ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Female Kurdish fighter known as ‘Rehana’ (Image from Twitter user / @PawanDurani) Reports about the beheading of a young female Kurdish warrior known as ‘Rehana’ who fought for Kobani and reportedly killed scores of jihadists have sparked controversy. Other reports by people who claim to have contacted her say she is alive. A young girl, wearing military gear and holding a gun, has become an Internet sensation after a picture of her showing a victory salute went viral . @NYDailyNews : "The sharp shooter #YPG worrier #Rehana " pic.twitter.com/f7cZT1LXM0 — Siyar (@yabanciyork) October 28, 2014 The photo was posted on Twitter by Kurdish journalist Pawan Durani with a caption reading: “Rehana has killed more than 100 ISIS terrorists in Kobani". On October 26, Rehana’s supporters were shocked by “unconfirmed” reports claiming that she had been kidnapped or executed by Islamic State jihadists, who may have beheaded her. #Breaking : #ISIS claims to have beheaded young #Kurdi

As long-time readers of GeoCurrents may have noted, I have rather mixed feelings about the New York Times. I am often critical of Times articles and columnists, and I find the newspaper’s coverage of world events too spotty and incomplete to be satisfying. But I also start off every morning with the print edition, and I can’t imagine doing otherwise. Sometimes I find the Times truly impressive. A case in point is a current on-line series of map s, photographs, and satellite images called A Visual Guide to the Crisis in Iraq and Syria. I have reproduced a few of the images here — the rest are worth a look as well. A few words are in order about why I chose these particular images, even though several of them are out of date. In regard to “A Closer Look at Mt. Sinjar,” the detail is simply astounding: one dot for every vehicle! TheTime’s hybrid map-satellite-images, such as “Encroaching on Baghdad,” are innovative, informative, and visually arresting. A somewhat similar map, “U.S. St

Most maps that show the distribution of ethnic groups within particular countries are relatively simple, depicting a few discrete populations within large, contiguous blocks of territory. The distinguishing characteristics of such groups are rarely specified. A good example of such a useful yet overly simplified map is the Washington Post’sportrayal of Syria posted here. This map reduces the complex mosaic of Syria to three groups, two based on religion (Sunni and Alawite) and the other primarily on language (Kurd). But as most Syrian Kurds are Sunni Muslims, the portrayal is somewhat misleading. A better key would have labeled the tan color as indicating the distribution of Sunni Arabs, although in actuality many non-Arab (as well as non-Muslim) communities are scattered across this large swath of Syrian territory. But an internet image search of “Syria ethnicity map” returns a sizable number of far better maps that depict vastly more intricate patterns. As it turns out, most of thes

In a major setback to President Assad, the second city – Idlib – narrowly escapes falling to jihadists as rebels storm provincial governor’s office and set about executing senior regime officers. Archive image of Idlib province BY ROBERT FISK  Syria almost lost its second city to the jihadists of Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra last night when hundreds of fighters stormed into the provincial capital, Idlib, captured the newly installed governor’s office and began beheading Syrian army officers. By the time government troops recaptured the building, at least 70 soldiers – many senior officers – had been executed, leaving one of the oldest cities in Syria in chaos. “They were slaughtered,” a message to Damascus said before the army was able to declare Idlib saved. The eastern city of Raqqa has been in the hands of Isis for months, but Idlib lies strategically placed between Aleppo and the coastal city of Latakia – both of which are still held by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Idlib’s fa

The new Emir of the self-proclaimed Caucasus Emirate (CE), located in Russia’s North Caucasus region, is making changes to the modus operandi of the organization. Ali Abu Muhammad (Aliaskhab Kebekov) was originally appointed as qadi, or senior Islamic judge, in October 2010. After the death of Doku Umarov in September 2013, the group appointed Abu Muhammad as Emir in March 2014 (apparently, it had taken the group some time to confirm the death of Umarov). In recent media releases, Abu Muhammad has given notice of a number of new policies, and provided official comment on several pressing issues for the insurgency. In one of his earlier releases, Abu Muhammad calls on fighters to engage in the conflict on a political, economic, and informational front – not just the military one. In relation to this, he admits that the insurgency cannot simply take every person who wants to join, especially those who are not physically fit. He has asked aspiring fighters not to attempt to make their way

Patrick Johnson China-India: The Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra River is a 2,900 km river that originates in Tibet and flows through India’s Arunachal Pradesh state before merging with the Ganges and draining into the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. It is considered an important resource in all three countries that it flows through: for energy-hungry China, it provides hydroelectricity; and for India and Bangladesh, a key agricultural lifeline in otherwise overpopulated and arid region. The Brahmaputra River is particularly important to the agricultural industry in India’s Assam plains, and worries have arisen recently regarding a series of hydroelectric plants that China is in various stages of construction on its Tibetan plateau. Some experts believe that these projects will reduce the flow of the Brahmaputra in India, compounding an already tenuous water situation in the affected areas. While there is no comprehensive bilateral treaty in place for the sustainable management of t

A Donetsk bus stop, which was destroyed by a Ukrainian military artillery attack.(RIA Novosti / Gennady Dubovoy) The result of the postponed Ukraine EU association agreement has been “thousands of lives lost and almost a million left homeless,” Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin said. He also said that warnings from Russia almost a year ago were ignored. Churkin said at the very start of the conflict that Russia had warned that all parties needed to be included in talks and the rights of all had to be respected, no matter which region they came from. With his pleas not heeded, a vast humanitarian catastrophe has taken place in the eastern part of Ukraine. “What do we have today? Today Kiev and Brussels have returned to the position, which they needed to start with: suspend the association talks with the EU, which is exactly what the toppled President Viktor Yanokovich wanted,” said Russia’s Ambassador to the UN. “Due to a year of decisions, thousands of people have died, alm

"Party of war" rather than the "party of peace" winning Ukrainian parliamentary elections: DPR Prime Minister said© REUTERS/ Sergei Karpukhin The so-called "party of war" is winning the Ukrainian parliamentary elections, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is not ruling out the resumption of hostilities, said the DPR Prime Minister Aleksander Zakharchenko. "According to the first results of the elections, the winner is rather the "party of war" than the "party of peace." Yatsenyuk, Turchynov, Lyashko and Poroshenko himself – all these politicians backed military actions against us," Zakharchenko told reporters on Sunday. Zakharchenko added that the DPR expects Kiev to take a tough stance against the People's Republic. "The ceasefire that we discussed since September 5 was used by Kiev for troops repositioning, getting fresh forces and new weapons," Zakharchenko said. Early parliamentary elect