ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

File image On June 20, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies launched a limited military operation against ISIS in the eastern Homs countryside and secured 2,500km2 between the city of Palmyra and the town of Hamimah. A source in the SAA told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that the SAA secured the following areas in eastern Homs during the operation: Tell al-Kibd, Irtiwaziyat al-Akfan, Bir al-Akfan, Tulul al-Jabri, Tulul al-Habari, Bir al-Tayariyah, Bir al-Wurud, Bir Zuid, Bir al-Samadiyah, Bir Atshan, Bir Sijar, Bir al-Bathiyah, Saad al-Waer, Bir Makr al-Waer. The SAA also advanced in the southern and southwestern Deir Ezzor countryside securing 1,200km2 between the areas of Faydat ibn Muiny’a, the T-2 station, M’aizliyah and Dahrat Wadi al-Miyah, according to the SANA. A week earlier,  the SAA launched a similar military operation  during which its forces secured 2,000km2 in the western Deir Ezzor countryside, including Faydat ibn Muiny’a. These lim...

Written by  Tom Luongo ; Originally appeared on  tomluongo.me I’ve told you that once you start down the Trade War path forever will it dominate your destiny. Well here we are.  Trump slaps big tariffs on aluminum and steel in a bid to leverage Gary Cohn’s  ICE Wall plan to control the metals and oils futures markets .   I’m not sure how much of this stuff I believe but it is clear that the futures price for most strategically important commodities are divorced from the real world. Alistair Crooke also noted the importance of Trump’s  ‘energy dominance’ policy recently , which I suggest strongly you read. But today’s edition of “As the Trade War Churns” is about China and their willingness to shift their energy purchases away from U.S. producers.   Irina Slav at Oilprice.com  has the good bits. The latest escalation in the tariff exchange, however, is a little bit different than all the others so far.  It’s different b...

A screenshot from the video Egyptian forces have killed at least 32 militants in two separate operations in the province of Northern Sinai, according to a statement released by the country’s military. According to the statement, the Egyptian Air Force alos destroyed two vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunition and 21 hideouts of the terrorists. In February, the Egyptian Army and security forces launched a wide-scale operation against militants, mostly members of ISIS, in Northern Sinai. According to data from the Egyptian military, 318 militants and 37 military personnel have so far been killed. The operation is still ongoing. A total of 272 hideouts of militants were discovered and destroyed, and 250 wanted criminals and suspects were detained.