ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

© RIA Novosti. O. Grachev Russian Tu-95MS strategic long-range bombers delivered airstrikes on ISIS targets in the Syrian province of Raqqa on February 17. Tu-95MS bombers destroyed several terrorist camps, training centers and a command post of a major ISIS unit near the ISIS self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The strikes were carried out by brand new X-101 cruise missiles. “Su-30SM and Su-35S provided air cover to the Russian bombers from the Hmeymim airbase,” the statement reads. The Pentagon commented on the issue, adding that Russian and US air forces used mechanism on safety of flights over Syria to avoid any incidents near Raqqa.

At least 36 terrorists have been killed by the Pakistani security forces in various parts of the country after a major terrorist attack in Sehwan-Sharif. Photo: AP The Pakistani security forces have eliminated 36 terrorists in raids and clashes in various parts of the country after a major terrorist attack in Sehwan-Sharif that killed more than 70 people, the Dunya News TV-channel reported. According to the TV-channel, militants attacked a patrol of rangers in Mangopir district, located in Karachi, Sindh province. The security forces opened retaliatory fire and killed six attackers. After this, an operation for search for their accomplices was launched. During the operation, there was another clash between Pakistani servicemen and terrorists. As a result, five of them were killed. In another populated locality, Sindh Katori, rangers managed to kill other seven militants. Another clash between terrorists and border guards took place on the border with Afghanistan, in the tribal areas i...

On how the hidden powers are trying to tame or to overthrow the new US president. Photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from Gage Skidmore / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) and US Government. Written by Dmitry Drobnitsky; originally appeared at LIFE 16-Feb-17 ; translated by Alice Decker Donald Trump, of course, did not think it would be easy. And he was not afraid of the difficulties. His business career was full of ups and downs. He fought rivals, the clumsy bureaucracy of American cities, a shortage of working capital, skeptical investors and staff inertia. And, to all appearances, he did well. His 2015–16 campaign was probably one of the most unpredictable and difficult in US political history. It seemed like everyone was against him, all up in arms: the media, the political establishment, Democratic governors, the sitting president, the rating agencies and wealthy donors. But the slander, the attacks, and the dirt did not stop him. The voters believed him. He won. But immediately after gettin...

The military intelligence of the Donetsk People’s Republic has reported that the Ukrainian Army is going to launch a new offensive in the direction of Donetsk. Ukrainian soldiers carry a recoilless rifle during a training exercise led by troops from the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, in November 2016 at a range near Yavoriv, Ukraine (Photo: US Army / Elizabeth Tarr) According to last reports from the Donbass , the Ukrainian Army is building up forces in the direction of Donetsk. The military intelligence of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) obtained information about intentions of the Ukrainian forces to launch an offensive in the area, located between Donetsk and Gorlovka in the coming days in order to take full control of a highway, connecting these cities of the republic, and cut off Gorlovka from connection with Donetsk by the shortest route. Spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Dmitry Tymchuk, called these reports of the DPR intelligence “rumors....

Worried that the information might be compromised or leaked, U.S. intelligence officials have kept some sensitive items from President Trump, current and former officials told The Wall Street Journal Wednesday. In some of the cases, it was because officials did not want Trump to know about sources and methods used to collect information. In the past, presidents and members of Congress have not always been told every last detail of a case, the officials told WSJ, but it was always to protect a source and not because they were concerned about the person's trustworthiness or discretion. The officials also said they did not know of any instances where the intelligence agencies omitted major information on terror plots or security threats. A White House official told WSJ there is "nothing that leads us to believe that this is an accurate account of what is actually happening."

By Damon Linker The United States is much better off without Michael Flynn serving as national security adviser. But no one should be cheering the way he was brought down. The whole episode is evidence of the precipitous and ongoing collapse of America's democratic institutions — not a sign of their resiliency. Flynn's ouster was a soft coup (or political assassination ) engineered by anonymous intelligence community bureaucrats. The results might be salutary, but this isn't the way a liberal democracy is supposed to function. Unelected intelligence analysts work for the president, not the other way around. Far too many Trump critics appear not to care that these intelligence agents leaked highly sensitive information to the press — mostly because Trump critics are pleased with the result. "Finally," they say, "someone took a stand to expose collusion between the Russians and a senior aide to the president!" It is indeed important that someone took such...

The German Air Force has serious problems with the new Airbus A400M military transport aircraft. The Airbus A400M military transport aircraft of the German Air Force (Photo: Airliners.net / Tamás Terjék) After a serious incident with the new Airbus A400M military transport aircraft of the German Air Force, prospects of German military have became clear, the Les Echos information website reported.  As of February 9, 2017, only one of eight German A400Ms was in good working condition, the German Air Force reported, just two days after the А400М aircraft with the German Defense Minister on board broke on its way to Lithuania. A spokesman for the German Air Force explained that three A400Ms, including the aircraft, which were flying to Lithuania, do not fly due to conducting of unplanned maintenance, two others undergo scheduled inspection, while another one is a subject of scheduled upgrade. The seventh aircraft is still at the stage of putting into operation after its accept...

Written Dmitry Drobnitsky; Originally appeared at Life , translated by AlexD exclusively for SouthFront This week another scandal erupted around the activists against global warning. Climatologist, member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the USA (NOAA), John Bates told the press that his office falsified data of scientific observations, so the arguments of the environmental-alarmists would sound convincing at the Paris conference on climate, which was held in 2015. Thus, facts were destroyed indicating that in the period from 1989 to 2013 the average Earth temperature did not change. This is by far not the first scandal of this type. And, probably, not the last. Everyone knows that the 44th president of the USA, Barak Obama, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. The whole world was talking about this award given in advance with irony and sarcasm and with poorly hidden anger, especially towards the end of the “peacemaker’s” presidency. International awards are...