ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

North Korea has conducted a sixth nuclear test, the Japanese government said, a move the United States and its allies in the region are likely to view as a major provocation. Seismological data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) showed that an explosion caused a 6.3-magnitude tremor in the country's northeast, not far from the country's Punggye-ri nuclear test site.  If the initial data holds, it would make it the most powerful weapon that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the country is officially known, has ever tested. "After analyzing data provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency, the Japanese government concluded that North Korea has conducted a nuclear test," Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said in a live television broadcast.  NORTH KOREA JUST CONFIRMED THAT THEY CONDUCTED A SUCCESSFUL H-BOMB TEST  North Korea’s state-run TV broadcaster said that Pyongyang carried out the sixth nuclear test in a special announce

On August 31, the Pakistani Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Nafees Zakaria denied claims of General John W. Nicholson, commander for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, that Pakistan is providing safe a heaven for Taliban members. Zakaria said that such safe heavens excite in Afghanistan itself, not in Pakistan. Furthermore, Zakaria revealed that there has been no official communication between the US and the Pakistani government since US president Donald Trump accused Pakistan of hiding terrorists. Islamabad relationship with Taliban goes back to the very foundation of Taliban in Afghanistan. However, it’s not likely that only the US has had no info about these relationships. More likely that the US is using this fact as an excuse for inability to prevent the recent Taliban victories in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Taliban has continued its attacks against the Afghani Army and Police. The Taliban news agency Voice of Jihad claimed that a vehicle of the Afghani Army was dest

FINISHED TOPIC:  Interview with Dilyana Gaytandzhieva on weapons supplies to Syria and the media secnsorship in Europe. Dilyana Gaytandzhieva is an investigative reporter authored a  report for Trud Newspaper , which found that an Azerbaijan state airline company was regularly transporting weapons to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey under diplomatic cover as part of the CIA covert program to supply militants in Syria.

On September 1, the Taliban news agency Voice of Jihad announced that the Taliban assassinated the director of the Afghan Intelligence Cirectorate in Chakhansur town, Bismllah Khan Hussiny, near the Iranian-Afghanistan border. According to Voice of Jihad, Hussiny’s car was targeted by Taliban fighters in Ismail roundabout in Zaranj city near the border with Iran. Voice of Jihad said that the former director of the Afghani intelligence directorate in Zaranj city, Ahmad Shah Salem, was in the car, and was also killed in the attack. Bismllah Khan Hussiny In a separate development, the Taliban released several Afghan Army soldiers who had been captured by Taliban fighters previously as a gesture of goodwill on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.  Follow Ahmet Yar   @Pashtunist Afghan soldiers taken prisoner by Taliban in strongly contested JaniKhel district of Paktia. 05:41 - 29 Aug 2017   1 1 Reply     9 9 Retweets     22 22 likes Twitter Ads informa

On September 2, the Houthis launched a Qaher-M2 ballistic missile on a camp of the Sudanese Army south of al-Mausim area in Jizan province near the Yemeni-Saudi border. The Both sides didn’t announce any info about causalities caused by the attack. The Sudanese Army is the third biggest force deployed in Yemen within the Saudi-led coalition (after Saudi Arabia itself and the UAE). A Qaher-M2 ballistic missile is one of the most advanced missiles in the Houthis’ arsenal. The Houthis claims that Qaher-M2 has a range of 400km with a 350kg warhead. The missile is a modified version of the Soviet-made surface to air missile S-75\V-750. Click to see the full-size image The Houthis claimed that the missile has a circular error probable (CEP) between 5 and 10 meters. However, it is likely an exaggeration. Moreover, the Houthis targeted a gathering of the Saudi-bakced pro-Hadi forces north of Midid desert near Jizan with two Zilzal-1 rockets. According to the Yemeni al-Masirah ne

By Ramzy Baroud Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, has been reduced to rubble. It has been finally conquered, snatched back from the notorious group, Daesh, after months of merciless bombardment by the US-led war coalition, and a massive ground war. But ‘victory’ can hardly be the term assigned to this moment.  Mosul, once Iraq’s cultural jewel and model of co-existence, is now a ‘city of corpses’, as  described by a foreign journalist  who walked through the ruins, while shielding his nose from a foul smell. “You’ve probably heard of thousands killed, the civilian suffering,” Murad Gazdiev said. “What you likely haven’t heard of is the smell. It’s nauseating, repulsive, and it’s everywhere – the smell of rotting bodies.” Actually, the “smell of rotting bodies” can be found everywhere that Daesh has been defeated. The group that once declared a Caliphate – an Islamic state – in Iraq and Syria in 2014, and was left to freely expand in all directions, is now being hurriedly va

U.S. Made Similar Deal With ISIS By Moon Of Alabama Last week the Lebanese Army and Hizbullah defeated ISIS in the Lebanese-Syrian border area of Qalamun. A ceasefire was announced and a deal was made. Lebanon received the bodies of its army fighters earlier captured and killed by ISIS. The remaining ISIS fighter and their families would  disarm and receive free passage  to ISIS held areas in east Syria. The U.S. has now launched a media campaign against this deal. The Iraqi government has joined in. As noted in the  last Syria Summary  here: In the Qalamun area at the Lebanese border the Lebanese army and Hizbullah attacked the last ISIS enclave along that border. Today the remaining 200 ISIS fighters in the area agreed to lay down arms in exchange for an evacuation towards east-Syria. The later announced total of evacuees was higher  with 308 ISIS fighters  and about 500 of their relatives  including kids . These are transported in 17 buses and several ambulances across S

On August 31, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement released an official statement accusing Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) of assassinating one of its commanders, Sayeed al-Barshah. Al-Barshah was the commander of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement in Taladah village in the northern Idlib countryside. Click to see the full-size image According to al-Zenki Movement statement al-Barshah was killed with an IED on the road to the village of Taladah. The Al-Zenki Movement added that they were able to arrest the attackers who confessed and revealed that they were members of HTS. Shortly after that, HTS forces attacked Taladah village and freed the imprisoned HTS memebers. The Al-Zenki Movement also claimed that HTS captured the town and killed a number of its fighters. However, local sources claimed that the clashes in Taladah was between the al-Barshah family and the Qutibah family. Apparently the al-Barshah family consists of supporters of the al-Zenki Movement, while the Qutibah fa