ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

On April 4, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) secured several areas between the towns of Sabikhan and al-Salihiyah in the southern Deir Ezzor countryside from ISIS cells, according to the pro-government blog al-Masdar News. The media department of the SAA said that loads of weapons and ammunition including ATGMs, air-to-air missiles and IEDs were found by the SAA during a search and demining operation around the town of Sabikhan. On April 3, the SAA and the NDF launched a security operation  to eliminate the remaining ISIS cells in the southern Deir Ezzor countryside. So far, the SAA has secured more than 600 square kilometers, according to Syrian pro-government sources. From its side, the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq reported that ISIS fighters had targeted five positions of the SAA around al-Ghbrah in the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside with SPG-9 recoilless rifles . Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image

A screenshot from the video Following a series of reports on alleged fresh US casualties in Syria on April 2 and April 3 , rumors and speculations over the situation in the US-occupied part of Syria have developed further. On April 4, Telegram channel WarGonzo (one of the key sources of the rumors) claimed that 6 more US service members had been killed and 2 others injured in an IED blast on the road between Al-Shaddadah and Hasakah. The blast allegedly destroyed one armoured vehicle belonging to the US-led coalition. The IED had been allegedly planted by mysterious “local partisans” allegedly belonging to the group named “Popular Resistance In Eastern Region” [or “National Resistance Forces”]. Once again, no photos or videos confirming these claims were provided. The US-led coalition has not revealed any casualties. Meanwhile, videos showing alleged members of “Popular Resistance In Eastern Region” have appeared online. In the first video, Popular Resistance In Eastern R

The US has deployed 300 additional soldiers in the Syrian city of Manbij, the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported on April 1. “The U.S. is taking measures against a possible counter-terror operation led by Turkey in Syria’s northern Manbij district,”  the state-run news agency wrote. According to the report, the reinforcements were deployed near the Sajur River, located near a contact line between Turkey-led forces and the area controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), described by Ankara as a terrorist group, is the core of the SDF. On January 20, the Turkish military and its proxies started a large-scale military operation against the YPG in the Afrin area in northwestern Syria. On March 18, Turkish forces captured Afrin from the YPG. Over the past month, Turkish leadership have repeatedly threatened to launch a military operation in Manbij if the YPG remains deployed in the area. This has

Written by  Arkady Savitsky ; Originally appeared on  strategic-culture.org On March 23, 1983, 35 years ago, President Ronald Reagan unveiled his space-wars program, the  SDI , to intercept and destroy incoming missiles and other weapons for battling in this new domain. It never came to fruition, as the technology that existed at that time was insufficiently advanced to meet the requirements. But times change. It has been announced that the project is once again to be pursued. The US plans to deploy weapons in space, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued a  warn ing  about this in January. That warning proved accurate. Donald Trump  believes  that space is becoming a “warfighting domain,” just like the land, air, and sea, and is thus encouraging the creation of a space force on par with the other branches of the armed forces. It was hardly an off-the-cuff comment. The idea enjoys  strong support in Congress . Pushing forward such an initiative would strengthen the pre

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Written by  Evgeny Satanovsky ;  In addition to the confrontation between the world powers and local players in Syria and Yemen, they compete on other platforms, including Palestine and Iraq. The US is trying to influence the nuclear programme of the KSA and talk about a new Islamist threat, slated to replace the Islamic State. It is seen in the resurrected al Qaida. The article is based on materials from the expert Y. Scheglovin from the Middle East Institute. Sector Without a Prize The motorcade in which rode the Prime Minister of Palestine, R. Hamdallah, the head of intelligence in Gaza, T.A. Rajab, blew up upon entering the section by a bomb laid out on the road. Wounding seven guards, the Premier was not hurt. The head of the Palestinian National Administration M. Abbas laid the responsibility for the attack on Hamas-controlled Gaza, pointing out that the bombing was intended to undermine Palestinian unity. Representati

On April 1, Egyptian Army spokesman Colonel Tamer Rifai announced in an official statement that the Egyptian Army had discovered and destroyed 993 hideouts and ammo depots of ISIS cells in the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian Army soldiers killed 6 ISIS fighters and arrested 513 suspects during their security operations in Sinai, according to Col. Rifai’s statement. 19 vehicles and 64 motorcycles of ISIS were also destroyed by the Egyptian Army. Col. Rifai added that the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) had continued to conduct airstrikes targeting gatherings of ISIS fighters in Sinai. He said these airstries had been based on “credible intelligence.” Demining squads of the Egyptian Army removed 163 IEDs and mines, that had been planted by ISIS fighters to target the Egyptian Army, according to Col. Rifai. The Egyptian Army launched  a large scale anti-ISIS operation in Sinai province under the codename “Sinai 2018” on February 20 . Since then, the security situation in Sinai has witnessed

Illustrative image On April 1, the Tunisian Ministry of Interior announced in an official statement that the country’s security forces had killed “Shuqi al-Faqrawi”, a senior commander of the ISIS-affiliated group Jund al-Khilafah and had injured several other fighters of the terrorist group during a security operation in the Hassi El Ferid area of the western Kasserine province. Security forces located al-Faqrawi and his fighters after they had sneaked out of their stronghold, the Selloum mount in the southern part of Kasserine. The Tunisian Ministry of Interior revealed that the security operation lasted for 72 hours. Al-Faqrawi joined Jund al-Khilafah in 2014. Since then he has participated in a series of terrorist attacks against the Tunisian Army and security forces, including an attempt to assassinate a member of the Tunisian Parliament. According to the Tunisian Ministry of Interior, al-Faqrawi was wanted for 25 cases of terrorism. Tunisia has  transformed into a hear

Soldiers stand guard along the main street of Mapandi village, Philippines June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco On March 31, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced in an official statement that its units had captured “Walton Jujirin”, a sub-leader of the ISIS-affiliated group Abu Sayyaf in the Patikul area of the southern province of Sulu. Jujirin was wounded and left behind by his four fighters when he was captured, according to the AFP. AFP units were reportedly conducting a security operation to rescue Philippines and foreign hostages from Abu Sayyaf in the Patikul area when the civilians informed them about the location of Jujirin. According to the AFP, Jujirin and his units are responsible for a series of IEDs attacks against the AFP in Sulu province. On March 30 only, three soldiers of the AFP were killed when their vehicle was targeted with an IED in Sulu, according to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq. Click to see the full-size image The AFP intensifi