ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

At least 35 people were killed and 40 badly wounded in the attack, Istanbul’s governor Vasip Şahin said, calling the incident a terrorist attack.  The attack took place at the well-known Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy neighborhood, in Istanbul’s Besiktas district. A policeman and a civilian are reported to be among the two known casualties at the nightclub. There were two attackers involved, according to NTV, but conflicting reports also described a lone gunman.  The gunmen were dressed in Santa Claus outfits, wielding assault rifles, Turkish media said. The attackers opened fire on clubgoers, injuring at least 20-30 and killing two, according to NTV. One of the gunmen has reportedly hidden inside the club, while the whereabouts of the second one were not immediately clear.  The number of casualties may rise, as it is estimated that between 700 and 800 people could have been in the club at the time of the attack, Mynet Haber reports. Emergency crews have been evacuating inju

The AH-64D Apache Longbow is a US four-blade, twin-turboshaft attack helicopter for rear, close, and shaping missions including deep precision strike. It is able to conduct distributed operations, precision strikes against relocatable targets and to provide armed reconnaissance in day, night, obscured battlefield and adverse weather conditions. The AH-64D Apache Longbow is equipped with a glass cockpit and advanced sensors. The AN/APG-78 Longbow millimeter-wave fire-control radar (FCR) target acquisition system is capable of simultaneously tracking up to 128 targets and engaging up to 16 at once. A radio modem integrated with the sensor suite allows data to be shared with ground units and other Apaches, allowing them to engage targets detected by a helicopter. Click to see the full-size map

According to the Italian intelligence, one of the commanders of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has left the Syrian battlefield and returned to Europe with about 400 fighters of his group. Lavdrim Muhaxheri, also known as Abu Abdullah al Kosova (Photo: liveleak.com) Lavdrim Muhaxheri, a former NATO soldier, who became a commander of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, has left the Syrian battlefield and returned to Europe with about 400 fighters of his group, posing themselves as refugees, the Daily Mail newspaper reported, citing a report of the Italian intelligence. According to the report, Muhaxheri, also known as Abu Abdullah al Kosova, is a Kosovo Albanian, who was trained at the largest military base of the US Army in the Balkans. The US State Department has recognized him as a serious threat to Kosovo and Albania, as well as a global terror threat after his accession to the IS. Muhaxheri is not only one of the most active recruiters of the IS, but also one of the m

Originally appeared at RT A Vermont utility sounded the alarm after finding malware code on a laptop that the FBI and DHS had touted as associated with Russian hackers. However, cybersecurity specialists say the code came from an outdated Ukrainian hacking tool. On Thursday, the FBI and DHS released a joint report on a hacking operation they called ‘Grizzly Steppe’. They claimed the operation was linked to the Russian government, alleging that it had targeted “US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations.” Along with the report, the US security agencies released a sample of the malware code allegedly used in the Grizzly Steppe operation to compromise US computer networks. The code was also shared with executives from 16 industries around the nation, including the financial, utility, and transportation sectors, according to a Washington Post report . On Friday, Burlington Electric, a Vermont-based power company, released a statement saying that the malware cod

By Jon Robberson Today, the Obama administration, in a last ditch effort to further erode relations with Russia on their way out, announced a new round of sanctions on Russia and companies that are purportedly supplying Russia with support for cyber activities, the closure of two Russian facilities, and the expulsion from the country of 35 Russian diplomats that are claimed to be involved in activities that are not consistent with duties of diplomats. This comes as the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation released their Joint Assessment Report linking suspicious activities to what they believe to be Russian hacking cells supported by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU; note that it is mistranslated by Wikipedia and many in the media as the Main Intelligence Agency). In fact, the sanctions imposed by the administration target these two Russian intelligence agencies specifically for their involvement in suppo

As planned by the Russian forces the liberation of east-Aleppo was completed before Christmas. There are no longer beheadings by Takfiris in East-Aleppo. Instead a Christmas mass could be held in the damaged Elias Cathedral in the Old City in east-Aleppo. A total of about 88,000 people left the area during the evacuation of east-Aleppo. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross some 35,000 (13,000 militants and their immediate families) left to al-Qaeda held areas in Idleb governate. The UN Humanitarian Relief Organization found that 54,000 entered the government held west Aleppo. Currently the area is searched by sapper teams and several hidden bombs were found. Several exploded and killed dozens of Syrian army soldiers. Mass graves were found of Syrian soldiers and civilians executed by al-Qaeda, Ahrar al Sham and other U.S. supported groups, presumably shortly before their evacuation. The Syrian government had wanted to negotiate their release before the evacuation.

The US Army is going to demonstrate a number of various robots and drones, which will take part in the Fort Benning military exercises along with US servicemen, in 2017. Photo: US Army 55th Combat Camera / Sgt. Steven Hitchcock In 2017, the US Army plans to show a number of various robots and drones, which will take part in the Fort Benning military exercises along with US servicemen, the DefenseNews news portal reported. It is assumed that all the demonstrated robots will be put into service in the army until 2023. One of the main tasks will be to attempt to test interaction between robotic systems and manned military hardware in various military branches in the field. For example, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Shadow and Gray Eagle are going to be used along with the AH-64 Apache helicopters. It is expected that they will play the role of a reconnaissance and attack helicopter, which was previously performed by the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter, before it was decommissioned from the ran

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) will experience one of the biggest shake-ups in its history after the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on January 20, 2017. Photo: independent.co.uk The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) , whose opinion on almost all international issues is different from the US President-elect Donald Trump’s beliefs, is going to experience one of the biggest shake-ups in its history after the inauguration of the new President on January 20, the French Intelligence Online news portal reported in its article, entitled ‘La CIA attend sa purge’. Some former and current employees of the agency compare these shocks with those ones, which the CIA experienced after US President Ronald Reagan got into power in 1980. According to the news portal, citing circles close to Trump , replacements of personnel on 50 positions can be held in the CIA. The future director Mike Pompeo, a former Republican congressman from Kansas, is already conducting extensive consulta