ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

FILE (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan, File) On Thursday,  the Taliban captured Qarai, Chakna, Balai Bam and Jawdana villages in Qaysar district of Faryab province  in northern Afghanistan, according to the Taliban news agency Voice of Jihad. Voice of Jihad also announced that an Afghan Army soldiers was killed and 3 others were injured in the attack on the villages. Moreover,  the Taliban attacked Borghan Bala and Borghan Payan areas and a strategic checkpoint in Faryab province.  Voice of Jihad said that clashes in the newly captured areas were ongoing. Two Afghan soldiers were injured in the clashes. Meanwhile,  Taliban fighters attacked two checkpoints of the Afghan Army and Police in Arghandab district of Kandahar Province  in southern Afghanistan. 3 Afghan soldiers were killed and 2 others were injured in the attack according to Voice of Jihad. In a related development, Afghan officials announced that  17 Taliban fighters were killed during a joint air and ground operations

The ISIS-linked news agency Amaq has released a photo report showing an ambush of Egyptian military column by ISIS members in Northern Sinai.  ISIS members attacked the column on September 11.  18 Egyptian service members were killed and 5 others were wounded in the attack. 3 ISIS militants were also killed in the clashes.   

FILE IMAGE The US and Russia rejected an Israeli request to prevent the presence of any Iranian forces or Iranian-backed militias near the Israeli border as a part of the ceasefire agreement in south Syria,  the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported  on Thursday. According to the report,  Israel demanded to create a 60-80km wide buffer zone inside Syria against Iranian-backed forces.  The supposed buffer zone would spread from the Golan Heights to the west of the Damascus-al-Suwayda highway in southwestern Syria. Israel proposed its idea to Russia and the US during the talks that preceded the cease-fire agreement in southern Syria. According to the report,  Russia refused the Israeli proposal, while the US didn’t back it for real mostly. However, Russia promised Israel that the Iranians and their allies will not move any closer to Israel than five kilometers in the areas held by the Syrian government. The report noted that no Iranian presence was notified on the frontline with

Late on Thursday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured Al-Husseiniyeh town along the eastern bank of the Euphrates river north of Deir Ezzor city. With this advance ISIS was fully besieged in the  area along the Euphrates River between the southern Raqqa countryside and the northwestern Deir Ezzor countryside. Click to see the full-size map The SDF will likely continue its advance northwest and southeast of Deir Ezzor city along the eastern bank of the river. Pro-government sources believe that no less than 1000 will-armed ISIS fighters are now trapped in the created Euphrates Valley pocket. Meanwhile, the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq claimed that 120 civilians including 100 child were killed in an airstrike by the US-led collation on a refugee camp near the village of Jadid A’akidat in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside. Amaq claims are yet to be confirmed by any other side. Amaq also claimed that ISIS fighters destroyed two vehicles of the Syrian Arab Ar

Do Not to Seek North Korean Regime Change By Ting Shi and David Tweed Beijing, Moscow worked to weaken sanctions on North Korea China says it will never allow war on Korean peninsula. In supporting a watered-down version of North Korea sanctions, China and Russia had a stern warning for the U.S.: Don’t try to overthrow Kim Jong Un’s regime. The measures passed on Monday  at the United Nations Security Council included reducing imports of refined petroleum products, banning textile exports and strengthening inspections of cargo ships suspected of having illegal materials. U.S. envoy Nikki Haley called them the “strongest measures ever imposed on North Korea” even though they ended up dropping demands for an oil embargo and freeze on Kim’s assets. More worrisome for China and Russia was Haley’s remark that the U.S. would act alone if Kim’s regime didn’t stop testing missiles and bombs. The UN representatives of both countries on Monday reiterated what they called “ the four n

Members of the Taliban gather in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, April 18, 2015. FILE IMAGE: voanews.com On September 12,  Taliban fighters captured Broghan and Jwdana areas of Khaibar district  in a rapid attack, according to the Taliban news agency Voice of Jihad.  Voice of Jihad also reported clashes with the Afghan Army and Police are still ongoing in the newly captured areas. Voice of Jihad also announced that Taliban fighters captured  a check point of the Afghan Army in in Moqani area of Pashtun Kot district . Moreover,  a commander of the Afghan army and two of his guards were killed  after Taliban fighters targeted their armored vehicle on Herat highway in Kandyal area of Zarhi district earlier on September 13, according to Voice of Jihad. Meanwhile, Kapisa province police chief Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi said that  3 Taliban commanders were killed  on September 10 after a bomb they were making exploded. According to Yaqoubi the three Taliban commanders were busy attachin

The South Korean Air Force has conducted  its first live-fire exercise for the long-range Taurus missile , the Yonhap News Agency  reported citing the country’s air force. The air-to-surface missile has a range of 500 km. It was “introduced from Germany for precision bombing of key facilities in North Korea” , Yonhap News Agency added. The missile is capable of carrying out precision attacks on targets in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, “even if it is fired as far as from the central part of South Korea.” The exercise took place over Taean, South Chungcheong Province, on Tuesday.  A F-15K fighter jet fired a Taurus missile that flew about 400 km and hit a target in the coastal waters off Gunsan, North Jeolla Province. Earlier this week, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed a new round of sanctions on North Korea over its sixth nuclear test.  North Korea responded  claiming that the new sanctions were an act of “heinous provocation” and that they strengthene

Click to see the full-size map The military situation is developing rapidly in the province of Deir Ezzor as the ISIS-held area is shrinking  under the pressure of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), backed up by the Russian Aerospace Forces, and the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by the US-led coalition. On September 13,  the SAA, the Syrian Republican Guard (SRG), Hezbollah and other pro-government factions continued operations against ISIS in the Deir Ezzor area and advanced on ISIS positions at Jafrah, al-Mariiyah and ar-Rouad. Tactical goals of the SAA and its allies in eastern Syria are: to secure the northwestern flank of the government-held city,  liberating ar-Rouad and the army storage base. If the ISIS defense collapses in the area, the SAA and its allies may push towards al-Baghiliyah. However, this is not a top priority right now because the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance has much more important task on the ground; to secure the entire ar