ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Aftermath of the car bombing at the gate of Naso Hablod hotel in Mogadishu. Photograph: Reuters A dualbombing hit the Somali capital of Mogadishu just two weeks after a bomb attack killed over 350 people. A suicide car-bomb hit an area outside Naso Hablod hotel on Saturday, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 16. Another explosion took place near the former parliament house nearby. The third explosion was also reported. However, right now it’s unclear where it took place. “Speaking to Associated Press by telephone from the scene, Capt Mohamed Hussein said more than 20 people, including government officials, were thought to be trapped as security forces battled extremists holed up on the top floor of the Nasa-Hablod hotel, close to the presidential palace. Two of the five attackers were killed on the first floor, Hussein said. The others hurled grenades and cut off the building’s electricity as night fell,”  the Guardian reports . ...

The Syrian Arab Navy was established in 1950 following the procurement of a number of naval vessels from France and the initial training of Syrian military officers at the French naval academy, forming the core of competent naval officers from which to expand the nation’s navy. The main Syrian naval bases are located at the seaports of Latakia and Tartus, as well as at Baniyas and the Al-Mina al-Baida Marine Base. Latakia is Syria’s largest port and is also equipped with a naval repair dockyard. A squadron of “fast attack craft” (FAC) armed with anti-ship missiles, guns, and/or torpedoes are based at Latakia. Tartus is also an important base for the Syrian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea. It hosts a Soviet-era naval supply and maintenance base, first established under a 1971 agreement between the two countries. Prior to its modernization, the Russian naval facility consisted of three floating dry docks, dry and liquid storage, military barracks and other facilities. Since 2015, Russia...

Click to see the full-size map On October 28, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Tiger Forces advanced in al-Umal area (workers 1 and workers 2) in the center of Deir Ezzor city and captured al-Rusafi and al-Eirfi mosques inside the district, according to pro-governemnt sources. From its side, the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq claimed that ISIS fighters repelled an attack of the SAA in al-Umal district. Amaq reported that ISIS fighters killed 35 Syrian soldiers, and destroyed two tanks, a BMP-1 vehicle, a bulldozer and another vehicle during the clashes in the district. Click to see the full-size map Meanwhile, in the southern Deir Ezzor countryside, the SAA and Hezbollah repelled an attack of ISIS on their positions east of the T-2 station, according to the Hezbollah media wing in Syria. Several ISIS vehicles were destroyed by SAA soldiers while they were repelling the attack. Moreover, Iranian Unmanned Combat Arial Vehicles (UCAVs) destroyed several positions of ISIS ...