ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Division11.Tanks/ Russia has delivered a new batch of T-62M battle tanks to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). The battle tanks were allegedly delivered to the 11th Armoured Division of the SAA, according to new photos appeared online in  pro-government social media accounts . Moscow is actively supplying Syria with T-62M battle tanks and other Soviet military equipment. The supplies of T-62Ms have been reported by various sources since 2015. Source: https://www.facebook.com/Division11.Tanks/

Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, center, attends a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Revolutionary Guard commanders in Tehran, Iran, September 18, 2016. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) On August 22, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ground force headquarters “Hamzah Sayed al-Shuhda’a” released an official statement denying that the IRGC is planning any joint operation with Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party also known as the (PKK). “We have not planned for any operations across the borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the IRGC said in a statement. President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed on August 21 that Turkey and Iran are planning to launch a joint military operation against the PKK in the near future. Furthermore, Erdogan added that he discussed the PKK threat with the chief of the staff of Iran’s armed forces, General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri last week. “Although the Islamic Repu

On Wednesday, Russian Minister of Defense, Sergey Shoygu announced that the civil war in Syria has de-facto ended because the success of the de-escalation zones initiative. Shoygu emphasized that the de-escalation agreements allowed to focus on fighting terrorist organizations like ISIS and al-Qaeda. The defense minister made this  statement during a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Yacoub Sarraf. Shoygu stressed the importance of the Russian-Lebanese cooperation and warned that the instability could reach Lebanon. “I would like our Western partners… finally to separate the moderate opposition from terrorists and stop rendering assistance across the board,” Shoygu said. In another development, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the joint observation center in Jordan began its work on Wednesday. The center will include officials from Russian, the USA and Jordan, and it will monitor the ceasefire in the southern Syria de-escalation zone witch includes Draa and

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) and its allied groups of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have united efforts with ISIS in an attempt to cut off the Salamiyah-Ithriyah-Khanassir-Aleppo road, the only government supply line to Aleppo city. On August 23 and August 24, HTS artillery units conducted a massive bombardment campaign shelling Syrian Arab Army (SAA) positions along the road. At the same time, ISIS attacked the SAA at Wadi al-Adib and Shayk Hilal and even temporarily cut off the road near as-Saan. Pro-militant sources, including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), claimed that the SAA suffered a number of tactical setbacks and that ISIS could use the situation in order to recapture a large area in the Uqayrabat pocket. However, then reports started appearing that the SAA, the Qalamoun Shield Forces and the National Defense Forces (NDF), backed up by Russian attack helicopters, launched a counter-attack in the area and r

On Monday, Romanian authorities said that  they had caught a fishing boat with 68 asylum seekers off the country’s coast. The boat was carrying Iraqis and Syrians, including 23 children. It was was intercepted late Sunday in the Black Sea in Romania’s southeastern Constanta region.  This was the second such incident in a week. The report raised fears that a new migrant route to Europe was opening up. “They were accompanied by two Turkish traffickers,” Ionela Pasat, a spokeswoman for the Constanta coastguard, told AFP. On August 13, a boat with 69 Iraqi migrants was caught in Romanian waters. One Bulgarian and one Cypriot were taken into custody on suspicion of human trafficking. Romania is not a part of the EU passport-free Schengen zone and has largely been spared the ongoing migration crisis. However, the recent events show that the situation is rapidly developing.

FILE IMAGE The Saudi-led coalition – which receives logistical support, weapons and political backing from the US and UK – has been responsible for killing of hundreds of children in Yemen, according to a leaked UN report. According to the report obtained by Reuters, “attacks carried out by air caused over half of all child casualties, with at least 349 killed and 333 injured”. The report says that the deaths were “unacceptably high”. The report insists that 51% of all child deaths and injuries in Yemen last year were the result of military actions of the Saudi-led coalition. The Saudi-led coalition destroyed more than 28 schools in Yemen, the report added. The obtained text was reportedly drafted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ special envoy for children and armed conflict, Virginia Gamba, acting on a request from the UN Security Council. However, Guterres still has to approve the report. If this is done, the report will be released this month. The report

FILE IMAGE The Taliban has claimed that it will turn Afghanistan “into a graveyard for the American Empire” following Washington’s decision to continue the military operation in the central Asian country. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid issued a statement on Tuesday advicing the US has to think of an exit strategy “instead of continuing the war” on Afghanistan. According to the statement, the Taliban would continue their militancy “so long as a single American soldier” in Afghanistan. The statement came after President Donald Trump backtracked on his promise to end the longest-running war in US history. In turn, Trump announced a new strategy for Afghanistan, rejecting what he called “arbitrary timetables” for the withdrawal of US troops. The Taliban’s statement: Finally the American president Trump announced his strategy and has called for continued presence of occupying forces while labeling Afghanistan as a threat to America. It seems America is not yet ready

Click to see the full-size map On August 20, terrorists launched 3 missiles on the Karam abu-Salem border crossing. The crossing links Egypt, the Gaza Strip and Israel. It’s located south of the Gaza Strip and actively used to transfer goods. Approximately 250 trucks pass the crossing on a daily basis. On August 21, army units deployed at the Saha camp launched a security campaign in the border crossing the area, including Masora, Balaa, Yamet and Matla. As a result of the operation, the army killed 11 terrorists and discovered an ammunition and weapons depot. A soldier was killed and 5 others were wounded in an IED explosion in the Masor area. Spokesman for the Egyptian Army released a video showing the destruction of 9 vehicles belonging to terrorists near the Libyan border. According to the statement, a group of terrorist was trying to smuggle weapons and ammunition trough Egypt’s western border. Following the airstrikes, border guards conducted an operation against