ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Damascus, SANA-General Command of the army and armed forces said on Thursday that warplanes of Erdogan regime perpetrated on Wednesday a massacre that killed more than 150 innocent civilians through targeting the villages and towns of Hasajk, al-Wariyah, Hassiya, Ghoul Srouj, Sad al-Shahba, Ehris and Um Housh in Aleppo northern countryside. The army’s command affirmed that this flagrant aggression which targeted innocent citizens is considered as a dangerous development that could escalate the situation. It warned that any attempt to repeat the violation of the Syrian airspace by the Turkish warplanes will be responded and downed with all available means. Mazen

Death and Life in the Lost Town of Leer By Nick Turse LEER, South Sudan -- There it is again. That sickening smell. I’m standing on the threshold of a ghost of a home. Its footprint is all that’s left. In the ruins sits a bulbous little silver teakettle -- metal, softly rounded, charred but otherwise perfect, save for two punctures. Something tore through it and ruined it, just as something tore through this home and ruined it, just as something tore through this town and left it a dusty, wasted ruin. This, truth be told, is no longer a town, not even a razed one. It’s a killing field, a place where human remains lie unburied, whose residents have long since fled, while its few remaining inhabitants are mostly refugees from similarly ravaged villages. The world is awash in killing fields, sites of slaughter where armed men have laid waste to the innocent, the defenseless, the unlucky; locales where women and children, old and young men have been suffocated, had their skulls shattered,

ISIS have announced that it has broken into Kirkuk prison, the site of many detained terrorists, in which all were freed. This is a report corroborated by the Popular Mobilzation Units (PMU). In response, PMU have announced that they will move even more units to assist the Peshmerga in routing ISIS. The PMU have announced that this far, at least 70 ISIS fighters have been killed. The Kurdistan Workers Party have also arrived in Kirkuk to assist in the anti-terrorist operations. The US have conducted airstrikes over Kirkuk which demonstrates that the situation is not under control yet as the mayor had claimed many hours ago.

NATO officials have confirmed that the Russian aircraft carrier Kuznetsov has sailed past Norway and appears to be heading in the direction of Syria.  — Senior Nato Diplomat Says Russia Is Deploying All of Northern Fleet and Part of Baltic Fleet to Reinforce Syria Campaign  — Deployment Is Russia’s Largest Naval Deployment Since End of Cold War – Nato Diplomat  — Deployment Will Increase Number of Russian Fighter Bombers in Syria, Moscow May Launch Final Air Assault on Aleppo in Two Weeks  – Nato Diplomat THE LINES ARE DRAWN It is expected that the aircraft carrier and its cargo will arrive in Syria within a period of two weeks. The carrier was escorted by seven other Russian ships.  This deployment represents the most powerful and largest Russian military issue since the Cold War. According to General Morton Haga Lunde, the head of the Norwegian military intelligence service, it is almost certain that this deployment “will probably play a role in the decidin

The picture below depicts the comparison of military situation in Damascus countryside in 2013 and in 2016. The Syrian government showed an incontestable progress in securing the area of its capital. Click to see the full-size map

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (3:50 A.M.) - The armed uprising in Mosul is under way, as local civilians attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham's (ISIS) installations around this provincial capital in northwest Iraq. The civilians participating in this armed rebellion are members of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU); they have played a critical role in the uprising against the Islamic State terrorists. While the civilian uprising commences, the Iraqi Army's 9th, 15th, and 16th divisions, alongside their allies, are storming several villages in southern Mosul, looking to expel the terrorist forces from the Nineveh Plains. This large-scale offensive has already gotten off to a great start, with the Iraqi forces liberating the Assyrian city of Bashiqa from the Islamic State occupiers. According to the official media wing of the Popular Mobilization Units, the Iraqi forces are currently within 30 km of Mosul's downtown area, as they continue to tighten the noose around the Islamic Sta

Saudi military lost dozens of soldiers in a failed attempt to storm a rebel-held area to the east of the Saudi city of Najran. Local source said that Houthi rebels, backed by Yemeni Army, successfully managed to repel a major attack launched by Saudi soldiers. The sources confirmed that dozens of the attacking force were killed and injured, in addition to several military vehicles destroyed.

Russia is extending by three hours the humanitarian pause in Aleppo, Syria, planned for October 20, citing requests from international humanitarian organizations. Two of the eight corridors that are to open will be meant for use by the rebels. “On October 20, starting at 8am, a humanitarian pause is to be introduced in Aleppo to allow civilians to escape and sick and injured people to be evacuated, and for militants to leave the eastern part of the city,” Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy said. He added that the people leaving eastern Aleppo would be monitored in real time via web cameras and surveillance drones. The footage will be broadcast on the Russian Defense Ministry’s website. The general said it took measures to inform Aleppo residents of the opportunity to leave the city by airdropped leaflets, loudspeakers, mobile phone text messages and through Internet. There are eight corridors in Aleppo, with six of them for civilians and humanitarian aid deliveries, Rudskoy said. Two of the corri