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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Karzai Orders US Special Forces Out of Eastern Afghan Province VOA 24 Feb 2013 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered the removal of all U.S. special forces from an eastern province in response to allegations that those forces or their Afghan allies may have committed rights abuses against civilians.
• Karzai Expels U.S. Special Forces RFE/RL 24 Feb 2013 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered U.S. Special Forces to leave the central province of Wardak within two weeks.
• Karzai orders withdrawal of US special forces from two provinces Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered the withdrawal of US Special Forces from Wardak and Logar provinces within two weeks, accusing them of fuelling "insecurity and instability."
• NATO Patriots to Cost Turkey $8.5 mln Annually RIA Novosti 24 Feb 2013 -- NATO's patriot missile systems, requested by Turkey to protect it from a potential Syrian attack, are expected to cost Ankara 15 million liras ($8.5 million) annually, local media have reported citing the Turkish defense minister.

Defense Policy / Programs

• USS Hue City Completes First 2013 Deployment Replenishment at Sea NNS 24 Feb 2013 -- Sailors assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USS Hue City (CG 66) completed their first replenishment at sea (RAS) of the ship's 2013 deployment with Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13) on Feb. 23.
• Bonhomme Richard ARG Completes Cobra Gold 2013 NNS 24 Feb 2013 -- Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) completed the multinational, joint exercise Cobra Gold 2013 (CG 13), Feb. 22.
• Amphibious Group 11 Hosts Royal Thai Navy for Completion of Cobra Gold 2013 NNS 24 Feb 2013 -- Commander, Amphibious Squadron ELEVEN, Capt. Cathal O'Connor hosted six Royal Thai Navy (RTN) officers aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), as part of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group's completion of exercise Cobra Gold 2013 (CG 13), Feb. 22.
• HSC-8 Celebrates Mishap-Free Milestone NNS 24 Feb 2013 -- Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 accumulated more than 20,000 flight hours without a class alpha mishap Feb. 22.
• Iran unveils new indigenous anti-ship cruise missile Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has tested a new short-range cruise missile, which can successfully destroy small- and mid-sized targets.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Foreign powers send influx of arms to militants in Syria: Report Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- The foreign-backed militants in Syria have reportedly been supplied with a large new consignment of weapons, including heavy armaments, over the recent weeks.
• UK urges Syrian opposition coalition not to reject talks Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- Britain calls on the foreign-backed Syria opposition coalition to reconsider pulling out of international talks on the crisis, after the group said it would not attend the upcoming Friends of Syria meeting in Rome and scheduled talks in Washington and Moscow.
• Foreign-backed militants responsible for Syria violence: Assad Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed foreign-backed militants for almost two years of violence in his country, saying the government forces are only retaliating terrorist attacks.
• Syrian Troops Target Rebels in Damascus, Aleppo VOA 24 Feb 2013 -- Syrian opposition activists say government warplanes have attacked rebel districts in Damascus and Aleppo, while rebels captured a suspected former nuclear site destroyed by Israeli warplanes in 2007.
• African Leaders Sign DRC Peace Deal VOA 24 Feb 2013 -- Eleven African countries have signed a peace deal aimed at ending decades of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The agreement was signed on Sunday at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.
• African leaders sign Congo peace deal Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- The eleven countries in the Great Lakes region of Africa have signed a UN-mediated peace agreement meant to end the interminable cycles of violence that have been plaguing the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for many years.
• Ban urges long-term commitment to today's peace deal on DR Congo UN News Centre 24 Feb 2013 -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged regional African leaders to provide sustained support at the highest political and diplomatic levels to implement a newly signed United Nations-backed accord aimed at stabilizing the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Boko Haram denies abducting French family in Cameroon Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has denied any involvement in the abduction of seven French tourists in northern Cameroon.
• Chinese surveillance ships enter Japanese waters: Tokyo Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- Japan says three Chinese surveillance ships have entered its territorial waters off disputed islands in the East China Sea.

News Reports

• US officials secretly visited N Korea Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- US officials have made two clandestine trips to North Korea in the past year in efforts to sway its new and younger leader Kim Jong Un into softening his nation's stance towards Washington.
• MPs: Iran's peaceful nuclear program not to be stopped IRNA 24 Feb 2013 -- Iranian parliamentarians have stressed that Iran's peaceful nuclear program will never stop.
• Iran always supports constructive talks with IAEA: Majlis speaker IRNA 24 Feb 2013 -- Speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Ali Larijani stressed Sunday that Tehran has always supported holding constructive talks with the UN nuclear watchdog.
• IAEA report seeks to create media hype before P5+1 talks: Iran Speaker Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- Iran Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani says the recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program aims to create media hype ahead of talks between Tehran and the P5+1 group.
• West's confrontation policy will cause N-Talks to fail: Iran MP Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- As Iran and the six major world powers (the P5+1 group) prepare to hold a new round of talks, an Iranian lawmaker warns that the group's confrontational approach will lead to the failure of negotiations.
• 'No stopping for Iran peaceful nuclear train' Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- Iranian lawmakers have advised the US and its allies to accept Iran's nuclear energy program and abandon their confrontational policy in favor of interaction with the Islamic Republic.
• Iran delegation in Almaty for P5+1 talks Iran Press TV 24 Feb 2013 -- The Iranian delegation for talks with the P5+1 group arrives in the capital of Kazakhstan.
• International Community Wants 'Concrete Action' from Iran at Nuclear Talks VOA 24 Feb 2013 -- Iranian nuclear negotiators are scheduled to meet Tuesday in Kazakhstan with officials from the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany. The six are pushing for 'concrete action' from Iran to comply with international inspections of its nuclear program.
• Kerry Embarks On First Overseas Trip RFE/RL 24 Feb 2013 -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has left on a visit to nine countries in Western Europe and the Middle East on his first overseas trip since assuming his post three weeks ago.