ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

On Wednesday, Houthis launched a ballistic missile on the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, Yemeni sources claimed. The Houthis media wing and the UAE government have not denied or confirm these claims so far. A local source from Abu Dhabi denied that any missile hit the city or any area near it.   It’s unlikely that these reports are true as the most advance ballistic missile the Houthis got is only 400km in range while Abu Dhabi is more than 600km away from Yemen. If Houthis indeed were able to target the UAE with a ballistic missile that got a range of over 600km it would be a big technological breakthrough for the Houthis missile force. However, even in this case this would mean that the missile had technical problems or was intercepted by the UAE Air Defense Force as it didn’t hit its target for sure. On Tuesday,  Houthi fighters repelled a large attack of Saudi-led forces in al-Aulib mountains in Najran near the Saudi-Yemeni border . The Houthis killed several pro-Hadi fighte

FILE IMAGE On August 30, Brigadier General Rolando Joselito Bautista, commander of the 1st Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), announced that the AFP stepped up its bombing on the remaining ISIS-held area in Marawi city to open the way for the final push against terrorists. “One of the lessons we learned is that we really have to support the advance of troops by pouring all the firepower in,” Gen. Bautista said. Moreover, the AFP successfully captured the Mapandi bridge after weeks of clashes with ISIS fighters. The bridge was the last suppling route for ISIS in Marawi city. ISIS now controls only a 500-square-meter pocket inside Marawi city surrounded by the AFP from all sides. So far 617 ISIS fighters have been killed in the Marawi battle, while the AFP has lost 133 soldiers. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced that the battle to liberate Marawi entered its final phase. “We are in the final stages. So let us send immediately,

A U.S. black hawk helicopter flies over the site of a Taliban suicide attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan on August 2. JAVED TANVEER/AFP/GETTY On Wednesday, Bob Purtiman, a spokesman for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, denied the Taliban’s claims about downing a US helicopter in Logar province in central Afghanistan. “ The Taliban’s claim to have shot down a U.S. helicopter in Logar Province is false ,” Purtiman said. However, Purtiman revealed that a US helicopter had some technical problem and it made a precautionary landing. “ A helicopter did make a precautionary landing for a maintenance issue.   The aircraft has been successfully recovered ,” Purtiman explained. The Taliban claimed earlier that it downed a US helicopter in Logar province. Furthermore, the Taliban claimed that 20 US soldiers were killed in the attack. The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: “ As the American occupiers tried to airdrop a number of other American soldiers, the mujahede

FILE IMAGE On Wednesday, Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah released an official message to the Iraqi people regarding the deal with ISIS fighters on the Syrian-Lebanese border. Nasrallah said that the message is an answer to  some Iraqi officials comments on the deal with ISIS . Nasrallah stated that the number of ISIS fighters who will leave is only 310. Nasrallah also said that these fighters are moved within the Syrian territories and denied moving them from the Lebanese border to the Iraqi border as some sources claimed. “The area they were moved to is the front line of the Syrian desert that everyone knows that the Syrian Arab Army –(SAA)- and its allies are fighting on it an intense fight, and that the spearhead of the attack on ISIS in the Syrian desert always been and will be Hezbollah who give away large numbers of martyrs there. By this we are moving these defeated militiamen – ISIS fighters – from a front we fight on, to another front that we fight on,” Nasrallah

North Korea's launch of a missile over Japan was a prelude to more military operations directed at the American territory of Guam, North Korean state media warned Wednesday. The country's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported leader Kim Jong Un presided over the dawn launch Tuesday of the "ultra-modern rocket system," the first missile ever fired from the capital Pyongyang. North Korean officials told CNN in Pyongyang that Kim was "very satisfied with the performance of the missile." The intermediate-range missile, identified by the North Koreans as the Hwasong-12, flew over Japan, further fueling tensions between North Korea and the United States and its allies, Japan and South Korea. A photo released by North Korea state media appearing the show the launch of a missile which flew from North Korea over Japan on August 29. The launch was "the first step of the military operation of the (North Korean military) in the Paci

Beirut, Aug 29, IRNA – Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the Daesh (ISIS) terrorists had no choice but to accept Hezbollah proposed conditions and left the region. He made the remarks while addressing a ceremony marking liberation of Lebanese and Syrian border areas from Takfiri terrorist groups. His address was aired live on Al-Menar TV. Referring to the recent war against Daesh terrorists in the Lebanese and Syrian borders, Nasrallah said that neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese army sought ceasefire but at the end the Takfiri terrorists accepted proposed conditions and abandoned the region. When Daesh proposed talks, Hezbollah forces declared their conditions and called for freedom of two priests and journalist Samir Kasab and they finally accepted the conditions. As to the last stage of the agreement with Daesh, Nasrallah said that it was committed to deliver remains of the bodies of the military as well as a Lebanese captive. Based on the agreeme

By Andre Vltchek Whatever the West may think, and no matter what the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri may say publicly, the Lebanese army, in clear coordination with  Hezbollah  (which is outlawed in many Western countries) as well as with the Syrian army, is now pounding the positions of deadly ISIS/Daesh, right at the border region. The army began the operation on August 19, 2017, at 5 in the morning, by firing at the terrorists’ positions in Jaroud, Raas Ba’albak and al-Qaa’ using rockets and heavy artillery. It all has an emotional twist: the army commanders declared that the operation was launched in honor of the country’s kidnapped military men and martyrs. Apparently, Lebanon has finally decided: that, enough is enough! First Al-Nusra Front and now ISIS have to go. Ignore the fact the Lebanese government went out of its way to say that the Lebanese army is actually not coordinating with Syrian forces, or with  Hezbollah . After all, Mr. Hariri just recently returne

MAPNA Group, an Iranian company involved in development and execution of thermal and renewable power plants, oil & gas, railway transportation and other industrial projects will build five new 25 MW power plants in order to supply Aleppo city with electricity. MAPNA Group began working in Syria 12 years ago. Despite the Syrian crisis it didn’t stop operating in the country. Now when the situation is returning back to normal, MAPNA Group has resumed development of the Jandol power plant. Its steam section has been commissioned and delivered and MAPNA Group is now at a final stage of the bulding of this power plant. The  company is currently working on new projects. For example, it’s developing five units of 25 MW for Aleppo city. Aleppo has the population of more than 2,5 million residents, but the electricity is still supplied via motor generators. MAPNA Group is also negotiating another project with the Syrian Ministry of Electricity. The project includes 25 MW power