs, not gold – which has hardly any productive use, but whose value is mostly speculative – not hot air like the US dollar. Not fiat money like the US-dolla

On February 23, a booby-trapped car exploded near the president palace in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Soon after, a second booby-trapped car exploded near a hotel away from the palace, according to Reuters. “So far we carried 18 dead people and 20 others injured from the blasts tonight,” Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of Amin Ambulances, told Reuters. Right after the first explosion, several armed fighters attacked a checkpoint near the presidential palace, according to the France-Press Agency (AFP). However, according to the Somali National News Agency (SONNA), Somalia’s Security Minister Mohamed Abukar Islow said that security forces had foiled the attack on the palace. He added that at least five attackers had been killed. Moreover, Islow revealed that security forces had a prior intelligence about the possible of terrorist attacks and that they had been on high alert when the attack had happened. According to Reuters, the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab group cl

Photo: Reuters/ Gleb Garanich Written by  J.Hawk   Introduction After four years of “freedom” and “European integration”, Ukraine is in the throes of a crisis that makes the “wild ’90s” seem like a picture of stability. The economy is continuing to decline, to the point of the country becoming a net importer of agricultural products. The International Monetary Fund is increasingly reluctant to extend new loans, which are now necessary simply to service Ukraine’s ballooning national debt. The country’s Western partners are visibly tired of Ukraine and its problems, seeing in it more of a liability than an asset that could be used to exert political pressure on Russia. Even erstwhile ardent supporters of the Maidan, like the poet Evgeniya Bilchenko, has traded her Right Sector membership for an exile in Russia, and her support for Western values for a rediscovered fondness of Russian traditionalism. Millions of ordinary Ukrainians have likewise voted with her feet and found new