Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq AFPS 25 Mar 2017 -- U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
• US-led coalition carried out deadly Mosul airstrike: Pentagon Press TV 25 Mar 2017 -- The Pentagon has acknowledged that the US-led coalition carried out an airstrike in the Iraqi city of Mosul last week that left over 200 civilians dead.
• US: Coalition Forces Launched Airstrike on Mosul VOA 25 Mar 2017 -- The U.S.-led military coalition launched an airstrike that witnesses said killed more than 100 people during a battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants, U.S. officials acknowledged Saturday.
• U.S. Strike Kills High-Profile Terrorist Leader DoD 25 Mar 2017 -- The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that a U.S. counter-terrorism airstrike conducted March 19 in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, resulted in the death of Qari Yasin, a well-known al Qaida terrorist leader responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent victims, including two American service members.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Trump Administration Reviewing What Role US Nuclear Weapons Should Play VOA 25 Mar 2017 -- The United Nations begins negotiations Monday on a legally binding treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons.
• NATO Deputy Secretary General discusses transatlantic security at Brussels Forum NATO 25 Mar 2017 -- NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller outlined on Saturday (25 March 2017) NATO's response to a more challenging security environment at the annual Brussels Forum conference organised by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.?
• NATO Ministers Tentatively Plan Brussels Meeting With Tillerson RFE/RL 25 Mar 2017 -- NATO diplomats say a meeting of alliance foreign ministers originally scheduled for April 5-6 is now tentatively planned for March 31, when U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be in Brussels.
• Heavy Equipment for French Troops of NATO Battalion Arrive in Estonia Sputnik 25 Mar 2017 -- Headquarters of the Estonian Defense Forces said in a statement that heavy equipment of the French contingent of the international NATO battalion arrived in Estonia on Saturday.
• North Korea could strike Alaska: US commander Press TV 24 Mar 2017 -- The US state of Alaska can be a possible target for North Korea's missiles, a senior US commander has warned, asking for the state's military budget to increase.
• India Notches $1 Million FDI in Defense Sector Since 2013 Sputnik 25 Mar 2017 -- New Delhi's aggressive efforts to raise foreign direct investment haven't borne fruit, despite the push for Make In India scheme, a pet favorite of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• India Conducts Maiden Firing of Israeli Barak Missile From Aircraft Carrier Sputnik 25 Mar 2017 -- The Indian Navy successfully conducted the maiden trial-firing of a newly installed surface-to-air missile system from its Russian-origin aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
• After Almost 30 Years in Service, Indian Navy Tupolevs to Retire Sputnik 25 Mar 2017 -- The Indian Navy's three Tupolev Tu-142M aircraft will be decommissioned on March 29. The aircraft will be converted into a museum in collaboration with an Indian state.
• Military spokesman: US should have more control on its warships in Persian Gulf IRNA 25 Mar 2017 -- Spokesman of Armed Forces Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri underlined on Saturday that the US should have more control and supervision on its fleet's behavior in the Persian Gulf.
• US better watch moves more carefully in Persian Gulf: Iran Press TV 25 Mar 2017 -- Iran's chief Armed Forces spokesman has dismissed reports about alleged "unprofessional behavior" by Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf, saying the US had better watch more carefully the moves of its naval forces in the region.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Yemeni court sentences in absentia Hadi, six aides to death Press TV 25 Mar 2017 -- A court in Yemen has sentenced Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Saudi-backed president who has resigned, and six of his close aides to death on charges of treason and misuse of power.
• Army troops kill large number of terrorists throughout Syria Press TV 25 Mar 2017 -- Syrian government forces have killed over 20 members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group during operations in the country's southern province of Dara'a.
• Coalition Official Says Final Drive On IS In Raqqa Is Near RFE/RL 25 Mar 2017 -- The French defense minister says the Western-backed coalition in Syria is ready to launch its final push to drive Islamic State (IS) militants from their de facto capital in Raqqa.
• Syrian Army Liberates Part of Al-Manshiyya Neighborhood in Syria's Daraa Sputnik 25 Mar 2017 -- The Syrian army forces liberated from terrorists the part of al-Manshiyya neighborhood of the Syrian city of Daraa, according to a source.
