ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Illustrative image On May 31, the northern Syrian city of Jarabulus witnessed heavy clashes between the Ahrar al-Sham Movement on one side, and other Turkish-backed groups – the Northern Brigade, Ahrar al-Sharqiyah and the Sultan Murad Division – on the other side, according to Syrian opposition sources. Reportedly, a disagreement over money sparked the clashes. The Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Eldorar al-Shamia reported that three civilians had been killed and more than twenty others had been injured in the clashes. Several fighters of the Ahrar al-Sham Movement and other Turkish-backed groups were also killed. After four hours of clashes, the Turkish-backed Suqur al-Shamal group and civilian figures of Jarabulus proposed a ceasefire agreement that was accepted by the Ahrar al-Sham Movement and the three other groups. The Turkish-held areas in northern Aleppo witnessed several similar incidents this month. On May 6,  fighters of Ahrar al-Sharqiyah attacked gunmen ...

On May 31, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross  announced  that Washington would impose steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the EU on June 1. CNBC ✔ @CNBC Commerce Secretary Ross: NAFTA talks 'didn't get far enough' for Mexico and Canada to avoid tariffs https:// trib.al/qVXXUub   16:26 - 31 May 2018 Commerce Secretary Ross: NAFTA talks 'didn't get far enough' for Mexico and Canada to avoid tariffs Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross shares his trade policy views on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Thursday. cnbc.com 7 25 people are talking about this Twitter Ads information and privacy In an interview to CNBC, Ross recalled that imposed in March tariffs of 25 % on steel and 10 % on aluminum will expire as scheduled on June 1. He stressed that “he is still looking forward to continuing negotiations” on the issue with his EU colleagues. However, in the case of Canada ...

On May 31, dozens of former fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the newly liberated northern Homs countryside surrendered their personal weapons and signed a reconciliation agreement with the Damascus government, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). The news agency also reported that local figures in the northern Homs countryside collected tons of weapons and handed them over to the SAA. Reportedly, the weapons included automatic rifles, sniper rifles, heavy machineguns, RPGs, mortars and loads of ammunition. More than 300 former fighters of the FSA in the northern Homs countryside joined the reconciliation process on May 23 . The reconciliation agreement,  which was reached on May 2 , guarantees that the Damascus government will pardon all the former fighters in northern Homs, if they join the reconciliation within six months. Syrian pro-government activists believe that thousands of former FSA fighters in the northern Homs countryside will join the reco...

Written by  Hadi Gholami Nohouji For journalists and especially for those working at TV stations, it has never been easy to cover terrorism-related news, but things got much harder with the sudden advances made by the Islamic State (ISIS) in both Iraq and Syria in 2014, and the de facto establishment of its self-proclaimed Caliphate. ISIS, through its heavy reliance and use of social media as a propaganda tool, rapidly shocked the world with its savagery and barbarity. It continues to find new and horrifying ways of effectively “entertaining” the audience and attracting media attention. This violent group was by no means the first group to carry out such savage acts which it put on display through its social media accounts, but it was effectively the first to record (in a professional manner) and distribute them as means of getting fame and terrorizing the global community. One of the groups affected by the barbaric videos and images distributed by this group were and c...

Written by  Brian Cloughley ; Originally appeared on  strategic-culture.org After over sixteen years of foreign military occupation, Afghanistan, the fourth  most corrupt country  in the world, continues to be battered and blasted by war. Its citizens are victims of suicide attacks by insane savages and, according to the magazine  Stars and Stripes , the number of US bombs dropped on Afghanistan in March 2018 “was the highest for that month in five years. While ISIS is being pushed underground in Iraq and Syria, the number of fighters pledging loyalty to the group appears to be growing in Afghanistan.” But it isn’t only the ravages of war that are destroying the country. The social fabric is being terminally torn asunder by human rights violations that are either ignored or condoned by both the government and the US-NATO  military alliance amongst whose “ key functions ” is “Supporting the adherence to the principles of rule of law and good governanc...

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: AFP PHOTO / AHMED FARWANAHMED FARWAN/AFP/Getty Images Over 1,000 Saudi soldiers have been killed in Yemen since early 2015, Saudi state media says. The Saudi-led coalition intervened Yemen in March 2015 in order to establish own puppet government in the country. However, Saudi and Saudi-backed forces faced a fierce resistance from the Houthis and their allies. Since then, the conflict has been flaring in Yemen. The Yemeni capital of Sanaa and a large part central and northern Yemen are still in the hands of the Houthis. The recent report about over 1,000 Saudi troops killed in the conflict is a rare admission of the military casualties by the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has a policy of withholding information on the casualties it has suffered during the conflict. Saudi-led forces are currently advancing along the western coast of the country with an aim to ccapture the key port city of Hudaydah.  MORE HERE If the Saudi military and its proxie...

FILE PHOTO: The S-400 Triumf anti-air missile system © Alexey Malgavko Russia and India are about to sign a $ 6 billion worth deal on S-400 air defense systems delivery,  Russian news agency RBC reported  on May 29 quoting own sources. RBC sources claimed that “5 regiments” could be delivered to India. A source from the Russian Ministry of Defense told RBC that four S-400 regiments and an additional regiment with ammunition and repair parts could be delivered. According to RBC sources, India and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on May 28. The total value of the contract will be $6,2 billion. A source from the Indian side acknowledged with a course of the talks reported that the deal is at the final point. According to the source, the only problem of the deal is a risk for India to be slapped with US sanctions. The source pointed out that India is negotiating with the US over this issue. On August 2, 2017 US President Trump signed a federal law “Counte...

The Israeli-Palestinian military escalation has been developing  in the Gaza Strip and the nearby area. Since May 29, the Israeli Defense Forces (SDF) have attacked at least 65 targets in the Gaza Strip. The targets were allegedly belonging to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement and included alleged facilities manufacturing rocket launchers and rocket engines. The IDF also claimed that its forces are currently operating in Gaza. The round of escalation started from mortar shelling from Gaza early on May 29. Throughout the day, Palestinian forces launched at least 70 mortar shells and rockets at Israeli targets. The situation is developing. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups claimed that “bombings will be met with bombings and blood with blood”. They described the recent increased wave of shelling on Israeli targets as a “response to the Zionist aggression and the crimes against our people and the members of the resistance.” The map below shows the following a...