ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Nick Turse July 11 2016, 4:03 p.m. FROM EAST TO WEST across Africa, 1,700 Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, and other military personnel are carrying out 78 distinct “mission sets” in more than 20 nations, according to documents obtained by The Intercept via the Freedom of Information Act. “The SOCAFRICA operational environment is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous,” says Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, using the acronym of the secretive organization he presides over, Special Operations Command Africa. “It’s a wickedly complex environment tailor-made for the type of nuanced and professional cooperation SOF [special operations forces] is able to provide.” Equally complex is figuring out just what America’s most elite troops on the continent are actually doing, and who they are targeting. In documents from a closed-door presentation delivered by Bolduc late last year and a recent, little-noticed question and answer with a military publication, the SOCAFRICA commander offered new clues a

The two-month battle for the Islamic State group's Libyan stronghold of Sirte has killed more than 240 unity government fighters and wounded over 1,400, a medic said Tuesday. Forces loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord began an operation in May to recapture the coastal city which the IS jihadists overran in June last year. By retaking Sirte, the hometown of late dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the GNA forces would deal a major blow to IS which has faced a series of setbacks in Iraq and Syria. +1 Fighters from the pro-government forces loyal to Libya's Government of National Unity (GNA) are seen around a tank on July 2, 2016 as they take position to hit Islamic State (IS) group targets in Sirte ©Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File) The command centre of the unity forces for the military operations against IS is in Misrata, 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of Tripoli. "The toll of martyrs after two months of fighting is 241 dead and more than 1,400 wounded,"

BAGHDAD — The United States will send 560 more troops to Iraq to transform a freshly retaken air base into a staging hub for the long-awaited battle to recapture Mosul from Islamic State militants, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday. The new American forces should arrive in the coming weeks. Most of the engineers, logistics personnel, security and communications forces will concentrate on building up Qayara air base, about 40 kilometers south of Mosul. They will assist Iraqi forces planning to encircle and eventually retake the biggest city anywhere that has fallen under ISIS' control. The extremist group captured Mosul in the summer of 2014. It has used the city as a main headquarters since.

The regime has cut off the only road to eastern parts of the city controlled by antigovernment forces Civilians were reportedly killed in both government-controlled and rebel-held quarters of Aleppo on Monday after antigovernment forces launched an assault in the divided north Syrian city. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that rebels attempted to regain control of the Castello Road, the only supply route into the eastern part of the city they control, which had been severed by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Shelling by rebel forces — which comprise Free Syrian Army, the Islamic Front and other groups — killed nine civilians, according to figures from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , a group based in the U.K, cited by AFP. The group estimated that 13 civilians were killed in airstrikes by the regime focused on the Bab al-Maqam neighborhood. Aleppo, the largest city in Syria and one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, has been d

By Jeremy R. Hammond It is time for the citizens of the world to effect the paradigm shift required to bring about a peaceful resolution to the world’s most infamous conflict. Twelve years ago today, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion at the request of the United Nations General Assembly on the legality of the wall Israel has constructed in the West Bank. The ICJ affirmed that all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are “occupied Palestinian territory”, and that Israel’s wall, as well as its settlements, violate the Fourth Geneva Convention. The ICJ’s ruling helps to underscore the prejudicial nature of the discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Western mainstream media—and particularly in the US. The media never fail to elevate Israel’s policy aims to the same level of legitimacy as international law. For example, we can frequently read in the New York Times, the Washington Post, et al, that East Jerusalem o

The Saker So the much advertised NATO summit in Warsaw finally took place. It was a total success, at least if the criterion is that the outcome matched the expectations: Poroshenko and Nadezhda Savchenko were invited and treated like a respected guest Russia was condemned for her “aggressions” in Georgia, Crimea and the Ukraine The Poles plastered Warsaw with posters saying “ACHTUNG RUϟϟIA” The Balts each got one NATO battalion to deter the Russian Bear Russia was condemned for not abiding by the Minks2 Agreement Enough hot air was released to worsen global warming by at least 10 degrees Frankly, I don’t feel like commenting on all this idiocy. Besides, all these pseudo-decisions never were the true purpose of this summit. This summit had a totally different objective and that objective too was fully achieved. The real purpose of the summit was to force each western political leader to chose between reality and ideology. And they all made the correct choice, of course. T

FILE PHOTO / Sputnik / © Dmitriy Vinogradov As a military helicopter was downed in Syria by Islamic State, resulting in the deaths of two Russian pilots, RT sits down with political analyst Catherine Shakdam, who says that while soldiers die fighting terror, some governments continue pushing for their political agendas. Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants shot down a military helicopter in Syria on July 8, killing two Russian military instructor pilots. This took place near Palmyra where another Russian lieutenant was killed in action earlier this year. The helicopter had been attacking terrorists at Damascus’ request when it was taken down, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. RT: Does this attack on the helicopter mean ISIS has weapons capable of shooting down an aircraft. Is this a new development? Catherine Shakdam: Definitely, and I think it is quite worrying. It is harks back to stories we’ve heard, allegations that were made just a

An anti-submarine rocket blasts off a rocket launcher from the Bulgarian navy frigate "Drazki" during the BREEZE 2014 military drill in the Black Sea © Velko Angelov / AFP As NATO agreed on plans to beef up its naval, land and aerial presence in the Black Sea region at a summit in Poland, Bulgaria once again called for the diffusion of tensions with Russia. As the NATO summit was underway in Warsaw, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said that increased NATO activity in the Black Sea, which had been one of the measures proposed in the Polish capital, would lead to a counter reaction from Russia. “The Black Sea should be declared a demilitarized zone,” Borissov said. NATO already increased its regional activities following a Crimean vote to join Russia in March 2014. Western nations denounced the move as a land grab by Russia, and NATO insists that the region must remain under Ukrainian sovereignty. Moscow sees it as a legitimate exercise of the right for self-determinat