Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF / OND / OEF / OIR / OFS Casualty Update 06 Apr 2016 [PDF]
• Department of Defense Press Briefing by Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Director for Operations Rear Adm. Andrew L. Lewis in the Pentagon Briefing Room DoD 06 Apr 2016 -- Presenter: Rear Admiral Andrew L. Lewis
• Counter-ISIL Campaign Shows Strong Progress, Admiral Says AFPS 06 Apr 2016 -- The U.S.-led coalition is making significant progress in the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, despite facing a long road ahead, the Joint Staff's senior official who oversees the U.S. military's daily global operations told Pentagon reporters today
• McCain rips ISIL war: Another Vietnam looms Press TV 06 Apr 2016 -- Senator John McCain has warned that the US military campaign against the Daesh terrorist group risks becoming "another slow, grinding failure" like the Vietnam War.
• Military Strikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Iraq, Syria AFPS 06 Apr 2016 -- U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Air Force F-15Cs Arrive in Europe as part of Theater Security Package EUCOM 06 Apr 2016 -- Twelve U.S. Air Force F-15Cs arrived in Europe as part of the next Theater Security Package in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. Approximately 250 Airmen and support equipment deployed from the 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass. and the 194th Fighter Squadron, Fresno Air National Guard Base, Calif.
• Obama Meets With Military Leaders, Stresses Capabilities, Counter-ISIL Effort AFPS 06 Apr 2016 -- Kicking off one of his regular meetings with the nation's military leaders at the White House yesterday, President Barack Obama stressed the importance of capabilities in defense strategy and commented on the effort to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
• F-16s surge during two-day drill at Misawa AFNS 06 Apr 2016 -- Airmen with the 35th Fighter Wing conducted a two-day surge exercise April 4-5 with F-16 Fighting Falcons at Misawa Air Base.
• Tucson Visits Chinhae during Indo-Asia-Pacific Deployment NNS 06 Apr 2016 -- Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Tucson arrived in Chinhae, Republic of Korea, April 6 for a visit as part of its Indo-Asia-Pacific deployment.
• Secretary of the Navy Meets with Gabonese President NNS 06 Apr 2016 -- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus met with Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba during an official visit to the nation's capital April 5.
• NATO Challenged by More Assertive Russia, Militants VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- NATO is preparing to step up its response to Islamic State and a more assertive Russia responsible for aggressive actions in Ukraine.
• Secretary General calls for NATO to make training a core task for the Alliance in the fight against extremism NATO 06 Apr 2016 -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday (6 April) that the "strength and unity" of NATO is key to addressing current security challenges, including in the fight against extremism.
• NATO Secretary General thanks US military personnel for their service during visit to Fort Bragg NATO 06 Apr 2016 -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked US service personnel on Tuesday (5 April), praising their skills and dedication to keep all Allies safe.
• What's Behind the Creation of Russia's New National Guard Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- In a sweeping reorganization of Russia's internal security apparatus, President Vladimir Putin has announced the creation of the National Guard – a powerful new paramilitary unit charged with combating terrorism and organized crime and maintaining social order. Why did the president decide to create the new unit now? Sputnik investigates.
• Putin's New Security Force Seen As 'Praetorian Guard' RFE/RL 06 Apr 2016 -- The Kremlin has cast its new National Guard force as a timely move to combat terrorism and organized crime, but wary observers liken the agency to a "Praetorian Guard on steroids" to protect President Vladimir Putin and his hold on power, particularly as elections loom.
• Putin May Task Newly Founded Russian National Guard to Use Weapons Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- The newly founded Russian National Guard may use weapons upon orders if necessary.
• Belarus to Receive 4 Russian Yak-130 Jets, S-300 Battalion in 2016 Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- Commander of the Belarusian Air Force Maj. Gen. said that Belarus will receive the fourth and final battalion of S-300 air defense systems as well as another four Yak-130 combat trainers in 2016.
• Russia, Belarus Finalize Creation of Unified Air Defense Network Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- Russia and Belarus have finished setting up a unified air defense network in the East-European region of collective security, a deputy commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces said Wednesday.
• Defense Industries open major plant to produce explosives IRNA 06 Apr 2016 -- The Defense Industries Organization affiliated to Iranian Defense Ministry launched a factory for producing the HMX explosives, also known as octogen, on Wednesday.
• UNSC resolution does not ban Su-30 fighter jet sales to Iran: Russia Press TV 06 Apr 2016 -- Russia has rejected a US claim that the sales of Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets to Iran were prohibited under a United Nation Security Council resolution.
• China-built C28A corvette conducts test launch of anti-ship missile People's Daily 06 Apr 2016 -- A C28A class corvette conducted a test launch of anti-ship missiles recently.
• Pyongyang Likely to Deploy Multiple Launch Rocket Systems in Late 2016 Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- North Korea continues to develop its nuclear program: a large-caliber multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) may be launched late this year.
• Australia – GBU-39 (Small Diameter Bomb Increment I) DSCA 06 Apr 2016 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Australia for GBU-39 (Small Diameter Bomb Increment I) and associated equipment, training, and support. The estimated cost is $386 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on April 4, 2016.
• Shooting of Young Palestinian Sparks Debate Over Israeli Army Ethics VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- Twenty-one-year-old Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif was lying flat on his back, eyes shut, hands spread out, in the middle of a street in the West Bank town of Hebron.
• April 6, 2016 - U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 06 Apr 2016
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 4/6/2016 The White House 06 Apr 2016

