ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

SANAA: Saudi-led air strikes on a market killed 119 people this week in northern Yemen’s rebel-held Hajja province, the United Nations said Thursday, nearly three times the previously reported death toll. Among those killed in Mastaba district on Tuesday were 22 children, while another 47 people were wounded, the UNICEF children’s agency said. It is one of the highest death tolls since the Saudi-led coalition launched a bombing campaign in support of the internationally recognised government against Huthi rebels and their allies in March last year. Medics and tribal sources had previously reported 41 people killed in the strikes, and a health official in Hajja said the dead were civilians. But a tribal chief close to the rebels on Wednesday told AFP that 33 of those killed were fighters of the Iran-backed Huthis. A coalition spokesperson said the strikes targeted “a militia gathering” in a place for buying and selling qat, a mild narcotic that is chewed throughout Yemen. “We strongl

By Pepe Escobar Let’s start with some classic Russian politics. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov is drawing up Russia's economic strategy for 2016, including the government budget. Siluanov – essentially a liberal, in favor of foreign investment - will present his proposals to the Kremlin by the end of this month. So far, nothing spectacular. But then, a few days ago, Kommersant leaked that Russia's Security Council asked presidential aide Sergei Glazyev to come up with a separate economic strategy, to be presented to the council this week. This is not exactly a novelty, as the Russian Security Council in the past has asked small strategy groups for their economic assessment. The Security Council is led by Nikolai Patrushev, the former head of the Federal Security Service. He and Siluanov are not exactly on the same wavelength. And here’s where the plot thickens. Glazyev, a brilliant economist, is a Russian nationalist – sanctioned personally by the US. Glazyev is arguably going

While Russia is withdrawing most of its forces from Syria, they could be deployed there again in a matter of hours if such a need arises, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated. He added that the Russian bases in Syria are well-protected. “Of course, if such a need arises, Russia can, in several hours, build up its forces in Syria to a size capable of dealing with an escalating situation and use the entire range of means at its disposal,” Putin said. “We wouldn’t like that. A military escalation is not our choice. We hope the parties involved would show common sense and that both the government and the opposition will stick to the peace process,” he added. Putin was summarizing the results of the Russian five-month-long anti-terror campaign in Syria at a solemn ceremony in Moscow. The Russian president said Moscow was open in saying from the start of the operation that it was a limited campaign with a set deadline. “We have created the conditions for a peace process. We have establish

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 villages reco

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 around the