ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Click to see the full-size image The US-led coalition requested Russia for a help to clear the Homs desert and parts of Euphrates Valley from ISIS, but Russia refused to assist the US-backed force, the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Hammurabi’s Justice News reported on January 4. According to the report, the US-led coalition shared coordinates of several ISIS positions in the Homs desert and the Euphrates Valley with Russia. ISIS allegedly attacked the US-led coalition base in the al-Tanaf area near the Syrian-Iraqi border from these positions. However, Russia didn’t only refuse to attack ISIS positions, but also refused to allow the US to bomb them because they were besieged by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), according to Hammurabi’s Justice News. The news outlet went on, and criticized Russia for “no being serious about fighting ISIS”. Click to see the full-size image An officer of the US-led coalition told Hammurabi’s Justice News that the Russian response to their re

Illustrative image On January 4, Major General Wanis Boukhamada, a special forces commander of the Libyan Nation Army (LNA), said in an interview to the Libyan TV that the LNA’s next mission will be the battle for the city of Derna located in northeastern Libya. Maj. Gen. Boukhamada revealed the LNA special forces will take part in the Derna battle aimed at capturing the city from the Shura Council of Mujahedeen in Derna. The general also called on Derna’s civilians to find a peaceful solution to expel the Derna Mujahedeen from the city before the start of the battle. “The Special Forces will deploy all of its personnel and equipment in the Derna area to deal with extremists and terrorists in the city… Our people in Derna, if you have a certain way to negotiate with the terrorist group controlling the city and using civilians as human shields, and to reach an agreement with them… so they will withdraw from the city and leave it in peace… We will welcome that,” Maj. Gen. Boukh

Since taking office, President Donald J. Trump has said repeatedly that China could be, and should be, doing more to rein in its unruly neighbor North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. Turns out the president was more right than even he could have imagined. Long before Trump took office, the U.S. intelligence community was well aware that China, as North Korea’s sole recognized ally, provided the regime with much of what it needed to sustain itself. There are a number of reasons for Beijing’s assistance, the first and foremost being that it’s in China’s best interests to keep the North Korean regime intact and in control. Besides, a collapse of North Korea would create a flood of refugees into China and set up a U.S. ally on its borders — neither of which is acceptable to the ruling Communist Party. But a newly disclosed document drawn up by the party shows that China, while publicly claiming to support U.N.-imposed, U.S.-backed economic sanctions against Pyongyang, is