ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

On January 5, thousands of civilians including women and children protested in the towns of Babbila and Beit Sahem south of Damascus city against the al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Hamas-affiliated militant group Jaysh al-Ababil, according to Syrian pro-government sources. The Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV said that the protestors condemned the terrorists acts of HTS and Jaysh al-Ababil during the protests and called on the two Islamist groups to leave the area. Local sources reported the Jaysh al-Ababil fighters injured several protestors with machine guns. Last week, dozens of children protested in the towns of Babbila and Beit Sahem against Jaysh al-Ababil, after it had arrested their relatives because they were planning to join the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). Click to see the full-size image The Syrian government has been negotiating with HTS and Jaysh al-Ababil to expel them from the towns of Aqraba, Beit Sahm, Yalda and Babila  since Dec

Illustrative image Written by  Prof Michel Chossudovsky ; Originally appeared at  Global Research In 2003, the war on Iran project was already Déjà Vu.  It had been on the drawing board of the Pentagon since the mid-nineties.  Since the launching of the  Theater Iran Near Term (TIRANNT)   war games scenario in May 2003 (leaked classified document), an escalation scenario involving military action directed against Iran and Syria had been envisaged, of which Syria was the first stage in 2011.   The initial invasion of Iraq under “Operation Iraqi Freedom” was launched on March 20, 2003, April 9 marks the Fall of Baghdad;  officially the invasion was completed on May 1st, 2003. In May 2003,  immediately  following the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the TIRANNT (Theater Iran Near Term) war games scenario were carried out as revealed by William Arkin, a former US intelligence analyst: “In early 2003, even as U.S. forces were on the brink of war with Iraq,  the Army had alre

Click to see the full-size image Houthi fighters killed 399 Saudi soldiers and 1,894 fighters loyal to Saudi-backed President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in 2017, according to a report released by the Houthis media wing on January 3. In the report, the Houthis also claimed that their fighters destroyed 8 M1a2 Abrams battle tanks, 31 battle tanks of other types, 196 infantry fighting vehicles and 1,337 other vehicles of the Saudi-led coalition and pro-Hadi forces. Furthermore, the Houthis announced that they were able to shoot down 19 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and to hit eight naval vessels of the Saudi-led coalition. The Houthis media wing report also claimed that in 2017, the Houthis launched 45 ballistic missiles at targets in Saudi Arabia. The numbers in the Houthis’ report were not verified by any neutral source. However, some figures, like the number of the launched ballistic missiles, were confirmed in previous reports of the Saudi-led coalition itself. On January 4,

Click to see the full-size image On January 1, Deputy Director of Public Relations of the Nigerian Army Colonel Timothy Antigha announced that 700 civilians including women and children escaped from the Lake Chad that’s controlled by the ISIS-affiliated group Boko Haram. According to Col. Antigha, the civilians were received by the Nigerian Army’s 242 Battalion in Monguno town in northeastern Nigeria. “Over 700 former Boko Haram abductees, comprising adult males, females and children have been received by troops of 242 Battalion in Monguno. Profiling of the displaced persons is on- going to ensure that no terrorist takes advantage of the situation to sneak into the town,” Col. Antigha said in an official statement. Col Antigha said that farmers and fishermen who were forced to work in Boko Haram farms in several islands in Lake Chad were among the hostages and attributed the escape of the hostages to a military operation conducted by the Nigerian Army few days earlier. Niger

FILE IMAGE In 2017, China started building its third aircraft carrier, with will including a hi-tech launch system, at a Shanghai shipyard,  the South China Morning Post reported  citing sources close to the People’s Liberation Army. The article says: “One of the sources said Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard Group was given the go-ahead to begin work on the vessel after military leaders met in Beijing following the annual sessions of China’s legislature and top political advisory body in March. “But the shipyard is still working on the carrier’s hull, which is expected to take about two years,” the source said. “Building the new carrier will be more complicated and challenging than the other two ships.” China has been trying to build up a blue-water navy that can operate globally and support its maritime security, but it so far has only one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning – a repurposed Soviet ship it bought from Ukraine that went into service in 2012. Its first Chinese desig

Click to see the full-size image On January 4, the Syrian Nation Defense Forces (NDF) shot down two DIY armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) near the Russian Hmeimim airbase in Lattakia governorate. The UAVs were shot down by NDF fighters with a light machine gun, according to the NDF media wing. The NDF said that the wingspan of the two downed UAVs is slightly more than 1 meter and that they are made of wood, styrofoam and plastic. The UAVs were powered by diesel engines feed by a fuel tank mad of light plastic too. Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Each UAV was armed with at least two local made small projectiles equipped with impact fuses taken from mortar shells. The two UAVs managed to drop some of these projectiles over the town of Qardaha in the eastern Lattakia countryside and the city of Jableh near the Hmeimim airbase before they were shot down. However, the bombardment didn’t result in any casualties. Click to see the ful

Click to see the full-size image The US-led coalition requested Russia for a help to clear the Homs desert and parts of Euphrates Valley from ISIS, but Russia refused to assist the US-backed force, the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Hammurabi’s Justice News reported on January 4. According to the report, the US-led coalition shared coordinates of several ISIS positions in the Homs desert and the Euphrates Valley with Russia. ISIS allegedly attacked the US-led coalition base in the al-Tanaf area near the Syrian-Iraqi border from these positions. However, Russia didn’t only refuse to attack ISIS positions, but also refused to allow the US to bomb them because they were besieged by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), according to Hammurabi’s Justice News. The news outlet went on, and criticized Russia for “no being serious about fighting ISIS”. Click to see the full-size image An officer of the US-led coalition told Hammurabi’s Justice News that the Russian response to their re