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for April 06, 2016
• Russian Helicopters to Manufacture Some 200 Helicopters in 2016 - CEO Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- Company's CEO Alexander Mikheev said that Russian Helicopters holding company plans to manufacture approximately 200 helicopters this year.
• Russia to Export 12 Helicopters With President-S Defense Systems in 2016 Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- According to Russian Helicopters holding, Russia will deliver 12 helicopters equipped with the advanced President-S onboard defense system (ODS) to foreign customers by the end of the year.
• Russia to Supply President-S Defense System to Algeria, India, Belarus Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- Russia will deliver its advanced President-S onboard defense systems (ODS) to Algeria, India and Belarus, the general director of Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies (KRET) said Wednesday.

Other Conflicts

• 6 April 2016 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 06 Apr 2016
• Another Sign of Clout: China Unveils New Lighthouse on Disputed Spratlys Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- Beijing has reportedly started to operate a new lighthouse on one of its contested man-made islands in the South China Sea.
• China Opens Lighthouse on Disputed South China Sea Reef VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- China has begun operating a lighthouse on one of the artificial islands it built up in the South China Sea, a move that will likely further inflame tensions between China and its regional neighbors.
• Nagorno-Karabakh Cease-Fire Holding RFE/RL 06 Apr 2016 -- A fragile cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh appeared to be holding, despite claims of violations, as high-level meetings were held separately with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in an effort to defuse tensions.
• Nagorno-Karabakh Agrees to OSCE Monitoring Along Contact Line Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- Karabakh's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ani Sargsyan said that the authorities of the self-proclaimed region of Nagorno-Karabakh sent consent to conduct monitoring along the contact line between the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan through the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson.
• Armenian, Azeri forces say truce is observed in Karabakh Press TV 06 Apr 2016 -- Armenian and Azeri forces say they are observing a ceasefire recently agreed between the two sides in the Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh following a new spate of violence in the disputed territory.
• Yemen Ansarullah confirms agreement on ceasefire in Saudi border IRNA 06 Apr 2016 -- Yemen's Ansarullah Spokesman Mohammad Abdussalam approved agreement on continuation of ceasefire in war zones including Midi region on the border area with Saudi Arabia.
• Three Saudi-backed commanders killed in Yemen Press TV 06 Apr 2016 -- The Yemeni army and Ansarullah fighters have engaged in fierce clashes with militants loyal to the Saudi-backed fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, in northern Yemen, leaving three field commanders dead.
• Yemeni rocket kills 70 Saudi mercenaries in Jawf: TV Press TV 06 Apr 2016 -- Yemeni forces have killed scores of Saudi mercenaries in the war-hit country's northern province of al-Jawf, local reports say.
• Militants continue shelling Kurdish area in Syria's Aleppo: Monitor Press TV 06 Apr 2016 -- A monitoring group says Takfiri militants continue to shell a Kurdish area in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, in a blatant violation of a shaky ceasefire agreement.
• Syria launches operation to liberate city in Aleppo Press TV 06 Apr 2016 -- The Syrian army has launched an attack, described as the biggest government assault in Aleppo since February, to recapture the town of Tela'at al-Eis.
• PYD Kurdish Party Blames Turkish Pressure for Geneva Talks Snub Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- Countries that block Syrian Kurds participation in Geneva peace talks do so because of the pressure exerted by Turkey, the co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), told Sputnik on Wednesday.
• UN Unable to Confirm Mustard Gas Attacks by Daesh in Iraq, Syria in 2016 Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- The United Nations cannot yet confirm any cases of the use of mustard gas by the Daesh terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria in 2016, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
• Militants Violate Ceasefire in Aleppo Province, Syrian Army Retaliates Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- The Command Joint Operations Headquarters of the Syrian Army in Aleppo announced that the ceasefire had been disrupted in the southern part of the province in a statement Wednesday.
• Libya: senior UN relief official calls for independent probe into migrant deaths at detention centre UN News 06 Apr 2016 -- Expressing deep regret and concern over the deaths of four migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa in a detention centre in al-Zawiya, Libya, the senior United Nations humanitarian official in that country has called today for an independent, impartial and full investigation into their deaths.
• Libya's Tripoli Government Backs Down from Promise to Disband VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- The odds of a unity government taking hold in Libya got smaller Wednesday when the rival Tripoli-based administration backed down from its promise to give up power.
• Prosecutor to appeal UN tribunal's acquittal of Vojislav Šešelj of war crimes in the Balkans UN News 06 Apr 2016 -- The long-serving Prosecutor of the United Nations tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today announced that he will appeal The Hague-based court's recent acquittal of Serbian politician Vojislav Šešelj on war crimes charges in connection with actions committed by Serbian forces between August 1991 and September 1993.
• Hague War Crimes Court Halts Trial Of Ill Croatian Serb Leader Hadzic RFE/RL 06 Apr 2016 -- United Nations judges ordered an "indefinite" halt in the war-crimes trial of Croatian Serb rebel leader Goran Hadzic, who is terminally ill with brain cancer.
• Karadzic Slams War Crimes Verdict as 'Monstrous' VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is asking to be released from prison pending his appeal on his conviction for genocide and other atrocities, saying his continued detention is ruining his health.
• Renewed Fighting in Sudan's Darfur Region Displaces 138,000 Civilians Sputnik 06 Apr 2016 -- UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous said that because of Sudan government's access restrictions, "the exact number of civilian casualties from the recent wave of belligerence cannot yet be ascertained."
• Political progress to end Darfur conflict through dialogue 'remains elusive' - UN peacekeeping chief UN News 06 Apr 2016 -- Intensified fighting since January has resulted in a rapidly worsening security situation and large-scale displacement in Sudan's Darfur region, the top United Nations peacekeeping official warned today, stressing that it is important that Security Council "impress on all parties to the conflict […] that a political solution remains the only viable option."
• UN agency condemns large-scale home demolitions in West Bank UN News 06 Apr 2016 -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has condemned today's large scale home demolitions by Israeli authorities in the Bedouin refugee community of Um al Khayr in the South Hebron Hills.

