Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Operation Inherent Resolve Airstrikes Continue in Syria, Iraq AFPS 28 Feb 2015 -- U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Two-man shop engineers mission success AFNS 28 Feb 2015 -- The average Air Force civil engineer (CE) squadron is comprised of more than 100 Airmen specializing in disciplines ranging from electrical to structural engineering. This diversity of skill and strength of numbers enables them to complete projects and conduct find and fix operations in situations when minutes can make the difference between mission success and failure.
• Russia to Assess Consequences of NATO Buildup for National Security - Envoy Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Moscow will independently assess how the NATO military buildup in the east affects Russia's security concerns, Russia's envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said.
• Russia's Arctic Brigades to Get Cutting-Edge Equipment Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Russia's Arctic brigades will receive state-of-the-art equipment, developed or modernized taking into account regional specifics, according to the commander-in-chief of Russia's ground forces.
• 'French Pentagon' is Ready: Defense Ministry Moves Into New Location Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- The French Defense Ministry will start moving into its first new building at Balard in southwest Paris on Saturday, Le Figaro reports.
• Chinese military vows continuous anti-corruption efforts People's Daily 28 Feb 2015 -- The People's Liberation Army (PLA) pledged to continue the fight against corruption in its education campaign.
• Kim Jong Un Urges North Korea Army to Increase Combat Readiness Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un called upon the country's army to increase its combat readiness, stressing that it was a matter of great urgency.
• Indian Defense Minister Welcomes 20% Increase in 2015-2016 Defense Budget Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar told Sputnik on Saturday he welcomed a 20-percent increase in defense spending in the country.
• Israel Wants US Congress to Add $300Mln for its Missile Defense Systems Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Israel asked US Congress to drastically increase funding for its missile defense program from $158 million, US President Barack Obama requested for fiscal year 2015, to almost $500 million, according to media reports.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Rebels Withdraw Heavy Arms in Eastern Ukraine VOA 28 Feb 2015 -- Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine continued withdrawing tanks and other military vehicles Saturday from the front lines, obeying a cease-fire reached in mid-February.
• Kiev's Withdrawal of Heavy Arms Conducted Without OSCE Monitors – Donetsk Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Ukrainian forces withdrew 15 percent of heavy weaponry from the line of contact in Donbas, the deputy commander of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) forces said Saturday.
• Luhansk Withdraws 80% of Heavy Weaponry From Line of Contact Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- The self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) has withdrawn 80 percent of its heavy weaponry from the line of contact, the republic's press center announced Saturday.
• Security Council strongly deplores ISIL's 'barbarism,' says resolve stiffened to defeat group UN News Centre 28 Feb 2015 -- The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the "ongoing barbaric terrorist acts" committed by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and reaffirmed its determination in defeating the extremist group.
• Oil Smuggling Highlights Challenges in Shutting Down IS Finances VOA 28 Feb 2015 -- In the span of one year, Islamic State militants made more than half a billion dollars by seizing government banks, illegal oil sales, kidnapping and extortion, making them one of the wealthiest terrorist organizations in the world.
• Degraded IS Still 'Formidable and Brutal' VOA 28 Feb 2015 -- U.S. intelligence and military officials say the Islamic State is losing ground in Iraq, and perhaps more.
• Iraqi forces kill over 40 ISIL militants in Anbar Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- Iraqi security forces have engaged members of the Takfiri ISIL militant group during an operation in the western province of al-Anbar, and killed tens of the terrorists in the process.
• Truck bomb kills 11 army troops south of Iraq's Tikrit Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- At least 11 Iraqi army forces have been killed in a truck bomb attack south of the city of Tikrit, as efforts are underway to liberate the militant-held region.
• ISIL Fighters Attack Samarra Ahead of Iraqi Army Blitz Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Islamic State suicide bombers and fighters launched a series of pre-emptive strikes on Saturday on the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, where security forces gathered for an offensive against the militants, Reuters reported from Baghdad.
• Balad Ruz, Samarra Attacked in Iraq VOA 28 Feb 2015 -- Car bombs in Iraq have targeted a market and a checkpoint north of Baghdad, killing more than a dozen people, as Iraq's prime minister vowed to punish the Islamic State militants who smashed ancient artifacts in their stronghold, the northern city of Mosul.
• Syrian army troops take back southern villages from militants Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- Syrian government forces continue to gain ground in their fight against foreign-backed armed groups, and have taken full control of several villages south of the conflict-stricken Arab country.
• Syrian Kurdish forces retake Syrian town from ISIL Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) forces, backed by Assyrian Christians, have managed to retake a strategic town in Syria's northeastern province of Hasaka from Takfiri ISIL militants, as they continue to push the terrorists back from the area.
• Ocalan calls for disarmament of Kurdish fighters Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the pro-independence Kurdish fighters in Turkey, has called on his followers to lay down their arms.
