ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Click to see the full-size image Written by Elijah J. Magnier –  @ ejmalrai ; Originally appeared at  his blog Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria “very soon” and to  deliver   the city of Manbij to Turkey fell as a shock to the Syrian Kurds gathered in the northern part of the country. These Kurds, who act on a day-to-day basis as a shield for the US forces, have been deliberately manipulated by the US establishment to cover and protect its occupation forces in the north-east of the Levant. Trump is apparently ready to dump the Kurds from one day to the next. Not content with that, Trump is now putting the Kurds “up for auction”, betting on which Arab country will occupy the Kurdish controlled area and dispose of the territory they are currently based in. So, what are the Kurds’ options? The US President clearly attaches no importance to the fate of the Kurds. He is ready to abandon them, despite knowing that they have no other place to go ...

Illustrative image On June 24, the Yemeni Missiles Force [loyal to the Houthis] announced that it had launched a salvo of Burkan-2H ballistic missiles at the information center of the Defense Ministry of Saudi Arabia and other military positions in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The Burkan-2H is a is a mobile short-range ballistic missile with a range of over 800km. According to experts, the missile is a member of the Soviet Scud family, and shares design features with the Iranian Qiam-1 missile. The Houthis unveiled the Burkan-2H for the first time on July 22 of 2017 when it was launched at Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the UAE-based al-Arabiya TV reported that the Royal Saudi Air Defense Force (RSAF) intercepted a ballistic missile with its Patriot surface-to-air missile systems over Riyadh. Saudi activities released videos confirming the interception of at least one missile. This missile strike is likely a response to the recent attacks of the Saudi-led coalition and its Yeme...