ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Several Chinese bombers, including the H-6K strategic bomber, have landed on contested islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of ongoing landing and takes-off drills in the area. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army said in a statement  that multiple bombers had taken off from a base in southern China and hit a training target before practicing take-off and landing at an airfield built on an unidentified island in the South China Sea. “A division of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) recently organized multiple bombers such as the H-6K to conduct take-off and landing training on islands and reefs in the South China Sea in order to improve our ability to reach all territory, conduct strikes at any time and strike in all directions,” the statement said. The PLAAF’s Weibo microblogging account also quoted defense expert Wang Mingliang as saying that the recent exercises will help China to “strengthen its combat capability to deal with maritime security t...

Veterans Today reports ( source ): The world is yet to respond to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who keeps telling us that Riyadh will pursue a nuclear weapon if its regional rival Iran obtains one, a stance that has been stated more frequently at a time when the whole world has verified that Tehran’s nuclear program is exclusively meant for peaceful purposes. Unfortunately, his comment is yet to raise concerns at the International Atomic Energy Agency or the UN Security Council about nuclear proliferation at a time when the Saudis are seeking foreign technology for their nuclear energy program, including from the United States. It also comes at a time when President Donald Trump has scrapped the nuclear deal between Iran and the permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany. Saudi Arabia has plans to build 16 nuclear power reactors within 25 years, according to the World Nuclear Association. The cost of the projects could reach $80 billion, a huge o...

Click to see the full-size map On May 19, the Libyan National Army (LNA) launched a new ground attack on positions of the Shura Council of Mujahedeen in Derna (SCMD) west of the city of Derna and captured the valleys of Basis and Jirm, according to the Libyan news outlet Africa Gate News. The source also reported that a warplane of the Libyan Air Force had carried out an airstrike on a key position of the SCMD near the Police Academy in Derna. Other Libyan sources said that the LNA artillery had shelled several positions of the SCMD in the western entrance of the city. Meanwhile, the pro-SCMD news outlet Derna Red Line (DRL) claimed that SCMD fighters had repelled an attack of the LNA on the western entrance of Derna. According to the source, SCMD fighters killed and injured several LNA soldiers while repelling the attack. Observers believe that the LNA will develop its ground attack on the western part of Derna in the upcoming days, especially that its attack on the easter...