ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) and Ahrar al-Sham continued to clash in the province of Idlib. Recently, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham seized the prison in the city of Idlib and 2 check points belonging to Ahrar al-Sham and its allies. An intense fighting was also reported in Ariha. As a result, Suqur al-Sham, an Idlib branch of Jaish al-Islam, Jaish al-Mujahideen, Fastaqem Union and Sham Front were defeated by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and their vestiges merged with Ahrar al-Sham. This fact already created jitters among various “pro-opposition activists”. They argued that the ongoing ‘rebel civil war’ was a joint plan of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham to absorb smaller groups operating in Idlib and western Aleppo.

An analyst says China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Canada and Europe By TASS China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the United States, Canada and Europe, the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Science Konstantin Sivkov, has said. Earlier, the daily Global Times said China had deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles of its own design (DF-41) in northeastern Heilongjiang province bordering Russia. "This is an inter-continental class missile with an effective range of ten thousand to twelve thousand kilometers. The missile’s dead zone is no less than three thousand kilometers. A large territory of Russia, practically the entire Far East and West Siberia are not within the missile’s reach," Sivkov told TASS. Selecting this area for deploying the missiles targeted against Russian terri

Several private companies, providing security services, have a priority in the Trump’s administration. US President Donald Trump (L) and US Vice President Michael Pence (Photo: New York Times) The last assignments to positions in the security sector, made by US President Donald Trump, confirm a priority of several private companies, providing security services, in his administration, the French Intelligence Online news website reported. Joe Hagin, who was appointed to the post of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operation, the third most important post in the White House, will bring other people from his Command Consulting Group (CCG) there. Hagin already held this office during the two presidential terms of George Bush and should calm down the establishment of the US Republican Party, which is concerned about the impulsive nature of the new US President . A large number of CCG’s consultants, including former deputy head of the Directorate of Operations of the Central Intelligence Agency

Austrian police has arrested a 12 years old boy, a member of a terrorist cell. Photo: Picture-alliance / APA / picturedesk.com / Barbara Gindl Austrian police has arrested a 12 years old boy, who allegedly is a member of a terrorist cell, the Austria’s Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported. Earlier, the country’s authorities said that the boy is under 14 years old. According to the newspaper, police got information that the boy has ties to a 17-year-old, who plotted a terror attack on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Vienna and was arrested over the weekend. After this, on Sunday, police raided the home of the boy, who is originally from Macedonia . According to the investigation, the 12 years old boy not only was in contact with the suspected 17-year-old, but also had been radicalized by a Salafist ‘hate preacher’ in Austria. Director of public security in Austria, Konrad Kogler, said that the underage pair were in close contact and noted that “people are looking and

According to political analysts, Beijing has deployed the Dongfeng-41 ballistic missiles across China in response to the US missile defense system in the Asia-Pacific region. Photo: AFP 2017 / Stephen Shaver Several Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) nuclear solid-fueled road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) have been placed in three locations across China in response to the US missile defense system in the Asia-Pacific region, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing a political analyst and lecturer at the Plekhanov Russia University of Economics, Alexander Perendzhiev. “China has deployed new intercontinental ballistic missiles in response to Washington stationing components of its missile defense system in Japan and South Korea,” Perendzhiev told RIA Novosti. “The United States has said that its missile defense system in the Asia-Pacific region is solely aimed against North Korea, but it is in fact designed to counter Russia and China’s nuclear missile potential.” As Chinese

Beijing relies on the Middle East for oil but has tended to leave Middle Eastern diplomacy to the other four permanent members of the UNSC This aerial photo taken on 2 January, 2017 shows a Chinese navy formation, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning (C), during military drills in the South China Sea (AFP) Chinese warships have embarked on a tour of Gulf Arab states for the first time in six years as Beijing has signalled a desire to play a bigger role on the global stage. Three Chinese vessels, including a guided-missile destroyer warship, arrived in Qatar's capital Doha on Saturday following a visit to the Saudi port city of Jeddah, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. China's navy regularly tours the world and its ships patrol off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia as part of international anti-piracy operations. Visits to Gulf Arab states, where both the US and Britain have naval bases, are less common. China's navy visited Iran for the first time in 2014 to ta

By Gareth Porter  A new coalition of US-based organizations is pushing for a more aggressive U.S. intervention against the Assad regime. But both the war in Syria and politics in the United States have shifted dramatically against this objective. When it was formed last July, the coalition hoped that a Hillary Clinton administration would pick up its proposals for a more forward stance in support of the anti-Assad armed groups. But with Donald Trump in office instead, the supporters of a U.S. war in Syria now have little or no chance of selling the idea. One of the ways the group is adjusting to the new political reality is to package its proposal for deeper U.S. military engagement on behalf of U.S.-supported armed groups as part of a plan to counter Al Qaeda, now calling itself Jabhat Fateh al Sham. But that rationale depends on a highly distorted presentation of the problematic relations between Syria’s supposedly “moderate” rebel groups and Al Qaeda’s

ISIS terrorists have targeted a Russian-made T-90 main battle tank with an anti-tank guided missile near the village of Drehym in the area east of the town of Khanasser in the province of Aleppo. The incident took place on January 23 and allegedly resulted in killing of the tank’s crew. Pro-ISIS sources claim that it was totally “destroyed” and the released video shows a burning T-90 tank. The further developments over the tank are unknown. This could be the first T-90 battle tank destroyed by terrorists during the conflict. The flag on the picture suggests that the battle tank had been operated by crew from Hezbollah, Fatimyoun Brigade or Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba – pro-government paramilitary groups backed by Iran. Click to see the full-size image