ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

BRUSSELS — The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford, says Taliban insurgents are inflicting heavy losses on Afghan national security forces as the Afghans assume the lead. U.S. Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a gathering where U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel joined NATO defense ministers to talk about the way forward in Afghanistan as international forces prepare to draw down next year. As that drawdown nears, international troops are taking up more of a support role and it is the Afghans who are in the lead against the insurgents. Now on the front lines with international troops only providing backup, the Afghans are at risk for greater losses. Several weeks into the fighting season, General Dunford said the Taliban has done what it said it would do: step up high-profile assaults and insider attacks to create fear and intimidation. He called the losses among Afghan forces significant. “The numbers have been, as I look back

The military trial of U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning began Monday.  He is charged with violating the Espionage Act by knowingly leaking thousands of classified documents to the Wikileaks whistleblower website . The documents, including sensitive State Department cables and classified military logs from Iraq and Afghanistan, comprised one of the largest breaches of security in U.S. history. Shortly after Wikileaks began posting the material online in May 2010, Manning, an intelligence analyst serving in Iraq, was detained by military authorities and has been held in solitary confinement since. Although he has already admitted leaking the documents and pleaded guilty to some of the charges, his closely watched trial is expected to last the summer. What Is Wikileaks? International not-for-profit group that publishes anonymously-submitted material online. Published leaks includes internal documents from the Church of Scientology, secret memos targeting corruption in the Kenyan gover

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Prime Minister-designate Nawaz Sharif will review anti-terrorism cooperation with the United States soon after taking office.  A close adviser to Sharif says the incoming government will demand an immediate end to controversial American drone strikes within Pakistani territory for better future ties. The newly-elected National Assembly on Wednesday will formally select Nawaz Sharif as the country’s prime minister for an unprecedented third time because his political party, the Pakistan Muslim League or PML-N, enjoys a majority in the lower house of parliament. On the home front, the incoming government is expected to look for ways to revive a deteriorating economy by addressing the severe energy crisis facing the country.  But critics say Sharif will also have to take urgent steps to ease strains plaguing diplomatic relations with the United States and seek an immediate end to drone strikes on Pakistani soil, a commitment he undertook during the election campaig

A senior Chinese general says warships will continue to patrol waters where Beijing has territorial claims, despite disputes with other Asian countries. Speaking at an annual security conference in Singapore Sunday, Lieutenant-General Qi Jianguo, deputy chief of the People's Liberation Army, said Beijing regards the East China Sea and the South China Sea as being under Chinese sovereignty. Qi told the delegates that Chinese warships and patrolling activities are totally legitimate and uncontroversial. China is embroiled in territorial disputes with Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia over several resource-rich islands in the two seas.

Police detain campaigners for leading opposition candidate Hassan Rouhani in Tehran ahead of June 14 presidential poll. Supporters of a leading candidate in this month's presidential election in Iran have been arrested in Tehran, an aide to the candidate has said. Hassan Rouhani was speaking to young followers during a campaign meeting in a mosque on Saturday when police picked up several supports and members of the campaign team of the the reformist candidate, his campaign manager, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, told the semi-official Mehr news agency. "Some people were detained on the street after leaving the meeting, Nematzadeh told The Associated Press. Rouhani is close to the ruling clerical elite and criticised the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the first televised election debate on Friday. The June 14 election is to choose a replacement for Ahmadinejad, who cannot run for a third term. Authorities have already pared down the list of candidates to eight

At least 61 people killed in fire triggered by explosions in electrical system of farm in Jilin province. A large fire at a poultry processing plant and processing plant in northeastern China has killed at least 61 people, state media reports. The fire on Monday in Jilin province's Mishazi township appeared to have been sparked by three early Monday morning explosions in the farm's electrical system, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The blaze charred the entire facility and trapped workers inside sheds. Firefighters had extinguished the blaze by early afternoon but were continuing rescue work, reports said. Photos from the scene posted on Chinese news websites showed thick smoke billowing from the cement and corrugated iron sheds. The semi-official China News Service quoted company officials as saying liquid ammonia had leaked and caused the explosion. The rescue efforts were hampered by narrow exits and the "complicated interior structure" of the prefabricat

At least 12 dead bodies found near islands in Ranong province after boat sank in bad weather. The bodies of at least 12 migrant workers from Myanmar have been found in the sea off Thailand's west coast after their boat sank during bad weather. Police Major General Taweeporn Churin said the bodies of six men and three women were found near islands in Ranong province on Monday, after their boat sank early on Saturday morning. He said marine police also retrieved the bodies of three women on Saturday. Taweeporn added that 38 people were rescued. Ranong is 460 kilometres south of Bangkok and borders Myanmar. Police say it is common for migrant workers to travel by boat to illegally enter Thailand.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Russia has begun fulfilling some of its weapons contracts, but he did not say whether those deliveries include components of a controversial air defense system. Assad spoke Thursday in an interview televised on Al-Manar - a station controlled by the Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah - a close Assad ally. Moscow had promised to go ahead with the long-delayed sale of the S-300 air defense system, despite warnings this week from Israel that it would view such a move as a security threat. Assad said "it is not our policy to talk publicly about military issues," saying the various defense contracts with its longtime ally "have nothing to do" with Syria's ongoing civil war. On Thursday, as media reports of S-300 deliveries circulated, Israeli newspapers quoted a top Israeli official as saying the Jewish state would respond at a point the S-300 missile system is operational. The Israeli daily Haaretz quoted National