ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

ANKARA: At least 45 Kurdish rebels were killed in Turkish air strikes against suspected militant targets in northern Iraq following the suicide car bombing in Ankara, the military said Tuesday, while clashes in the mainly-Kurdish city of Diyarbakir left a police officer and three Kurdish militants dead. Turkish F-16 and F4 jets struck Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, positions across the border in Iraq on Monday, a day after the attack which killed 37 people and wounded dozens of others. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Ankara attack, which authorities say was carried out by a female bomber and a possible male accomplice. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were "almost certain" indications that the PKK carried out the attack. The attack escalated tensions with the Kurds and further complicated Turkey's place in the region as it battles a host of enemies across its borders including the Syrian government, Kurdish rebels in both Iraq and...

At least 65 civilians were killed on Tuesday in airstrikes carried out by Saudi-led coalition aircrafts that hit a crowded market in north of Sanaa. "So far, the death toll mounted to 65 civilians and 55 others injured when the Saudi-led fighter jets launched two airstrikes on Al-Khamees market in Mastaba district in Hajja province," a medical official told Xinhua. Doctors without Borders reported that they have received about 40 injured from the airstrikes in Mastaba district and they were brought to the organisation-hosted Rural Hospital in Abs district. Hajja, about 123 km northwest of the rebel-held Sanaa, is another stronghold of the rebel Shiite Houthi rebels, who also control northern provinces, while southern provinces have been retaken over the past few months by the government forces loyal to the internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The Saudi-led coalition started daily air bombing on the Shiite Houthi rebels and their allied forces since Mar...

By The Saker “I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished. That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow,” Putin said on Monday during a meeting with Shoigu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “In a short period of time Russia has created a small but very effective military group in Syria. The effective work of our military forces allowed the peace process to begin,” Putin said, adding that “Russian government troops and [Syria’s] patriotic forces have changed the situation in the fight with international terrorism and have ceased the initiative.” The first question which needs to be asked is whether this is correct: have the Russians achieved their objective or not? To answer this question, we need to look at what the initial Russian objectives were. I did that in my article “ Week Thirteen of the Russian Intervention i...

The Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” launched a new offensive in the Hama Governorate’s southeastern countryside on Monday, targeting the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) controlled villages of Al-Rumliyah and Al-Madajin inside the Al-Salamiyah District.  However, despite the sheer force behind this assault in southeastern Hama, the Jabhat Al-Nusra militants attacking these villages were repelled rather quickly by the Syrian Armed Forces, thanks in large part to the assistance from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF). According to a military correspondent in Damascus City, the Syrian Arab Army’s 47th Brigade of the 11th Tank Division and the National Defense Forces (NDF) reported no casualties during the Nusra assault on Monday.  Jabhat Al-Nusra, on-the-hand, suffered a dozen casualties during their failed offensive in southeastern Hama. The Jihadist groups operating in the Hama Governorate have recently stepped up their military activity after several rebel controlled vill...

On Monday morning in the eastern countryside of the Homs Governorate, the Syrian Arab Army’s “Tiger Forces” – backed by the Desert Hawks Brigade and Liwaa Imam ‘Ali (Iraqi paramilitary) – continued their ground operations in the vicinity of Palmyra (Tadmur), striking several sites under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS).  The Syrian Armed Forces began their assault in Palmyra’s northern countryside on Monday, where they attempted to advance towards the Brigade 550 headquarters from the Ancient Palmyra Quarries that were recently contested prior to the government’s progress along the Al-Bayarat front. Southwest of Brigade 550, the Tiger Forces attacked ISIS’ first line of defense at Al-Dawah, resulting in a fierce battle that lasted for most of the day.  Despite the lack of progress at Al-Dawah, the Syrian Armed Forces were able to impose full control over Point 853 in Jabal Hayyal after a violent battle with the ISIS terrorists entrenched a...

MOSCOW: A first group of Russian military planes Tuesday left Moscow's base in Syria heading for home after President Vladimir Putin's shock order to withdraw most of his forces from the war-torn country, the defense ministry said. "The first group of Russian planes has flown out of the Hmeimim air base for their permanent bases on the territory of the Russian Federation," the ministry said in a statement, adding that they included Su-34 bombers and a Tu-154 transport plane. The ministry said that aircraft would leave the air base in groups made up of one transport plane carrying technical personnel or equipment accompanied by Russian warplanes. "Each group in this format will fly according to a prearranged route to the border of the Russia Federation and after crossing it all the planes will fly on independently to their own bases," the statement said. Putin had Monday stunned the West by ordering the withdrawal of the main part of Russia's forces in Sy...

By Moon Of Alabama Syria's Idleb province is held by Jabhat al-Nusra, aka al-Qaeda in Syria, and Ahrar al Sham with a sprinkling of "moderates" added to the mix. While Nusra and Ahrar have support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the "moderates" are supported by the CIA which provides them with anti-tank weapons. When in 2013 these groups stormed government held positions in Idleb, Nusra, Ahrar and Islamic State Jihadis were leading the fighting and employed suicide bombers. Their attacks were supported by electronic warfare measures from Turkey which disabled the Syrian Army's communication. The CIA "moderates" were integrated as anti-tank teams using their U.S. supplied weapons in support of the Jihadi offense. The U.S. supported groups in Idleb are currently grouped under the moniker "Division 13" or "Brigade 13". The cessation of hostilities in Syria means that all these "moderates" in Idleb province have time...

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he was instructing his armed forces to start pulling out of Syria, over five months after he ordered the launch of a military operation that shored up his ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. Putin, at a meeting in the Kremlin with his defense and foreign ministers, said Russian military forces in Syria had largely fulfilled their objectives and ordered an intensification of Russia's diplomatic efforts to broker a peace deal in the country. But the Russian leader signaled Moscow would keep a military presence: he did not give a deadline for the completion of the withdrawal and said Russian forces would stay on at the port of Tartous and at the Hmeimim military airport in Syria's Latakia province. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had telephoned Assad to inform him of the Russian decision. The move was announced on the day United Nations-brokered talks between the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva. "The ef...