ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Click to see the full-size image On March 6, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the Tiger Forces and their allies advanced on positions of Jaish al-Islam, Ahrar al-Sham, Faylaq al-Rahman and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) in the areas of Harasta, Hawsh Ashari, Bayt Siwwa in the Eastern Ghouta region. Clashes also continued in the area of Rayhan. On March 5, government forces entered it, but was not able to supress the militants’ resistance there. In total, government troops had already established control over about 36% of the area controlled by militants before the start of the operation. While the SAA and its allies made a major part of its gains in the eastern part of Eastern Ghouta, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham members and their counterparts also faced a significant pressure in the district of Harasta. According to pro-government sources, the SAA is now aiming to cut the district off from the areas of Duma and Madera. Click to see the full-size image The ...

Russian Eastern Military District Press Office/TASS The Russian state-run news agency TASS reports ( source ): Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has been quite successful in its efforts to match the status of a major weapons exporter. In 2017 the export of Russian military hardware went up for a third year running to above $15 billion. “Russia matches high standards and confirms its status of one of the leading providers on the world weapons market,” he said at a meeting of the commission on military-technical cooperation. “The export of military hardware has grown for a third year in a row to more than $15 billion.” Putin also declared that the value of weapons export contracts signed last year doubled to $16 billion. “The scope of our military-technical cooperation keeps growing in geographic terms steadily. The number of partners has already exceeded one hundred countries,” Putin said. “At the end of last year the amount of contracts signed nearly do...