ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Syrian War Report, September 14, 2016   The Russian General Staff reported that US-backed ‘opposition forces’ have violated the ceasefire regime 23 time since its implementation. The US-backed ‘moderate groups’ have shelled both residential areas and positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). As result, 6 people were killed in Aleppo and 10 wounded. Russian and Syrian officers in Syria fell under fire while giving a report from Aleppo during a conference video call between Moscow and Russia’s reconciliation center at the Khmeimin base in Syria. The incident took place at the Russia-led observation point at the Castello Highway. The incident clearly shows the real level of implementation of the nationwide ceasefire by the US-backed side. On September 13, the Russian military has established an observation point at the Castello Highway and deployed operative groups in the Hama countryside. Additionally, the Russian ...

The Russian-made MiG-31 fighter jet is able to maintain combat effectiveness despite the potential use of active and passive radar jammers and thermal decoys by adversaries. If four MiG-31 jets are united in a group, they are able to control an area of air space across a total length of 800–900 km. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, it’s epxected that the MiG-31 will remain in service till 2030. Click to see the full-size map The MiGs Return: It is easy to forget, given that the Russian airgroup at Hmeimim was wholly composed of Sukhoi aircraft, including the Su-24, -25, -27, -30, -34, and -35, that the word MiG has been synonymous with “fighter” for most of the post-World War 2, era. MiG Design Bureau’s dominance started with the famous MiG-15 fighter of the Korean War fame, through MiG-17, -19, and -21 of the Vietnam War, Arab-Israeli Wars, and the India-Pakistan conflicts and ending with the MiG-23 that was the frontline Soviet fighter for most of the 1970s and 1980s an...

PALMYRA, SYRIA (5:40 P.M.) - Minutes ago, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on Tuesday, their Air Force killed 250 Islamic State terrorists and destroyed 15 of their vehicles near the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur) in the Homs Governorate. "Anti-Daesh fight is going on. Yesterday, the Russian Aerospace Forces conducted airstrikes to the north of Palmyra where a group of Daesh terrorists was preparing offensive on the city," Lt. Gen. Viktor Poznikhir, first deputy chief of the General Staff's Main Operational Department, said at a news briefing in the Defense Ministry. The Islamic State was expected to launch a large-scale offensive at Palmyra in the coming days after they conducted several small attacks near the International Highway over the last two weeks. Lt. Gen.Poznikhir did not specify which airport the Russian Air Force used to launch this attack; however, several reports last week indicated that Moscow and Tehran are once again negotiating the use of...

Different jihadi groups fighting the Syrian government have been increasingly recruiting children soldiers as the conflict sweeps the war-torn country for the sixth year. Since the Al-Qaeda franchise in Syria, Jabhet al-Nusra, established itself in Syria in January 2012, child recruitment has become more widely practiced, and even got wider and more organized with the emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2013. The two ultraconservative groups created training camps for children where they are brainwashed and instilled with Takfiri ideology to become jihadi fighters and suicide bombers. The process significantly increased with the Nusra-led Jaish al-Fateh taking over the northwestern province of Idlib in May 2015. Analysts identify the notorious Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhesini as the godfather of recruiting children soldiers in rebel-held territories, especially Idlib. In 2013, al-Muhesini launched his wide-scale recruiting campaign in Idlib (which later expanded to ...

Aleppo, Syria (12:10 P.M.) - The Russian Marines have replaced the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) along the Castillo Highway in northern Aleppo after the ceasefire agreement took effect last night. Initially, a member of the Syrian Arab Army's "Tiger Forces" told Al-Masdar News that their units did not receive any instructions regarding their withdrawal from the Castillo Highway. However, on Monday, the Syrian Arab Army's High Command instructed the Tiger Forces to withdraw 1km north of the Castillo Highway in order to allow the Russian Marines to facilitate a humanitarian corridor along this roadway.

If the truce holds for a week, the US and Russia will form an unprecedented military partnership that will control airstrikes targeting Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra Syrian President Bashar al-Assad walking in a damaged Damascus suburb ahead of morning Eid Al-Adha prayers just hours ahead of the start of a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia. AP A ceasefire began at sunset aimed at ending the five-year long civil war in Syria that has killed over a quarter of a million Syrians and forced five million more to flee the country. Under an agreement between the US and Russia, the initial truce will last seven days, during which time UN convoys will bring aid to besieged districts and Syrian government bombing of civilian areas will stop. The Syrian army said a seven-day “calm” would be applied across Syria from 7pm on Monday, but it reserved the right to respond decisively “using all forms of fire to any violation by the arm

Quneitra, Syria (12:47 A.M.) – Hours after the massive offensive Ahrar Al-Sham and Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fath Al-Shami announced in Quneitra province in southern Syria, the Syrian Army was able to fully repel the jihadist offensive. Aside from the Al-Qaba’ hill, the offensive was an abysmal failure as the assault on the strategic Unit 4 Hill, otherwise known as Tarinja Unit Hill, did not fruit any gains while costing dozens of lives and several armored vehicles. The forces officially involved in this offensive are JFS, Ahrar Al-Sham, and Bait Al-Maqdis who are very similar to Jund Al-Aqsa due to their links to the ISIS-backed faction of Jaish Khaled Ibn Al-Walid.

SEN. RAND PAUL’S expression of opposition to a $1.1 billion U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia — which has been brutally bombing civilian targets in Yemen using U.S.-made weapons for more than a year now — alarmed CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday afternoon. Blitzer’s concern: That stopping the sale could result in fewer jobs for arms manufacturers. “So for you this is a moral issue,” he told Paul during the Kentucky Republican’s appearance on CNN. “Because you know, there’s a lot of jobs at stake. Certainly if a lot of these defense contractors stop selling war planes, other sophisticated equipment to Saudi Arabia, there’s going to be a significant loss of jobs, of revenue here in the United States. That’s secondary from your standpoint?” Paul stayed on message. “Well not only is it a moral question, its a constitutional question,” Paul said. “Our founding fathers very directly and specifically did not give the president the power to go to war. They gave it to Congress. So Congress n...