ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

After the incident with allegedly downed Israeli aircraft over Syria , the Israeli Air Force continued to conduct air strikes on the Syrian army’s positions in the province of Quneitra. At least 1 Israeli air strike was reported at the Jandal Castle at the top of al-Shiekh mountain and another one targeted the Syrian army’s artillery base near the village of Ayn Burj.

Click to see the full-size map Today, the Syrain army has been forced to return to the Castello Highway (is set to be turned into a humanitarian corridor according to the US-Russian agreements) in northwestern Aleppo after militants of the US-backed Jaish al-Fatah operation room shelled Russian military servicemen and representatives of the Red Crescent Society in the area. There are also reports that militants have attempted to advance in the area. The Syrian army answered to this deploying forces along the Castello Highway and the Russian Aerospace Forces, according to AlMasdarNews , delivered an air strike on the militant-controlled 46th Regiment Base in northwestern Aleppo. This has been the first Russian air strike in Aleppo since the implementation of the ceasefire agreement . We recall on September 15, the Syrian army started to withdraw heavy and light military equipment from the strategic Castello Highway and hand over checkpoints along it to the Red Crescent Society and

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (3:20 A.M.) - Minutes ago, the Iraqi Air Force reportedly carried out several powerful airstrikes in the Nineveh and Al-Anbar governorates, killing a large number of Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) terrorists along the Euphrates River. According to the Iraqi Army's official media wing, Iraqi F-16 jets conducted 7 airstrikes over the Nineveh and Al-Anbar governorates on Friday night, killing 30+ ISIS terrorists and destroying 14 of their vehicles. The airstrikes reportedly targeted the Islamic State's IED factories around the country. Among the 30+ ISIS militants killed on Friday night was the aforementioned terrorist group's regional leader "Abu Musad Al-Shishani (Chechen) and several members of his council.

A report by the Cost of War Projects has claimed that the US spent $4.79 trillion on wars in the Middle East and on the ‘War on Terror’ after the September 2001 terrorist attacks. The report which is run by Brown University’s Watson Institute, counted the total budgetary cost of the wars America waged in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria as well as on counter-terrorism and includes future obligations to spend budgetary money through 2053, estimated future spending on veterans, interest already paid for money borrowed for the war effort and other commitments. “Interest costs for overseas contingency operations spending alone are projected to add more than $1 trillion to the national debt by 2023. By 2053, interest costs will be at least $7.9 trillion unless the US changes the way it pays for the wars,” wrote report author Neta Crawford, professor of political science at Boston University and co-director of the Costs of War Project. “This paper’s estimate of current and future costs

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 mili

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