ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Taliban spacial forces, illustrative image On November 29, the British security company G4S acknowledged that five of its employees were killed in  the recent attack by the Taliban on its headquarters  in the Afghan capital of Kabul. G4S said that thirty-two other employees were injured, five of them are still in a critical condition. “We are committed to our security role in support of the people of Afghanistan, and we are determined that incidents such as this will not prevent the vital work that the international community conducts from continuing,” G4S said in an official statement. British media identified one of the casualties as 33-year old Luke Griffin, a veteran infantryman of the British military who worked for G4S as a close protection specialist. According to the Sun, Luke saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan during his service in the army. Besides G4S employees many personnel of Afghan security forces and even civilians were killed and injured in the w...

On November 28, several fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who were recently captured by ISIS, were killed and injured in an airstrike by the US-led coalition on a prison of the terrorists group in the town of al-Khasmah in the middle Euphrates River Valley. On November 29, the ISIS-linked news agency, Amaq, released a video showing the aftermath of the US-led coalition airstrike on the prison in al-Khasmah. In the video, several injured captives can be seen confirming that they are fighters of the SDF. “The [US-led] coalition carried out the airstrike to get rid of us,” an injured SDF fighters said in Amaq’s video. ISIS captured dozens of SDF fighters and commanders during its  recent attacks  on the group’s positions in the Euphrates Valley. All the captives were Arabs, some of them had been forced to join the ranks of the SDF. The SDF was widely criticized by many Syrian activists for deploying mostly Arabs on the frontlines against ISIS....

On November 29, the media wing of the Houthis released a video showing Houthi fighters destroying two military vehicles of the Saudi military in the Kingdom’s southern province of Jizan with Iranian Toophan anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). This was the first time this Iranian weapon was seen in the Yemeni battlefield. According to experts, the Toophan is the Iranian copy of the US-made TOW ATGM system. Some variants of the Toophan ATGM have a range of more than 3.5km and can overcome reactive armour then penetrate 900mm of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA). Just like the TOW, the Toophan is guided by semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS). While this is the first time the Toophan is documented in the hands of the Houthis, the Saudi-led coalition foiled an attempt by Iranian intelligence to smuggle missiles of this type to the Yemeni group three years ago. Click to see full-size image In the last few months, the Houthis destroyed dozens of vehicles of the Saudi-...

Syrian security forces have discovered two other weapons chances left behind by militants in the coutnrysides of Homs and Damascus,  according to the SANA . In homs, the weapons and ammunition were discovered in Talbiseh and al-Farhaniya farms in the northern countryside of the province. In the Damascus southwestern countryside security forces discovered weapons and ammunition in Wadi Buhairan. Members of militant groups, which were defeated by Syrian government forces, have prepared multiple hidden weapons chances across areas, which are now under government control. These weapons and ammunition pose a security threat to the liberated areas because they could be used in terrorist attacks or crime activity by former members of militant groups and of terrorist sleeper cells. Photos: Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image

On November 26, the Turkish Interior Ministry released a new report providing a detailed look at the security situation in the country in the period from November 19 to November 26. According to the statement, the Turkish Army and security forces carried out 2,680 anti-terror operations across the country “neutralizing” 18 terrorists. Authorities detained  4,677 suspects in variuos crimes: 3,695 – crimes linked to drugs and smugling; 129 – human trafficking crimes; 866 – terror-related crimes. The army and security forces also seized 16 guns, 1,203 ammunitions and 130 kg of explosive materials. Turkish forces destroyed 45 shelters belonging to terrorist cells as well as 20 IEDs and mines. Click to see the full-size image

This map shows the approximate locations of US, British, Chinese and Russian aicraft carriers and carrier strike groups. SouthFront: Analysis & Intelligence tracks locations of these aircraft carriers using the available open-source information. No classified information was used in production of the map. Some developments: The Harry S. Truman carrier strike group is carrying military drills in the Mediterranean Sea. It’s interesting to note that the drills are ongoing amid a simultaneous escalation in Syria ( a chemical attack on Aleppo city ) and the Black Sea region ( an incident between a Ukrainian naval group and Russian coastal guards ). Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is still spending time near Norfolk following F-35 drills in the nearby area. Click to see the full-size image

