ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Xi Jinping attends a meeting with South Korean special envoy at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing CREDIT: GETTY/POOL Neil Connor China's President Xi Jinping has said he is willing to put relations with South Korea back on track, following months of tensions over the deployment of a US anti-missile system in the region. The Thaad system is being installed in South Korea to confront Kim Jong-un’s regime in the North , but it has also provoked anger in China which sees it as a threat to its own security interests. But there are signs that Seoul and Beijing could be seeking to reconcile their differences following the election of new South Korea president Moon Jae-In .

The Qalamoun Shield Forces (QSF) appeared as a noticeable auxiliary force of the Syrian military in the first half of 2016, with the goal of protecting the Al-Qalamoun areas from terrorist threats and securing the Syrian-Lebanese border. The group includes approximately 2800 fighters, most of whom are volunteers from the eastern towns of Al-Qalamoun, along with a few hundred former fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA). A number of FSA fighters had joined the QSF after a reconciliation agreement with the Syrian government. The QSF is linked to the Third Armored Division of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), and works with both the Syrian Republican Guard and Lebanese Hezbollah. The QSF has several bases in Yabroud and Al-Nabak. It’s led by Lieutenant Firas Khaza’a, and mainly funded by the Syrian Ministry of Defense. The QSF is one the groups supported by the Russian military, which armed and trained all of its fighters in the early 2017. At least a part of the training took ...

Houthi forces and the Yemeni Army repelled an attack by forces loyal to Saudi-backed President Mansur Hadi on Al-Makhtabi and Ka’wash bases in the Zi-Na’em area in the Yemeni province of Al-Bayda. Houthi forces also targeted the Silat military site in Najran with a Uragan rocket. The Yemeni Army artillery shelled a gathering of the Saudi Army and Hadi’s forces in the northern Khouba area, and in the Harib Nahm district of Marib province. The Yemeni military media published a video ( LINK ) of the May 18 attack on the Umm al-Adab mountain near the Al-Khadraa border crossing. Houthi forces captured the mountains and Saudi forces withdrew to the crossing. Houthi fighters seized a lot of weapons from the abandoned Saudi positions. Meanwhile, Houthis launched an attack on a gathering of Saudi forces in the border area of Jizan, and claimed the destruction a number of vehicles and bulldozers of the Saudi Army. According to local sources, the Saudi attack helicopters attacked ...

Written by  Paul Craig Roberts ; Originally appeared at  his website We are witnessing an assault by the national security state and its liberal media on a President of the United States that is unprecedented. Wild and unsupported accusations of treasonous or illegal Russian connections have been the mainstay of the news since Trump’s campaign for president. These accusations have reached the point that there is an impeachment movement driven by the national security state and its liberal media and endorsed by Democrats, the American leftwing which has turned against the working class as “Trump deplorables,” and luminaries such as Harvard Law Professor Larry Tribe. The Washington Post, which was not present at the meeting of President Trump with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, purports to know that Trump gave Lavrov US national security information. The Russian government has offered the presstitute media a transcript of the meeting, but, of course, the pressitutes ...

FILE IMAGE: US military personnel in Syria The US-led coalition strike on a govermment military convoy in Syria is unacceptable and violates the sovereignty of the country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Friday. “Any military actions leading to the aggravation of the situation in Syria definitely affect the political process. Especially if such actions are committed against the Syrian armed forces… This is totally unacceptable; it is a violation of Syrian sovereignty. Of course, it does not help the political process,” Gatilov  said . On Thursday, the US-led coalition air power bombed a Syrian army military convoy 50 km from the town of Al-Tanf located at the Syrian-Iraqi border. The airstrikes led to casualties among military personnel and caused a material damage. ( MORE HERE ) The US-led coalition insisted that Syrian forces were posing a threat to US-led coalition military personnel in the area. Meanwhile, experts believe that Washington...

Click to see the full-size image Yesterday, ISIS released a new propaganda video from the Iraqi city of Mosul city. The video is presented by ISIS foreign fighters from France, USA and Russia, and provides a look at the battle for Mosul from the ISIS side. However, the most important part was the unveiling of some of ISIS self-made weapons and ISIS weapons workshops. Click to see the full-size image One of the most interesting weapons revealed in the video is the famous ISIS DIY rocket launcher actively used during Mosul battle. In the video, we can see that the rocket container is made of aluminum. There are at least 4 types of the rocket launcher, including High Explosive and Anti Armor versions. Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image It’s believed that these rocket launchers use rounds from PG-9\OG-9 family designed for SPG...