News Reports

• South Korea: Kim's Power 'Unshakable' After Nuclear Tests VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's grip on power is now "unshakable" following the country's recent nuclear test and rocket launch, a South Korean official said Tuesday.
• Briefing by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, April 6, 2016 Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 06 Apr 2016
• Russian Public Unfazed by Panama Papers VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- People around the world have reacted with shock and outrage to the trove of documents leaked from a law firm in Panama that revealed secret bank accounts connected to hundreds of public officials, politicians and celebrities. The list of notables includes the current leaders of Argentina, Britain, China, Iceland, Russia, and Ukraine, among others, or people closely linked to them.
• Russian Prosecutors Target Navalny In Probe Of Anticorruption Group RFE/RL 06 Apr 2016 -- Russian prosecutors have launched a probe into opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's Anticorruption Foundation, demanding documentation about its financing and publications and singling out a Washington Post article about Muslims in Russia.
• Panama Papers Disclosures About China Keep Coming VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- That massive leak of records about offshore bank accounts from a Panamanian firm is revealing more information about the affairs of relatives of the Chinese Communist Party's top leadership, including the country's president.
• De Facto South Ossetian President Proposes New Model For 'Union' With Russia RFE/RL 06 Apr 2016 -- Leonid Tibilov, the leader of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, has backtracked on his proposal last fall to hold a referendum on the region's incorporation into the Russian Federation.
• Russia Jails Lithuanian National On Spying Charges RFE/RL 06 Apr 2016 -- A Russian court has sentenced Lithuanian national Aristidas Tamosaitis to 12 years in prison for spying.
• Leader welcomes measures of gov't to develop economy of resistance IRNA 06 Apr 2016 -- Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei on Wednesday welcomed the measures taken by the government to develop Economy of Resistance.
• Benin Swears In New President VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- Patrice Talon was sworn in as Benin's new president Wednesday, completing another peaceful transfer of power in the West African country.
• ICC Ruling Could Shape Next Kenya Elections VOA 06 Apr 2016 -- The International Criminal Court dismissed charges Tuesday against Kenya's deputy president and a local radio director for their alleged roles in 2007-2008 post-election violence. The ruling could have profound political implications as Kenya heads to elections next year.