ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Source: alwaght.com The Philippine Army said about 300 civilians are still trapped in a part of Marawi City, which is controlled by ISIS fighters. According to official sources, clashes in Marawi so far have resulted in killing 400 people. More than half of them ISIS fighters. Over 400 thousand civilians have been displaced from the city. The Philippine Army announced that ISIS now has only 100 fighters in Marawi. The Philippine Army seks to liberated the whole city within days before Eid al-Fitr, fearing that ISIS fighters may receive support after Eid al-Fitr. However, this aim seems almost impossible as the battle enters its second month in Marawi. The ISIS-linked Al-Naba’ Magazine published on 20 June infographics on the battle in Marawi, claiming that more than 271 Philippines soldiers were killed during four weeks of clashes. Al-Naba’ also claimed that US Air Force carried out air strikes in Marawi without any evidence. Click to see the full-size image On Sa...

FILE IMAGE The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has taken control of 85 km of the Syrian-Iraqi border. According to SOHR, the SAA is now in only 12 km from the strategic T-2 station that lies 70km west of Al Bukamal city near the Syrian-Iraqi border. Opposition sources confirmed on Saturday that SAA has already managed to enter the borders of Deir Ezzor province. Meanwhile, US-led coalition warplanes continued bombing ISIS in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor. Opposition sources claimed that 8 civilians lost their life as a result of a US air strike on Muhaimadia village in the western Deir Ezzor countryside. The US-led coalition has killed Fawaz Muhammad Jubayr al-Rawi – an ISIS Finance official – in an air strike on Al Bukmal city at the Syrian-Iraqi border. Opposition sources claimed that SAA is planning to attack Al Bukamal after liberating of the T-2 station. However, it’s unlikely that the SAA will attack...

In January 2017,  Saudi-led forces launched the operation “Golden Spear” aiming to capture the entire western Yemeni coast from the Houthi-Saleh alliance. So far Saudi-led forces have manged to capture the strategic port of Mocha  but failed to advance further to the north. They have repeatedly tried to capture the Khaled military camp but also failed to do this. The Khaled military camp is a strategic military base located on the road between Taiz city and Mocha. Recently, Houthi-Saleh forces have repelled a Saudi-backed attack in the al Kadha area. Click to ssee the full-size map

Last month, we reported on a poll showing most Americans don’t want to  see President Donald Trump impeached.  Today, a new poll released exclusively to the Hill  shows that most Americans feel the investigations into alleged collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign are a distraction. The poll found that 64% of Americans believe the investigations are hurting the country, and a whopping 73% believe that the focus on Russia is distracting Congress from important issues like health care and tax reform. Here’s the Hill: A majority of voters believe the Russia investigations are damaging to the country and are eager to see Congress shift its focus to healthcare, terrorism, national security, the economy and jobs. Those are the findings of the latest Harvard-Harris Poll survey, provided exclusively to The Hill, which paints a complicated picture of voters’ opinions about the numerous probes that have engulfed the White House. Sixty-four percent ...

F/A-18 Super Hornet Written by  The Saker ; Originally appeared at  The Unz Review By now most of you have heard the latest bad news of out Syria: on June 18 th  a US F/A-18E Super Hornet (1999) used a AIM-120 AMRAAM (1991) to shoot down a Syrian Air Force Su-22 (1970). Two days later, June 20 th , a US F-15E Strike Eagle shot down an Iranian IRGC Shahed 129 drone. The excuse used each time was that there was a threat to US and US supported forces. The reality is, of course, that the US are simply trying to stop the advance of the Syrian army. This was thus a typical American “show of force”. Except that, of course, shooting a 47 year old Soviet era Su-22 fighter-bomber is hardly an impressive feat. Neither is shooting a unmanned drone. There is a pattern here, however, and that pattern is that all US actions so far have been solely for show: the basically failed bombing of the Syria military airbase, the bombing of the Syrian army column, the shooting down of the ...

Iraqi security forces march on the outskirts of Najaf, south of Baghdad…Iraqi security forces march on the outskirts of Najaf, south of Baghdad November 19, 2014. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani (IRAQ – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) Four ISIS fighters launched a surprise attack on Iraqi Army positions in al-Shohadaa region in al-Baghdadi west of Anbar. According to ISIS, 40 Iraqi soldiers were killed as a result of the attack and many others were wounded, including the director of Al-Baghdadi township, Sharhabil al-Obeidi and the commander of the Fourth Corps, Kamal al-Obeidi. According to the ISIS-linked News Agency Amaaq, the attack lasted for 6 hours and ended with the four attackers bowing themselves among with Iraqi soldiers. In Mosul city, ISIS claimed that its fighters have been able to repel an attack by the Iraqi Federal Police in Bab Jadid and Bad al-Baid districts in Old Mosul Area. 10 Iraqi soldiers were allegedly killed and 30 were injured in the faile...

Pro-Kurdish sources claimed that the Turkish Army and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) are planning to attack Afrin City and the surrounding areas. According to reports, that SAA and Turkey-led forces closed all roads leading to Afrin and imposed a siege on the city. However, local sources reported that the road connecting Aleppo to Afrin is still open despite some problems appeared the Kurds have attacked some people from the towns of Nabol and Al-Zahra following the downing of the Syrian fighter by the US-led coalition. On Friday, the self-administration in Afrin announced preventing the passage of civilians from Turkey or the opposition-held areas to Afrin for “security reasons” and it’s unknown if that statement includes the Aleppo-Afrin road. SAA sources denied any involvement of the SAA in the expected Turkish operation. It is worth mentioning that SAA doesn’t have any troops in Afrin and it’s not committed to defending it. The SAA hasn’t promised the Syrian Democra...

Written by  Prof Michel Chossudovsky ; Originally appeared at  GlobalResearch Obama [and now Trump] are on a hot war footing. Western civilization is allegedly “threatened by the Islamic State”. The “Global War on Terrorism” is  heralded as a humanitarian endeavor. We have a “Responsibility to Protect”. Humanitarian warfare is the solution. Evil folks are lurking. ‘Take ’em out”, said George W. Bush. The Western media is beating the drums of war. America’s military agenda is supported by a vast propaganda apparatus. One of the main objectives of war propaganda is to “fabricate an enemy”. As the political legitimacy of the Obama Administration falters, doubts regarding the existence of this “outside enemy”, namely Al Qaeda and its network of (CIA sponsored) affiliates  must be dispelled. The purpose is to tacitly instil, through repeated media reports, ad nauseam, within people’s inner consciousness, the notion that Muslims co...