Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 27 Apr 2007 [PDF]
• MNF-W forces attacked
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• April 26 airpower summary: Transports keep cargo flowing AFPN 27 Apr 2007 -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan in the following operations April 26, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
• A-10 provides top cover for troops in Iraq AFPN 27 Apr 2007 -- The catalysts behind one of the most kinetically advanced air forces in the world can be found at the 438th Air Expeditionary Group's maintenance and fighter squadrons.
• Coalition Forces Detain 13 Suspects; Detainee Dies in Camp Bucca AFPS 27 Apr 2007 -- In operations throughout Iraq today, coalition forces detained 13 suspected terrorists, military officials reported. Also, a detainee died yesterday at Camp Bucca, Iraq.
• Progress Continues Despite 'Spectacular' Attacks, General Says AFPS 27 Apr 2007 -- Progress continues in Iraq despite headline-grabbing enemy attacks, a top U.S. general in Iraq said yesterday.
• Operation Commando Dive leads to detentions, cache finds MNF-I 27 Apr 2007 -- A multifaceted-coalition operation in the Shubayshen area, just south of Baghdad, led to the detentions of almost 50 detainees and a number of cache finds April 21.
• Coalition Forces Detain Seven Suspected Taliban, Kill Five AFPS 27 Apr 2007 -- Coalition forces detained seven suspected Taliban members and killed five armed militants in operations in Afghanistan today, military officials reported.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Defense Department Takes Custody of a High-Value Detainee 27 Apr 2007 -- The Department of Defense announced today that it took custody Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a high-level member of al-Qaida captured in the War on Terror and placed him under control of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
• Defense Department Takes Custody of al Qaeda Leader AFPS 27 Apr 2007 -- The Defense Department announced today that it has taken a senior al Qaeda operative into custody at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
• Pentagon Takes Senior Al-Qaida Operative Into US Custody VOA 27 Apr 2007 -- The U.S. government announced Friday that it captured a senior al-Qaida leader late last year and interrogated him in CIA custody until this week, when he was transferred to the Defense Department's Guantanamo detention center
• Combat skills training preps Airmen for war AFPN 27 Apr 2007 -- Grunts, shouts and gunshots echoed through the fields here recently as nearly 90 Airmen pushed their bodies to the limit during expeditionary combat skills training.
• Edwards Readies for Joint Strike Fighter Testing AFPS 27 Apr 2007 -- All systems are moving toward "go" here as officials prepare for upcoming tests on the next-generation strike fighter, the F-35 "Lightning II" Joint Strike Fighter.
• Edwards Test Mission Helping Shape Future Force AFPS 27 Apr 2007 -- A team of military and civilian employees and contractors at the Air Force Flight Test Center here is helping to build the Air Force of the future as they improve on air systems in use around the world today in the war on terror.
• New Simulators Get Stryker Drivers Up to Speed Army News 27 Apr 2007 -- New Stryker simulators at the John A. Pittman Mission Support Training Facility here are already earning their keep.
• Patriot Makes Short Stop in Okinawa Navy NewsStand 27 Apr 2007 -- The two forward-deployed Avenger-class mine sweepers USS Guardian (MCM 5) and USS Patriot (MCM 7) based in Sasebo pulled into the island of Okinawa on April 20 for basic supply, fuel, rest and recreation.
• Partnership of the Americas Units Conduct Exercises with Brazilian Navy Navy NewsStand 27 Apr 2007 -- Partnership of the Americas Task Group 40.0 conducted Passing Exercises (PASSEX) while underway with the Brazilian Navy on April 23 during Partnership of the Americas 2007.
• Global Fleet Station Deployment Begins Navy NewsStand 27 Apr 2007 -- The pilot Global Fleet Station (GFS) deployment began April 25, with the departure of High Speed Vessel (HSV) 2 Swift and the embarked Task Group (TG) 40.9, from Naval Station Mayport.
• HSL-45 Celebrates 110,000 Mishap-Free Flight Hours Navy NewsStand 27 Apr 2007 -- Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 45 celebrated 110,000 mishap-free hours of flight time April 24.
• U.S. Ships Arrive in Scotland for Neptune Warrior Coalition Course Navy NewsStand 27 Apr 2007 -- Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 22, embarked aboard USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), arrived here April 20 with USS Laboon (DDG 58) and USS Simpson (DDG 56) in anticipation of the upcoming Neptune Warrior course to begin April 23.
• Armenia hosts major NATO military communications exercise RIA Novosti 27 Apr 2007 -- Armenia is hosting part of a 13-day NATO exercise that involves more than a thousand military communications specialists from 42 nations, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said Friday.
• Russia ready to start CFE talks with NATO in May - top brass RIA Novosti 27 Apr 2007 -- Russia will discuss the start of talks on the future of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) during a Russia-NATO Council meeting in Brussels May 10, the chief of the General Staff said Friday.
• "No hysteria" as Putin compares U.S. shield to Pershing missiles RIA Novosti 27 Apr 2007 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared U.S. plans to deploy its missile defenses in Europe to the deployment of Pershing cruise missiles in the 1980s, but said there will be "no hysteria" about it.
• Russian FM clarifies stance on CFE, missile defense in Europe RIA Novosti 27 Apr 2007 -- Russia's foreign minister has attempted to clarify President Putin's remarks on a possible withdrawal from a treaty limiting conventional armed forces in Europe, which NATO countries reacted to with grave concern.
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 27 Apr 2007

