ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: AFP PHOTO / AHMED FARWANAHMED FARWAN/AFP/Getty Images Over 1,000 Saudi soldiers have been killed in Yemen since early 2015, Saudi state media says. The Saudi-led coalition intervened Yemen in March 2015 in order to establish own puppet government in the country. However, Saudi and Saudi-backed forces faced a fierce resistance from the Houthis and their allies. Since then, the conflict has been flaring in Yemen. The Yemeni capital of Sanaa and a large part central and northern Yemen are still in the hands of the Houthis. The recent report about over 1,000 Saudi troops killed in the conflict is a rare admission of the military casualties by the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has a policy of withholding information on the casualties it has suffered during the conflict. Saudi-led forces are currently advancing along the western coast of the country with an aim to ccapture the key port city of Hudaydah.  MORE HERE If the Saudi military and its proxie...

FILE PHOTO: The S-400 Triumf anti-air missile system © Alexey Malgavko Russia and India are about to sign a $ 6 billion worth deal on S-400 air defense systems delivery,  Russian news agency RBC reported  on May 29 quoting own sources. RBC sources claimed that “5 regiments” could be delivered to India. A source from the Russian Ministry of Defense told RBC that four S-400 regiments and an additional regiment with ammunition and repair parts could be delivered. According to RBC sources, India and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on May 28. The total value of the contract will be $6,2 billion. A source from the Indian side acknowledged with a course of the talks reported that the deal is at the final point. According to the source, the only problem of the deal is a risk for India to be slapped with US sanctions. The source pointed out that India is negotiating with the US over this issue. On August 2, 2017 US President Trump signed a federal law “Counte...

The Israeli-Palestinian military escalation has been developing  in the Gaza Strip and the nearby area. Since May 29, the Israeli Defense Forces (SDF) have attacked at least 65 targets in the Gaza Strip. The targets were allegedly belonging to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement and included alleged facilities manufacturing rocket launchers and rocket engines. The IDF also claimed that its forces are currently operating in Gaza. The round of escalation started from mortar shelling from Gaza early on May 29. Throughout the day, Palestinian forces launched at least 70 mortar shells and rockets at Israeli targets. The situation is developing. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups claimed that “bombings will be met with bombings and blood with blood”. They described the recent increased wave of shelling on Israeli targets as a “response to the Zionist aggression and the crimes against our people and the members of the resistance.” The map below shows the following a...