The Houthis’ Do-It-Yourself Air Defenses
WIB front January 16, 2018
Read part one. As of 2014, Yemeni air defenses were grouped into nine air-defense brigades, each operating a mix of surface-to-air missile sites equipped with S-75/SA-2, S-125/SA-3, 2K12/SA-6 and 9K31/SA-9 missile systems. By the time Houthi insurgents descended from the mountains of northern Yemen and brought Sana’a under their... Read more
Le 3 janvier 2018, le journal russe Kommersant rapportait que des «islamistes radicaux» avaient détruit sept avions de combat russes à Hmeimim près de la base aérienne de Lattaquié le jour du nouvel an. Vladimir Poutine avait visité la base plus tôt dans le mois pour féliciter les troupes pour... Read more
On Jan. 3, 2018, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that “radical Islamists” had destroyed seven Russian combat jets at Khmeimim, or Hmeimim, air base near Latakia, Syria on New Year’s Eve, 2017. Russian president Vladimir Putin had visited the base earlier that month to praise the troops for their... Read more
On Oct. 9, 2016 around 400 Rohingya Muslims from an insurgent movement known as Harakan Al Yaqin simultaneous attacked three Burmese Border Guard Police headquarters in Rakhine state. The HaY, which later changed its name to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ARSA, was poorly armed. Only around 30... Read more
For the Russian Military in Syria, Old Habits Die Hard
WIB front December 29, 2017
Russia this month announced another draw-down from its combat operations in Syria, which began on Sept. 30, 2015. The Russian military will retain troops in the country, likely indefinitely, where it has demonstrated the capabilities of new weapons and tactics — which together show it has learned from its... Read more
How the Zetas Imposed Tyranny Inside a Mexican Prison
WIB front December 21, 2017
This article originally appeared at InSight Crime. A new study of the Zetas’ operations in northern Mexico offers a detailed examination of the roots of the organization’s power as well as the extent of its reign of terror in 2011. The paper, called El Yugo Zeta: Norte de Coahuila,... Read more
Islamic State Blasts Afghanistan’s Spy Agency
WIB front December 21, 2017
A training facility of the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s spy agency, came under severe attack on late on the morning of Dec. 18. 2017. The nearly five-hour assault was carried out by two heavily-armed insurgents. Islamic State’s regional group claimed responsibility. “A white Toyota full of explosives rammed... Read more
The UAE Is Getting Ready to Deploy Jets to the Libya War
WIB front December 15, 2017
New satellite imagery from Terra Server — dated Sept. 24 and Nov. 10, 2017 — show accelerating construction on Al Khadim air base in eastern Libya. And that’s strong evidence that the United Arab Emirates is preparing to intervene even more in the grinding Libyan civil war. The imagery... Read more
Iraq’s military has essentially destroyed the physical Islamic “State” which once militarily occupied one-third of the country. The effort to root out the Islamic State insurgency could take years. Iraq is now faced with the difficult task of implementing effective counter-insurgency methods as the group reverts to its origins... Read more
Syria’s Kurds Have Plenty of Territory — If They Can Keep It
WIB front November 30, 2017
In the war with Islamic State, Syria’s Kurdish forces successfully fought back and extended their territories, most notably by capturing the strategic city of Raqqa and large swathes of Deir ez-Zor province. These territories, which encompass almost all of Syria’s oil reserves, provide the Kurds with valuable bargaining chips... Read more