On November 26,  the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) released a detailed timeline and description of provocative actions of the Ukrainain naval group in the Black Sea  on November 24 and November 25. SouthFront ptovides an exclusive translation of the FSB statement (emphasis added): At 16:40 24.11.2018  inside the Russian Federation’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), in about 28-30 miles southeast of cape Meganom, forces and means of the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in Crimea detected warships of the Ukrainian Navy: support ship “Gorlovka” (hull No U-753) and the sea tug “Yany Kapu” (hull No A-947), which were avdancing to the northeast in the direction of the Kerch Strait. At 21:30  when the group of warships of the Ukrainian Navy approached the state border of the Russian Federation, PSKA-302  (SF: Russian Coast Guard the Sobol-class patrol boat, also known as Project 12200) informed them about  the pr...

On November 27 th ,  Ukraine’s state security agency confirmed that its intelligence officers were among the crew of the seized Ukrainian ships. According to the SBU’s statement the officers were fulfilling counterintelligence operations for the Ukrainian navy, in response to “psychological and physical pressure” by Russian spy services. No details were provided, however it demanded that Russia stop any such activity. Late on November 26 th , Russia’s FSB said that there were SBU officers on board the ships, saying that  this is another proof of a provocation staged by Ukraine. The Russian FSB security agency released a video of three crewmembers of the detained Ukrainian gunboats. In the interviews, the three seamen all confirmed that they violated the Russian border. Mainstream media scrutinizes the interviews, claiming that the men are talking “under duress” and that one of them “was clearly reading from a teleprompter”. In an escalation of absurdity, Chief of...

On November 25 th , US authorities shut the country’s busiest border crossing, the one to Mexico and fired tear gas to repel Central American migrants. “Border Patrol agents deployed tear gas to dispel the group because of the risk to agents’ safety,” a statement by US Customs and Border Protection said. This follows President Donald Trump’s vow that asylum-seekers would not be allowed to easily enter the country. The closing was caused by a group of migrants who rushed the border area. About 500 migrants on the Mexican side of the border overwhelmed police blockades near the San Ysidro Port of Entry Sunday afternoon, according to two journalists in Tijuana, cited by CNN. Video of the scene showed a cloud of tear gas that sent people running and screaming, including families with young children. Footage from the Associated Press show the way the situation devolved and how US authorities shot tear gas at the migrants who were trying to rush past. Mexico’s Milenio TV sho...

In this file photo taken Aug.15, 2017 in Warsaw, Poland, Polish Army tank troops salute as their tanks roll on one of the city’s main streets during a yearly military parade celebrating the Polish Army Day. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak says Poland will boost its military presence in the east with the formation of a new division of the armed forces. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, file) In early November, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak approved the schedule for the formation of the fourth regular division of the Polish Army, according to Polish media. The new division is to be deployed in the the eastern part of the country near the borders with Belarus and Ukraine – the 18th Iron Mechanized Division (18. “Żelazna” Dywizji Zmechanizowanej). At present, the Polish ground forces include three divisions (the 11th armored cavalry and the 12th and 16th mechanized), consisting of a total of ten brigades, as well as six separate brigades. The fourth existing division (1st Wa...

The Ukrainian capital of Kiev in 2014. ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: ZURAB KURTSIKIDZE / EPA According to Ukraine’s State Statistics Agency (Gossstat), Ukraine’s population consisted of 42,216,766 permanent inhabitants and 42,386,403 total inhabitants as of January 1, 2018. The last census took place in 2001. Which means the most recent fact-based statistics are over 17 years old. That census established that Ukraine’s population consisted of 48,216,766 permanent inhabitants and 48,457,102 total inhabitants. Ukraine’s Gosstat calculates current population numbers on the basis of that 2001 census. It also accounts for the annual documented population changes, or the difference between total birth and deaths, and the difference between the number of people who became Ukrainian citizens and those who emigrated. Unlike Google, Gosstat accounts for the loss of population due to the de-facto loss of Crimea. But it doesn’t consider the de-facto population loss in those parts of Donetsk and ...