• Lebanon's army chief vows to defeat intruding militants Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- Lebanon's army has pledged to counter Syria-based Takfiri terrorists threatening to infiltrate and destabilize the country as armed forces prepare for potential militant counterattacks in response to their expulsion from key positions.
• Yemen separatists leave UN-sponsored talks Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- Southern Movement separatists in Yemen have halted their participation in UN-backed negotiations over the future of the Arabian Peninsula country.
• Boko Haram Hits Rural Nigerian Market VOA 28 Feb 2015 -- Boko Haram militants killed dozens of traders at a village market in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state, security sources said.

News Reports

• Poroshenko: Nemtsov Killed Over Plan To Reveal Moscow Links To Ukraine Conflict RFE/RL 28 Feb 2015 -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Russian opposition politician and Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov was killed because he was going to reveal evidence of Moscow's involvement in the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.
• Inside And Outside Russia, Condemnation Of Nemtsov Slaying RFE/RL 28 Feb 2015 -- The killing of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has drawn condemnation from Russian politicians, world leaders, and international rights organizations who were unanimous in their calls for the perpetrators of the crime to swiftly caught and brought to justice.
• Putin Vows To 'Do Everything' To Catch Nemtsov's Killers RFE/RL 28 Feb 2015 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to 'do everything so that the organizations and perpetrators of the vile and cynical' murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov are brought to justice.
• Boris Nemtsov: 'We Must Free Russia From Putin' RFE/RL 28 Feb 2015 -- Slain opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was looking ahead to a planned March 1 opposition rally, though in an interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service earlier this month, he portrayed the demonstration as just a first step in a long struggle.
• Russia's Milestones Are Gravestones RFE/RL 28 Feb 2015 -- When Boris Nemtsov was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin on February 27, the opposition figure joined a grim list of prominent Russians killed in the Vladimir Putin era.
• Boris Nemtsov, A Russian Political 'Golden Boy' Who Battled Putin, Dead At 55 RFE/RL 28 Feb 2015 -- Boris Nemtsov, a fiery critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a former first deputy prime minister once seen as a possible successor to former President Boris Yeltsin, has been killed in Moscow. He was 55.
• Could Nemtsov Threaten Putin in Death as in Life? VOA 28 Feb 2015 -- With the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, gunned down on a Moscow street, the fiercest critic of President Vladimir Putin has been removed from the political stage. But it remains to be seen whether, in death as in life, Nemtsov will remain a threat to Putin's rule.
• Moscow Prepares for March Commemorating Russian Opposition Leader VOA 28 Feb 2015 -- Authorities are preparing for tens of thousands to march in central Moscow Sunday in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot to death late Friday after urging people to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
• Who Mr. Nemtsov Was and Why He Was Killed Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- People's Freedom Party) since 2012 and was also one of the leaders of the liberal Solidarnost movement.
• Investigators Check Possible Links of Nemtsov's Murder to Ukrainian Events Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Investigators of the murder of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov consider possible links to events in Ukraine, among other versions, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement Saturday.
• Russian Politician Boris Nemtsov Killed in Moscow Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was shot to death in central Moscow late Friday.
• Putin Considers Nemtsov's Murder Provocation, Expresses Condolences Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov and a provocative act, most likely an ordered killing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
• No salary rise due to east Ukraine military operation: PM Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- The Ukrainian prime minister says the costs of military operations in the country's volatile east have made it impossible for the Kiev officials to increase salaries and pensions.
• Obama Renews Controversial NSA Spying Program Ahead of Deadline Sputnik 28 Feb 2015 -- Early last year in a speech at the Department of Justice, President Obama announced a transition that would end the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program as it previously existed, and that the government would establish a mechanism that preserves the capabilities we need without the government holding this bulk data.
• Velayati: Iran respects international law in nuclear talks IRNA 28 Feb 2015 -- Head of Strategic Research at the Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati said on Saturday that Iran respects international law in nuclear negotiations with the western governments.
• Zarif: Nuclear talks approaching sensitive stages IRNA 28 Feb 2015 -- Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran's nuclear negotiations with the world powers are nearing sensitive stages.
• Iran-P5+1 nuclear talks at sensitive point: Zarif Iran Press TV 28 Feb 2015 -- Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the country's negotiations with the P5+1 countries over Tehran's nuclear program have reached a 'sensitive point.'
• Egyptian Court Rules Hamas a Terrorist Organization VOA 28 Feb 2015 -- An Egyptian court declared Gaza's ruling Hamas faction a terrorist group Saturday, one month after a similar ruling against its military wing. Another court also condemned Egypt's top Muslim Brotherhood leaders to life in prison, over bloodshed during an attack on the group's Cairo headquarters in June 2013.
• Tajikistan To Hold Elections After Invisible Campaign RFE/RL 28 Feb 2015 -- Parliamentary polls will be held in Tajikistan on March 1 following an election campaign that international monitors said was 'not visible.'.