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for April 27, 2007
• A400M Delivery Programme On Time EADS 27 Apr 2007 -- A Reuters news agency report filed yesterday, 26th April 2007, quoted an official of the Zodiac company, a supplier to the A400M programme, as confirming a three-month delay to the aircraft's production schedule, with a further twelve months' delay being probable.
• ATK Plays Critical Role in Successful SM-3 Intercept ATK 27 Apr 2007 -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK), the nation's leading solid rocket motor producer, provided the Third Stage Rocket Motor (TSRM) and the Solid Divert and Attitude Control System (SDACS) for yesterday's successful test flight of Raytheon Company's (NYSE: RTN) Standard Missile-3 (SM-3).

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 27 Apr 2007
• UNICEF condemns indiscriminate mortar attack on Somali hospital UN News Centre 27 Apr 2007 -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today condemned a mortar attack on a hospital in the Somali capital Mogadishu, which has been wracked by escalating violence in recent weeks.
• SOMALIA: Return home, gov't tells civilians as guns fall silent IRIN 27 Apr 2007 -- The Somali transitional government has urged civilians who fled fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, to return home, saying the violence has ended.
• Mogadishu Calm After Days of Heavy Fighting VOA 27 Apr 2007 -- The streets of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, have been relatively calm Friday, after more than a week of intense fighting.
• Nepal has made rapid advances, but obstacles lie ahead - report by Ban Ki-moon UN News Centre 27 Apr 2007 -- The peace process in Nepal has made "remarkable progress" since the start of last year, but complex questions remain about how to monitor the management of arms and armed personnel, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in his latest report to the Security Council on the situation in the Himalayan country.
• Security Council lifts ban on diamond exports from Liberia UN News Centre 27 Apr 2007 -- The Security Council voted today to lift its six-year-old ban on the export of diamonds from Liberia that was introduced to stop proceeds from the sale of these so-called "blood diamonds" from fuelling wars across West Africa.
• Russian helicopter with infantry downed in Chechnya, 18 killed RIA Novosti 27 Apr 2007 -- Eighteen people were killed when a Russian utility helicopter carrying troops was downed in southern Chechnya at 11:34 a.m. Moscow time (7:34 a.m. GMT) during a special operation, a source in the Russian military said Friday.
• Western Allies Reaffirm Support For UN Kosovo Plan VOA 27 Apr 2007 -- The NATO allies have restated their support for the United Nations plan on the future of Serbia's Kosovo province, but have cautioned ethnic Albanians there against taking unilateral action.

News Reports

• Fiji: UN fact-finding mission on post-coup situation finishes work UN News Centre 27 Apr 2007 -- The United Nations fact-finding mission dispatched to Fiji to assess the political and electoral situation in the Pacific island nation in the wake of the coup d'état last December wrapped up its work today.
• UN gears up to support weekend elections in Haiti UN News Centre 27 Apr 2007 -- The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has announced plans to continue its support for the country's electoral process when polls are held this weekend to fill a number of public offices.
• European Parliamentarians Support EU Sanctions Against Zimbabwe VOA 27 Apr 2007 -- European foreign ministers voted earlier in the week to expand sanctions against the government of Zimbabwe; now the European Parliament (EP) has urged the member-states to carry out the measures to force President Robert Mugabe to change his authoritarian policy
• Backgrounder: The Effects of 'Youth Bulge' on Civil Conflicts cfr.org 27 Apr 2007
• Analysis: The Battle of the 'Youth Bulge' cfr.org 27 Apr 2007 -- Societies with high birthrates are prone to conflict, demographers find