ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

FILE IMAGE: http://www.nrttv.com On Thursday, Turkish security forces arrested 6 members of ISIS terrorist organization in the Turkish state of Gaziantep. According to the Turkish authorities, the ISIS cell was planning to carry out an attack on the ongoing “March for Justice” protest led by the head of the opposition Republican People’s Party Kemal Kjelljard Oglu and his supporters since mid-June. According to the governor of Qaysir City, Salman Kamji, one of the members of the cell rented a minivan from Qaysir City in order to carry out an attack against civilians involved in the protest. During the investigation, one member confessed to plotting to run over the protesters with the minivan. Kamji said that the cell had placed flags of the Justice and Development Party, the ruling party in Turkey, inside the bus with the aim of tensing the political situation in Turkey. Kamji added that Turkish security forces followed the suspect and the persons he contacted with in order

The militants’ “medical” office in Jobar district claimed on Thursday that two men were injured in a chemical weapons attack on Damascene district of Jobar. Several other pro-opposition sources also claimed that the Syrian Army used chemical weapons in its operations in Jobar district and the neighboring Ayn Tarma area. Though, the medical office of Jobar failed to put forth any evidence beyond pictures of supposed victims of those chemical attacks. From its side, the Syrian Army continued its operations in Ayn Tarma capturing a new group of building blocks between Zamalka Bridge, Ahl Al-Safa Mosque, as well as captured Shamini Land Complex. Syrian Arab Air Force warplanes resumed its bombing campaign targeting positions and fortifications manned by Faylaq Al-Rahman and its allied Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group inside Jobar and Ayn Tarma. Notably, this is the third time the opposition accused government forces of using chemical weapons in eastern Damascus in 10 days. It

According to opposition sources, 36 ISIS militants were killed as a result of US-led coalition airstrikes on an ISIS HQ at the Arba’een St. in the city of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor’s countryside. Aws Al-Ansari, a former commander of Jund Al-Aqsa and a Norwegian terrorist, was allegedly killed in the airstrikes. A Tunisian terrorist Abu Al-Hayjar and a Saudi terrorist Abu al-Walid, high ranking ISIS commanders with a bad reputation, were also reportedly killed. In Deir Ezzor city violent, clashes continued between the Syrian Army and ISIS in Rushdiya district where, according to local sources, ISIS shelled civilians with mortars in Tawba Mosque, Adnan Akkab School, and Al-Wadi Street. Syrian Air Force jets bombarded ISIS positions inside the city and its surroundings. According to opposition sources, ISIS fighters have started fortifying Mayadeen City in Deir Ezzor’s countryside as a result of the Syrian Army’s advances on the eastern fronts and the increasing bombardment of the reg

Update : We have a fourth Trump attack story as MSNBC’s Rachel  Maddow claims that “someone is shopping a carefully forged, fairly convincing fake NSA document” to news organizations pointing to Trump campaign collusion with Russia … “we don’t know who is doing it but we’re wroking on it.” *  *  * It’s been relatively quiet in the last few weeks on the  “the Russians did it, and Trump’s Putin’s best-buddy” propaganda-fest, but it appears the Deep State had  three stories tonight  – just hours ahead of Trump’s face-to-face with Putin – claim  Russian hackers are targeting US nuclear facilities , the Russians are  nonchalantly stepping up their spying,  and that  Russia alone interfered with the US election . With all eyes on the ‘handshake’ as Putin and Trump come face-to-face for the first time as world leaders, it seems the Deep State is desperately fearful of some rapprochement, crushing the need for NATO, and destroying the excuses for massive, unprecedented military-industri

By Ray McGovern Top Russian and Chinese leaders are busy comparing notes, coordinating their approach to President Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg this weekend. Both sides are heralding the degree to which ties between the two countries have improved in recent years, as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visits Moscow on his way to the G20. And, they are not just blowing smoke; there is ample substance behind the rhetoric. President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to a state dinner during their summit at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on April 6, 2017. (Screen shot from whitehouse.gov) Whether or not Official Washington fully appreciates the gradual – but profound – change in America’s triangular relationship with Russia and China over recent decades, what is clear is that the U.S. has made itself into the big loser. Gone are the days when Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger skillfully took advantage of the Sino-Soviet rivalry and played the two countries off ag

ISIS’s last holdout in Syria is in Raqqa; its forces have been backed into an ancient wall that surrounds the old city of Raqqa on three sides. The Rafiqah Wall, first constructed in the 8th century by the Abbasid dynasty, is reported to be over 12 feet high, over a meter thick and stretches over 3 miles around the old city. FILE IMAGE While the wall had been described as an important fortification for ISIS, the advancement of Syrian troops made the wall a trap that could have allowed the ISIS fighters to be completely wiped out. According to a July 3, 2017 TIME article(1), ISIS fighters had taken positions there “to defend the city [sic]” and planted explosive devices at what the article described as “breaks in the wall.” Under the circumstances, the point to planting explosive devices in the wall would only have been to create escape routes. It was apparent from the next day’s news, however, that the “breaks in the wall” were not adequate for escape. The US-backed forces, fr

Tu-95 On Wednesday, Russian Tu-95MS strutegic bombers struck ISIS targets in Syria with X-101 cruise missiles. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the cruise missile strike destroyed three large arms and ammunition depots, and a terrorist command center near the city of Uqayribat in the province of Hama. The strike was made from the range of about 1,000 kilometers. The Tu-95MS bombers took off from an airfield in Russia. The Russian Aerospace Forces’ Su-30 fighters based in Syria prvided air cover for the strategic bombers.

New images published on social media revealed that the Syrian T-55MV tank was upgraded with a thermal sight and a Fire Control System. The Syrian Scientific Research Center (SSRC) upgraded the Belarusian 1K13 sight from BELOMO Company by adding a thermal camera with the range of 8 km and a high resolution. It seems that the camera and the sight 1K13 were connected to each other and into an LCD instead of the traditional sight. The sight is also connected to a ballistic computer with the possibility of inserting other information such as wind speed and direction making it a Syrian made semi-automatic fire control system. It is not clear if the tank is also equipped with other sensors to support the ballistic computer and increase accuracy. Moreover, it seems that the tank is equipped with the Syrian-made active protection system Sarab-1. It is not known whether Belarus has assisted the Syrian Scientific Research Center to develop this system. However, the center has already impleme