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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Counter-ISIL Strikes Hit Terrorists in Syria, Iraq AFPS 20 Aug 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.
• US warplanes tried to intercept Syrian jets: Pentagon Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- US fighter jets tried to engage Syrian Arab Air Force aircraft in Syria but the showdown was avoided as government planes left before the Americans arrived, according to the Pentagon.
• Afghan Forces Recapture Key District of Northern Kunduz Province From Taliban Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- Afghan forces recaptured Khanabad district in the northern province of Kunduz from Taliban militants, according to local media.
• Afghan Forces Retake Northern District Hours After It Fell to Taliban VOA 20 Aug 2016 -- Afghan forces have retaken a key northern district hours after it fell to the Taliban, officials announced late on Saturday.
• Afghan Forces Recapture District From Taliban RFE/RL 20 Aug 2016 -- Afghan forces have retaken a district in the northeastern Kunduz Province that had been seized earlier by Taliban forces.
• Taliban militants seize district in Afghanistan's Kuduz Province Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- Taliban militants in Afghanistan have captured the Khanabad district of the restive Kunduz Province in the northeast of the country following fierce clashes with Afghan security forces, local officials say.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US Navy Moves Joint Planning Cell From Saudi Arabia to Bahrain - Pentagon Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- US Central Command (CENTCOM)'s naval component is moving its joint planning operation from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, the host country for the US Fifth Fleet, Defense Department spokesman Adam Stump told Sputnik.
• Boxer Departs Singapore NNS 20 Aug 2016 -- Continuing their ongoing mission in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations, amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit departed Singapore, Aug. 4, after a six day port visit.
• Kremlin Presses Turkey for Access to NATO's Incirlik Air Base, Home to US Nukes Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- Russian officials have reached out to Ankara to request access to the American-built base as a convenient launch pad for airstrikes in the Syrian theater, but it remains to be seen whether such cooperation will roil NATO's feathers.
• Russian Army to Receive Pantsir-SA Systems Designed for Arctic in 2016 Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- Lt. Gen. Viktor Gumennyy, the Russia's Aerospace Forces' deputy commander-in-chief said that before the end of this year, first samples of a new Pantsir-SA self-propelled anti-aircraft complex, designed for combat in the Arctic conditions, will become operational in the Aerospace Forces and the Northern Fleet.
• Turkish Prime Minister Admits Possibility of Use of Incirlik Base by Russia Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday that Russia could possibly use country's southern Incirlik Air Base if it becomes necessary.
• Defense minister: Iran may consider any request by Russia to use extra air bases IRNA 20 Aug 2016 -- Minister of Defense and Logistics of the Armed Forces Brigadier-General Hossein Dehqan said on Saturday that Iran may consider any request by Russia to use extra air bases, if it deemed necessary, but, there is no such a plan yet.
• Iran receives full package of S-300 missile systems: Minister IRNA 20 Aug 2016 -- Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said Iran has received the full package of S-300 defensive missile systems from Russia.
• S-300 Iran delivery to be completed in a month: Defense chief Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan says Iran will fully receive the remaining consignment of the Russian S-300 missile defense system in a month.
• Chinese Navy's Deep-Sea Combat Drills in Sea of Japan Risk Escalating Tensions Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- China's navy carried out a series of deep-sea military exercises in the sea of Japan days after Tokyo warned against taking actions to escalate tensions in the region upon reports of a record number of Chinese naval vessels being spotted near a group of disputed islands.
• China builds military installation near disputed islands: Japan media Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- Japanese media reports say China has built a new pier for warships at a site under development as a military base near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
• Beijing Builds 'Pier for Warships' Close to Disputed Islands in East China Sea Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- China has built a pier for warships at a site being developed as a military base close to the disputed Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu in Chinese) in the East China Sea, amid escalating tensions with Japan.
• Chinese Fleets Conduct 'Confrontation' War Games in Sea of Japan Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- As tensions increase between Beijing and Tokyo over the Senkaku islands, China has performed "confrontation" exercises in the Sea of Japan.
• I Can't Stand the Rain! Top German Military Vehicle Scared of Getting Wet Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- The German infantry fighting vehicle Puma, which is considered to be one of the best-protected armored vehicles in the world, has turned out to be vulnerable to rainwater.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Yemeni Rebels Announce Plans to Form New Government Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- Yemeni Houthi rebels will work on the creation of the government in the coming days and the promotion of national reconciliation in Yemen, according to Saleh Ali Sammad, the head of the so-called Supreme Political Council.
