ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

FILE IMAGE: dailysabah.com Security forces carried out 1,950 counter-terrorism raids across Turkey on July 9-16 neutralizing 53 members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the country’s interior ministry said in a statement on July 16. This number includes 37 PKK members, including two high-ranking members, whom were killed. HINT:  Turkey describes the PKK as a terrorist group. The PKK is de-facto seeking to establish an independent Kurdish state within the territory of Turkey as well as areas in northern Syria and Iraq if this would be possible. The group has carried out a large number of attacks on Turkish forces and governing structures since 1984. The interior ministry added that three shelters and caves used by the PKK were destroyed in the provinces of Diyarbakır, Tokat and Hakkari. 46 heavy- and long-barrel weapons, a high numer of explosives, thousands of pieces of ammunition and 26 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were captured by security f...

Written by  Craig Murray ; Originally appeared on  craigmurray.org.uk Craig Murray was British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and Rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010. In my last post I set out the official Government account of the events in the Skripal Case. Here I examine the credibility of this story. Next week I shall look at alternative explanations. Russia has a decade long secret programme of producing and stockpiling novichok nerve agents. It also has been training agents in secret assassination techniques, and British intelligence has a copy of the Russian training manual, which includes instruction on painting nerve agent on doorknobs. The only backing for this statement by Boris Johnson is alleged “intelligence”, and unfortunately the “intelligence” about Russia’s secret novichok programme comes from exactly the same people who brought you the intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s WMD programme, proven liars. Fu...

Illustrative image On July 14, a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) of the Taliban targeted a joint center of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan National Police (ANP) in the area of Bashran Dasht in Lashkargah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand, according to the Taliban news agency Voice of Jihad. The Taliban claimed that 37 personnel of the ANA and the ANP were killed and 11 others were injured in the SVBIED attack. According to Voice of Jihad, 6 armored personnel carriers (APCs) of the ANA were also destroyed as a result of the explosion. A spokesman of Lashkargah’s governor, Omar Zowak confirmed to the Afghan TOLO TV that a SVBIED targeted a joint center of the ANA and the ANP in Helmand. However, Zowak said that only one Afghan policeman was killed and 11 others were injured in the attack. According to the Taliban, the suicide attack is a part of its spring offensive, codenamed “Operation al-Khandagh”, which  was...

Written by  Federico Pieraccini ; Originally appeared on  strategic-culture.org The announced meeting between Trump and Putin has already produced a good result by revealing the hypocrisy of the media and politicians. The meeting has been branded as the greatest danger to humanity, according to the Western globalist elite, because of the danger that “peace could break out between Russia and the United States”. Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. The following so stretches credulity that sources will have to be cited and an exact quotations given to be believed. A case in point is the following  title :  “Fears growing over the prospect of Trump ‘peace deal’ with Putin” .  The Times  does not here fear a military escalation in Ukraine, an armed clash in Syria, a false-flag poisoning in England, or a new Cold War.  The Times  does not fear a nuclear apocalypse, the end of humanity, the suffering of hund...

Strait of Hormuz / Wikipedia Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if its oil sales are blocked because of the pressure from the US. “The most transparent, complete and prompt response was given by Mr [Hassan] Rouhani, the Iranian president, in his last trip to Europe. The response was clear: if Iran cannot export oil through the Persian Gulf, no-one will do this,” Iranian Supreme Leader’s senior adviser for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati said, speaking at the Valdai discussion club in Russia. “Either everyone will export, or no-one.” Velayati’s remarks are a clear response to the repeated US attempts to cut off Iran’s oil exports after Washington had pulled out of the landmark nuclear agreement between Teheran and other powers. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital artery for oil coming from the Middle East. Most of oil export from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq passes through the strait.

It looks that even mainstream think tanks, supporting the NATO, don’t care about providing real facts about the military bloc. On July 12, Stratfor, often described as a CIA-linked organization,  released a map designed to show NATO member states and years when they joined the alliance . The only problem that the map includes mistakes obvious for any informed person: According to the map, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), also known as East Germany, joined the NATO in 1982. The GDR has never been a NATO member state. Slovenia, a NATO member state since 2004, is shown by Stratfor as a neutral country. The map says that Spain joined the NATO in 1990. Indeed, Spain joined the bloc in 1982. Strtfor also failed to mention Montenegro as a NATO member. The country joined the bloc in 2017. Click to see the full-size image These mistakes were obsviously noted by Twitter users. However, Stratfor has ingored the feedback so far. Click to see the full-size image

AP Photo / Vahid Salemi The US is considering an option to impose sanctions against Russia, China and EU states for buying Iranian oil, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. “We intend to enforce sanctions on them [China], on Russia, on Europe and others against Iran oil,” Mnuchin answered to a question if the US would impose sanctions on China for importing Iranian oil. Washington has repeatedly threatened that it is set to impose new sanctions on Iran and urged all world countries, including its allies, not to stop purchasing Iranian oil and to cut trade ties with the country. The Trump administration claimed that those states that fail to do so will be blacklisted by the US. Earlier this year, President Trump announced that the US is withdrawing from Iran nuclear deal and is increasing pressure on the country.

Kurganets-25 IFVs Infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) based on the Kurganets-25 standardized armored platform will arrive for troops for trials in 2019, Russia’s Kurganmashzavod defense manufacturer said in an annual report on July 4. According to the report, the IFVs prototypes are currently being finalized and prepared “for comprehensive trials preceding the acceptance of this armor for service.” The document added that “Kurganmashzavod has concluded state contracts for the delivery of experimental batches of these vehicles in 2019-2021.” The Kurganets-25 is a standardized tracked platform designed for developing an IFV, an armored assault vehicle, an armored personnel carrier and a self-propelled artillery system with a 125mm gun. Click to see the full-size image