ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Washington Post Makes Unfounded Claims Of Iranian Supplies To Insurgencies By Moon Of Alabama The Washington Post falls back into its 2005 mode of blaming Iran for the capabilities of a local insurgency. This time it is not Iraq where Iran is allegedly providing to insurgents, but Bahrain. Old and debunked claims are hauled up and propaganda from the U.S. proxy Sunni dictatorship is cited as "evidence". It is a top-right front-page story in the Sunday edition and thereby "important". It is also fake news. The headline: U.S. increasingly sees Iran’s hand in the arming of Bahraini militants .The core: The report, a copy of which was shown to The Washington Post, partly explains the growing unease among some Western intelligence officials over tiny Bahrain, a stalwart U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf and home to the Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Six years after the start of a peaceful Shiite protest movement against the country’s Sunni-led government, U.S. and European analysts now

Originally appeared at ZeroHedge The global cyberwarfare scare washed ashore the British isles this weekend after UK nuclear power stations and airports were told to tighten defenses against terrorist attacks in the face of increased threats to electronic security systems, after intelligence agencies concluded terrorists could plant explosives in laptops and mobile phones that won’t be caught by normal security screenings. The Telegraph reports that British security services issued a series of alerts in the past 24 hours, warning that “terrorists may have developed ways of bypassing safety checks.” To be sure, there was no surprise as to the bogeyman behind the latest terror threat: intel agencies believe that ISIS and other terrorist groups have developed ways to plant explosives in laptops and mobile phones that can evade airport security screening methods. What is perhaps surprising, is that it is this latest intelligence which is said to be behind the recent bans, in both the US an

Syrian government forces are rapidly advancing against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) and its allied militant groups in northern Hama. Early on April 3, the Syrian Arab Army’s Tiger Forces and the National Defense Forces (NDF) advanced on militants in Maardes and fully liberated this important town. The development was confirmed by the Syrian military. The village of Iskanderiyah also fell into the hands of government forces. The Syrian Arab Army and the NDF also got control of the areas of Tal Zaydan and Abu Dhour. Government forces are now developing an advance in the direction of the town of Suran captured by militants in March. A militant vehicle destroyed by government forces ( source ): Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image A militant drone downed by government forces ( source ): Click to see the full-size image

What is going on: An explosion inside a train of the St. Petersburg Metro system killed at least 10 and injured over 50 people, according to media reports; The inident took place between Sennaya Square and the Institute of Technology; The explosion was likely a result of the activation of an IED with shrapnel; The Entire St. Petersburg Metro system shutdown. Bomb squads and rescuers are responding to the emergency; Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “The causes of this event have not been determined yet, so it’s too early to talk about [causes]. The investigation will show. Certainly, we will consider all possibilities: common, criminal, but first of all of a terrorist nature.” Livestream from the area:   Photos from the area: View image on Twitter  Follow Philipp Kireev   @mynameisphiIipp В Питере взрыв в метро 1:49 PM - 3 Apr 2017     308 308 Retweets     82 82 likes  Follow Лентач   @the_lentach В

The EU has decided not to attempt to block construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline more. Photo: Kommersant / Alexander Shcherbak The EU has refused all its attempts to block construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline , the Wall Street Journal newspaper reported. According to the newspaper, the EU authorities have long been under the pressure of several states, the main of which was Poland , but now Brussels wants to remove the concerns of these countries with the help of Moscow. Earlier, the European Commission sent an official letter to the heads of the energy departments of Sweden and Denmark, in which clearly stated that it sees no reason to file a lawsuit against the Nord Stream-2. As the Wall Street Journal noted, Brussels has concluded the discussion on the implementation of this project. At the same time, the European Commission admits that the counteracting can lie only in a political context, there are no legal grounds for impeding the construction. In addition, the

Two pro-militant journalists have sued US President Donald Trump and his administration for the fact that they were allegedly included in a list of persons that should be eliminated by US drones due to ties with terrorist organizations. US President Donald Trump (Photo: AFP 2017 / Mandel Ngan) Former chief of the Al Jazeera bureau in Pakistan , Ahmed Zaidan, and string correspondent Bilal Kareem have sued US President Donald Trump and officials of his administration, the Politico magazine reported on Friday. The journalists claim that they were allegedly included in a list of persons that should be eliminated by US drones due to ties with terrorist organizations. According to the journalists, they were added to the list of special services under the administration of former US President Barack Obama, but the new president and his team did nothing to exclude them from the targets of the US Air Force. The reporters deny their connection with terrorists in a lawsuit, filed in the Wash

Click to see the full-size map The Free Syrian Army’s Ahmad Aboud Forces captured Abu Adnan farm, Beir Al Rasef and Bier Khasab in the Syrian desert north of Suwaida Governorate. According to pro-position sources, the Syrian Air Force targeted the Ahmad Aboud Forces during their advance in the Syrian desert. As a result, many rebels were killed or injured. Adnan Al Khuleh, a field commander of the Ahmad Aboud Forces, was among killed. Pro-government sources didn’t confirm or deny the airstrike so far. View image on Twitter  Follow قوات م1 أحمد العبدو   @QwatAbdo 10:51 PM - 28 Mar 2017     6 6 Retweets     20 20 likes The Ahmad Aboud Forces announced that their next target is to break the ISIS siege on the Jaish Al-Islam-held area in eastern Qalamun. Rebels will have to capture the area around Bier Mdad north of the Al Seen air base and Al Mussnah village in eastern Qalamun to achieve this goal. It’s important to mention that ISIS s

The head of the Kurdistan Regional Government has announced preparations for a referendum on independence of the region from Iraq. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (L) and head of the Kurdistan Regional Government Massoud Barzani (Photo: Twitter / SamiErgoshi) During a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) , Massoud Barzani, has announced preparations for a referendum on independence of the region from Iraq. According to Barzani, “the referendum, which is the highest form of democracy, will be held in Iraqi Kurdistan in the near future.” Barzani noted that the international community should get to know about the Kurdish people’s opinion. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi commented on these statements. According to al-Abadi, “separation of Kurdistan from Iraq does not meet the interests of Kurds.” “Not only Iraq, but also Turkey and Syria, where a large number of Kurds live, oppose the aspiration of Erbil [the admin