• Massive Numbers in Yemen March in Support of Rebels VOA 20 Aug 2016 -- Many thousands of Yemeni demonstrators backing Shi'ite Houthi rebels marched Saturday in the rebel-held capital, Sana'a, in a show of support for a controversial new governing council already opposed by the United Nations and many Western governments.
• PM: Turkey To Take More Active Role In Syria Conflict RFE/RL 20 Aug 2016 -- Turkish Prime Binali Yildirim says Ankara will take a more active role in addressing the conflict in Syria in the next six months to prevent the country from splintering along ethnic lines.
• Turkey Announces More Active Role in Syria Conflict VOA 20 Aug 2016 -- Turkey will take a more active role in Syria in the next six months to prevent further divisions along ethnic lines, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced Saturday.
• Syrians resolute in defending homeland: Assad Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- President Bashar al-Assad says the Syrian people are determined to continue defending their homeland and maintaining unity despite all the pressures and suffering imposed on them.
• Syrian Warplanes Fly Over Northern City Despite U.S. Warning RFE/RL 20 Aug 2016 -- Syrian government warplanes on August 20 flew over a flashpoint northeastern city despite a warning from U.S. officials against making air strikes where it has military advisers.
• The Ultimate Dilemma In Syria's Status Quo RFE/RL 20 Aug 2016 -- Good news should be easy to discern in wartime. War, we assume, makes it easy to separate the good guys from the bad; to separate the oppressor from the oppressed; to separate right from wrong.
• 2.4 million people in Libya need humanitarian aid: UN Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- The United Nations has voiced concern about the alarming conditions of well over two million Libyans, who need humanitarian aid due to the militancy in the north African country.
• Erdogan Tells Poroshenko Turkey Won't Recognize Crimea As Russian RFE/RL 20 Aug 2016 -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reassured his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Ankara will continue to recognize the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia, as Ukrainian territory.
• Biden, Ukraine's Poroshenko Urge End to Conflict With Pro-Russian Forces VOA 20 Aug 2016 -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Friday for a resolution in the conflict with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
• DR Congo accuses 6 rebels of killing civilians Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has accused six suspected members of a Ugandan rebel group of taking part in the killing last weekend of dozens of civilians east of the country.
• Philippine President Declares New Ceasefire With Rebels Ahead of Peace Talks Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte declares restoration of peace talks with a new unilateral truce with the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the country's Communist Party, according to official statement.

News Reports

• Turkish Intelligence Urges Germany to Assist in Tracking Gulen Supporters Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- Turkey's National Intelligence Organization called on the German Federal Intelligence Service to assist in hunting for supporters of US-based dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen accused by Ankara of masterminding the failed coup attempt, local media reported Saturday citing sensitive documents.
• Bombing kills 50 in wedding in southeastern Turkey Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- The death toll from a bomb blast that targeted a wedding ceremony in Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep Province has risen to 50.
• Turkey Cites Terrorism in Blast Killing at Least 30 at Wedding VOA 20 Aug 2016 -- Turkish authorities say at least 30 people were killed Saturday and nearly 100 others wounded in an explosion at a private wedding in the country's troubled southeast.
• US strategic partner, not enemy: Turkey's PM Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- Turkey's prime minister has described the United States as a "strategic partner" and not the enemy of his country despite Ankara's anger at Washington for not extraditing US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it blames for last month's failed military coup.
• Turkish parliament approves normalization deal with Israel Press TV 20 Aug 2016 -- Turkish lawmakers have approved an agreement to enable reconciliation between Turkey and Israel after a six-year rupture over the killing by Israel of 10 Turks.
• Seoul Says North Korea May Attempt Assassinations After Top Diplomat Defects Sputnik 21 Aug 2016 -- North Korea may attempt to perform assassinations and abductions, following the defection of Pyongyang's high ranking diplomat, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry official.
• Seoul Believes N Korea May Carry Out Provocation After Defection of Diplomat Sputnik 21 Aug 2016 -- South Korean government urges all citizens to be on guard for possible provocations after a high-ranking North Korean diplomat defected to the South, according to local media.
• North Korean Diplomat Left for Seoul from UK to Escape Retribution for Crimes Sputnik 20 Aug 2016 -- North Korean diplomat Thae Yong Ho, comitted a series of crimes, including sexual abuse of minors, and decided to avoid retribution by fleeing to Seoul, according to North Korean state media.
• North Korea Demands Return of 'Human Scum' Diplomat VOA 20 Aug 2016 -- North Korea has ordered the return of their diplomat who defected to South Korea this week, calling him a criminal and "human scum" on state media Saturday.