• Syrian Army Liberates Kokab in Hama Province From Nusra Militants Sputnik 25 Mar 2017 -- According to a military source, Syrian army backed by militia pushed out Jabhat Fatah al Sham (former Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia) terrorists from the village of Kokab in the Syrian province of Hama.
• UN envoy calls for urgent measures to protect ceasefire in Syria UN News 25 Mar 2017 -- Voicing deep concern over recent escalation of fighting in Syria, the United Nations Special Envoy for the country has urged Iran, Russia and Turkey to undertake urgent efforts to uphold the ceasefire which has been in effect since late December last year.
• Hoping to build with 'incremental, constructive steps' - UN envoy for Syria UN News 25 Mar 2017 -- Speaking to the media in Geneva yesterday, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria said that he is not expecting miracles, breakthroughs or breakdowns but is hoping to build on the previous rounds of talks on the war-ravaged country with some incremental, constructive steps.
• Syrian, Russian Warplanes Pound Rebel Targets; Scores Killed, Wounded VOA 25 Mar 2017 -- Warplanes of the Syrian government and its Russian allies pounded rebel targets across the country Saturday, killing scores of people, including inmates at a rebel-held women's prison in the northwestern city of Idlib.
• Iraqi military denies halting operation to free western Mosul Press TV 25 Mar 2017 -- The Iraqi military has denied that its forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, have ceased their joint operations to flush Takfiri Daesh militants out of their last urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden country over the high rate of civilian casualties.
• UN deeply concerned over US-led airstrikes on Mosul Press TV 25 Mar 2017 -- The United Nations has expressed deep concerns over reports that more than 200 people lost their lives in two airstrikes by the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul earlier this week.
• Pakistan Begins Fencing of Afghan Border VOA 25 Mar 2017 -- Pakistan says it has started fencing off its long border with Afghanistan and areas vulnerable to cross-border militant attacks are being given priority.
• Somalia Asks IGAD Leaders To Help Tackle Refugee Crisis VOA 25 Mar 2017 -- Somalia's president on Saturday asked leaders of an African trade bloc to help his country find a durable solution to the Somali refugee crisis, including reintegration of returnees inside the Horn of Africa nation, where a civil conflict is now in its 26th year.
• Congo Militia Decapitates More Than 40 Police Officers in Ambush VOA 25 Mar 2017 -- A Congolese militia decapitated 42 policemen in an ambush near the central Democratic Republic of Congo city of Kananga, a local official said Saturday.

News Reports

• Brexit Chills EU's 60th Anniversary Celebration in Rome VOA 25 Mar 2017 -- The European Union celebrated 60 years since its creation with the signing of a new treaty in Rome Saturday, four days ahead of the start of Britain's formal exit from the bloc.
• Flynn discussed removing Gulen with Turkish officials: Ex-CIA chief Press TV 25 Mar 2017 -- President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn discussed with senior Turkish officials the possibility of removing Turkey's exiled opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of masterminding a coup attempt last year, according to a report.
• Erdogan Says Turkey May Hold Referendum on EU Accession Talks Sputnik 25 Mar 2017 -- Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey could hold a referendum on whether to continue the accession talks with the European Union.
• British Police Release Six Of 10 Held In London Terror Attack RFE/RL 25 Mar 2017 -- British police say they have released without charges six of the 10 people being held in the investigation of the deadly attack near Parliament and said the birth name of the assailant, Muslim convert Khalid Masood, was Adrian Russell Ajao.
• Belarus Police Arrest Hundreds Defying Protest Ban VOA 25 Mar 2017 -- Riot police in Belarus launched a massive crackdown Saturday on protesters trying to hold a banned march in Minsk. Hundreds were reported arrested, and a human rights leader said many of the detainees had been beaten by police and needed medical attention.
• Riot Police Arrest Hundreds At Minsk Protest, Beating Many RFE/RL 25 Mar 2017 -- Riot police in Minsk have arrested hundreds of people, beating many of them, during a violent crackdown on a protest against Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government.