ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The Syrian government on Monday blamed a rebel attack on a key power line for a blackout that hit Damascus and much of the country's south overnight, leaving residents cold and in the dark amid a fuel crisis that has stranded many at home. Meanwhile, Syria's main opposition postponed the selection of a prime minister and the formation of a transitional government to run the country should the regime of President Bashar Assad fall, highlighting the continued failure of Assad's opponents to unite behind a shared leader or vision nearly two years into the country's crisis. While Damascus's 2.5 million residents have grown used to frequent power cuts as the country's conflict has damaged infrastructure and sapped the government's finances, they said Monday that the overnight outage was the first to darken the entire capital since the conflict began. The blackout hit residents especially hard because of rampant fuel shortages and the winter cold that pushed tempe...

Number Of Kuwaiti Victims Hits 39 KUWAIT CITY, Feb 17: Ten Kuwaiti citizens died in Syria during the months of January and February, which has increased the number of Kuwaiti victims killed in the two-year Syrian revolution to 39 so far. According to Syrian Human Rights Watch, Abu Sulaiman Al-Kuwaiti, a Kuwaiti citizen, died during a fierce battle between the Syrian government forces and fighters of Al-Nasra Islamic Front in Shadadi town of Al-Hiska Governorate near the northwestern border of Syria. Meanwhile, leaders of Free Syria Army revealed that Abu Sulaiman Al-Kuwaiti was killed during an attack on Syrian Army security building, adding it is uncertain whether Al-Kuwaiti died during the combat or in the hands of a suicide bomber. The news about Abu Sulaiman’s death follows the announcement of the death of the 23-year-old Kuwaiti citizen Khalid Hadi Al-Daihan in Deir Al-Zour Area during a similar combat between Al-Nasra Islamic Front and Syrian regime forces. Sources of Syrian regi...

The head of Iraq's intelligence academy and two bodyguards have been killed in a suicide blast in the northern town of Tal Afar, police say. Gen Ali Aouni is believed to be the most senior Iraqi military officer to be killed this year. Official sources told the BBC that the intelligence chief was not the intended target of the attackers. Gen Aouni lived next door to another military figure in the town, who was unhurt in the explosion. Two suicide bombers launched the attack on Saturday but one was shot dead by his neighbour's bodyguards, the BBC's Nahed Abuzeid reports. As Gen Aouni emerged from his home, the second bomber, who had been wounded by the guards, detonated an explosives belt. General Ali Aouni was head of the central college of military staff officers. His neighbour Lt Habib Amin Ilias, who was described as a rapid response force commander, had been targeted before, our correspondent says.Fallujah attack No group has yet admitted carrying out the attack. But Ta...

Car bomb outside restaurant frequented by officials kills two people and leaves two wounded in Somali capital. A car bomb detonated by remote control has killed two people and wounded two others in Somalia's capital, according to police sources. Mohamed Hassan, a local police officer, said Saturday's explosion took place in the parking area of a popular beachfront restaurant in the Lido area of Mogadishu frequented by Somali officials and city residents. The restaurant called Lido Seafood was opened last year following the removal of al-Qaeda-linked fighters from Mogadishu. Hassan said the blast also destroyed cars. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab fighters have launched a series of guerrilla-style attacks in Mogadishu in recent months. The fighters have vowed to topple newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office in September after being chosen by the country's new parliament. But the once powerful...

At least 84 people killed in attack on vegetable market that targeted Hazara Shias in southwestern city of Quetta. A bomb in southwestern Pakistan has killed at least 84 people and left more than 200 others injured, rights activists and officials say. The death toll rose on Sunday, after more bodies were pulled overnight from the rubble left in the wake of the explosion, officials said. Local community leaders told Al Jazeera that rescue workers and victims' families were still identifying bodies, and that the death toll was likely to rise further. Quetta attacks Since January 10, more than 204 people have died in attacks in the southwestern city.  The majority of the victims have been from the Shia minority.   January 10:  117 killed, over 200 injured Alamdar Road   January 12:  2 killed on Brewery Road   January 15:  3 killed in Bakra Mandi   January 19:  4 killed in Khameesa Khan Bugti area   January 21:  3 killed near...

LONDON: A document left behind in the bombed remains of an Al-Qaeda training headquarters in the Malian city of Timbuktu gives a rare insight into the organisation's thinking, a British newspaper reported Thursday. The Daily Telegraph said it had found the Arabic-language document outside a building bombed by French forces who drove the Islamists from the ancient city. The newspaper said the document was the first page of minutes from the 33rd meeting of the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) leadership, held on March 18, 2012. The AQIM chiefs discussed a plan to capitalise on the gains made in northern Mali by the Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine and Tuareg minority rebels. It was suggested that AQIM pushed aside the groups and took control. At the time of the meeting, those groups had just captured a string of towns in the Sahara Desert on Mali's northern border with Algeria. Abou Moussab Abdel Wadoud -- a 42-year-old Algerian dubbed the "prince" of AQIM,...

KABUL, Afghanistan: The Afghan army is training female special forces to take part in night raids against insurgents, breaking new ground in an ultraconservative society and filling a vacuum left by departing international forces. "If men can carry out this duty why not women?" asks Lena Abdali, a 23-year-old Afghan soldier who was one of the first women to join one of the special units in 2011. Night raids have long been a divisive issue between Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who doesn't want foreign troops entering Afghan homes, and the U.S.-led coalition that says the raids are essential to capturing Taliban commanders. Many Afghans, however, have complained that the house raids are culturally offensive. Having male troops search Afghan females is taboo. So is touching a family's Quran, the Muslim holy book, or entering a home without being invited. Another focus of anger has been the disregard for privacy and Afghan culture because women and children are usually...

LONDON: Britain’s military has flown troops and heavy equipment from Ghana to Mali to support the international intervention in the West African nation, the British Defense Ministry said Thursday. A C-17 aircraft is carrying more than 120 members of a Ghanaian engineering company with vehicles and equipment to Bamako, where they will build accommodation and assist with projects like road building as part of the African-led support mission to Mali, the ministry said. The Ghanaian request for a C-17 was made earlier this week, it said, with the first C-17 flights taking off Monday night and continuing through the week. The Ghanaian engineering company will “be there as long as it takes to solve the problem,” according to Col. M’Bawine Atintande, public relations director for the Ghana Armed Forces. Meanwhile, a British newspaper reported that a document left behind in the bombed remains of an Al-Qaeda training headquarters in the Malian city of Timbuktu gives a rare insight into the...