ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

A screenshot from the Malhama Tactical video on Youtube. You can see a “Welcome to Aleppo” sign at the background A self-proclaimed jihadist consulting firm has been discovered in Syria. The group calls itself “Malhama Tactical”. It’s led by “Abu Rofiq”, a Uzbek national that speaks Russian and claims that he served in the Russian Airbone Troops (also known as VDV). The group consists of mainly Uzbek nationals. It’s well equipped and trained. Since 2016, Malhama Tactical has been operating in Syria (mainly in the area of Aleppo) as a jihadi consulting firm that allegedly conducts advice and assistance missions for other jihadi factions and occasionally serves as an elite offensive unit. Abu Rofiq Pro-militant sources confirm that Malhama Tactical was created in Syria in 2016 and operates as a part of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda) that is a part of the so-called “opposition coalition” Jaish al-Fatah. They add that the group

Something very strange is going on in the Mediterranean Sea Originally appeared at GEFIRA NGOs are smuggling immigrants into Europe on an industrial scale For two months, using marinetraffic.com, we have been monitoring the movements of ships owned by a couple of NGOs, and, using data from data.unhcr.org. We have kept track of the daily arrivals of African immigrants in Italy. It turned out we were witness of a big scam and an illegal human traffic operation. NGOs, smugglers, the mafia in cahoots with the European Union have shipped thousands of illegals into Europe under the pretext of rescuing people, assisted by the Italian coast guard which coordinated their activities. Human traffickers contact the Italian coast guard in advance to receive support and to pick up their dubious cargo. NGO ships are directed to the “rescue spot” even as those to be rescued are still in Libya. The 15 ships that we observed are owned or leased by NGOs have regularly been seen to leave their Italian

Written by Dr. Yordan Hristov; Originally appeared at A-specto , translated by Valentina Tzoneva exclusively for SouthFront Today we live in a time of dramatic global conflict. The two warring camps are clearly shaped. One camp is headed by the United States and the other one by Russia. So, where are the roots of the conflict and what are they fighting for? Many people are confused because it is not entirely clear. To understand the essence of the events, we need to know that, as always in history, there is a clash of ideas before the battlefield. There is an incompatibility of vision on what the order in the world and the future of humanity should be. This applies to the events of today. Let’s look at some widely circulated explanations before we find the answer. According to some, the conflict is between the presidents of the US and Russia. However, this is not serious. Others argue that we are witnessing a war between Christianity and radical Islam. Or, that it is a battle of the pr

AFP Source: AFP Written by Alexander Mercouris; Originally appeared at TheDuran A decade of recession – with no end in sight – has brought Greek society finally to the breaking point. Unless there is a turnaround soon the days of conventional mainstream politics may be numbered. Directly after my visit to Moscow I undertook a brief two day visit to Athens. Like my trip to Moscow it was carried out mainly for business reasons, but it also gave me an opportunity to get a sense of the situation in Greece. The Greek government is claiming that the Greek economy is reviving, and is reporting growth in the last two quarters. I saw no sign of this at all. On the contrary in the few weeks since I was there at the beginning of September, the situation seems to have got if anything significantly worse. My family home is located within the elite district of Kolonaki, which has until recently seemed immune to the crisis. No longer is this so. The exclusive shops, boutiques and restaurants tha

Russian Air Force will help Syrian government troops expel Islamist militants from Eastern Ghouta region through conducting selective airstrikes and cruise missile attack, a well-informed source in the Russian military command said. Al Masdar News has learnt that Russia's SU-33 fighter jets based on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov will bomb targets belonging to the Saudi-backed Jaysh al-Islam in Eastern Ghouta as part of a wider military operation currently launched by the Syrian Army to retake the longtime rebels bastion in southeast of Damascus. The source added that satellite-guided “Kalibr” cruise missiles will also be involved in the campaign by targeting the main and most protected command posts of Jaysh al-Islam. The prospected military operation comes as Islamist rebels rejected an evacuation agreement proposed by the Syrian government whereby Islamist fighters are relocated to the northwestern province of Idlib. Hundreds of militants have been evacuated recently by

The Guardian, one of the United Kingdom's biggest newspaper, has reported that the US and UK are considering dropping aid to jihadist militants in East Aleppo. The report claimed that little traction has been made in both countries as rival government agencies have differing opinions on it, and no military commander has supported the initiative. Such an endeavour could aggravate Syria or Russia to respond to planes delivering the aid that can cause a crisis, the report continued. The last high-profile meeting about airdropping supplies took place in the UK embassy in Washington last week but failed to reach any conclusions as Syrian military forces had retaken a large chunk of the militant-controlled parts. “There was talk in private that all this was too late,” said one of the participants in the meeting.

According to a researcher of the US Military Academy, the most effective weapon on the modern battlefield is concrete barriers. Photo: mwi.usma.edu Concrete is the most effective weapon on the modern battlefield, a former coach of the US Army, Major John Spencer, who is currently engaged in theoretical researches in the US Military Academy (USMA), also known as West Point, concluded. In his essay, posted on a website of the academy, Spencer unequivocally states that concrete barriers that are used in Iraq and Afghanistan today, have made to security of American soldiers, involved in these conflicts, much more than any other military hardware that they have, including the most complex ones. “Many soldiers deployed to Iraq became experts in concrete during their combat tours. Concrete is as symbolic to their deployments as the weapons they carried. No other weapon or technology has done more to contribute to achieving strategic goals of providing security, protecting populations, establ

A new photo, showing an upgraded variant of the BMP-1 infantry combat vehicle, was published online. Photo: twitter.com / MathieuMorant In recent months, the Syrian Army regularly demonstrates upgraded pieces of various armored vehicles. So, lately we can more and more often see fundamentally altered variant of the BMP-1 infantry combat vehicle , which in fact turned into an assault vehicle. At the beginning of this week a new photo of such a vehicle, which is in service in the Desert Hawks Brigade, was published in social media. The first unusual thing, which we can easily notice, is an armored cabin, mounted over the troop compartment and equipped with one or two machine guns. The photo clearly shows the Chinese W-85 heavy machine gun, which is currently in service of the Syrian Army . According to military experts, thanks to such a cabin an ability to monitor land environment was improved, and soldiers got an opportunity to respond to identified threats more quickly. In addition