• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Ghani Vows Repatriation of All Afghans in Pakistan in Two Years VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has pledged to bring back all refugees in Pakistan in “the next 24 months,” saying it will put an end to allegations the displaced community is a source of regional instability.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Remarks by LTG H.R. McMaster at the Munich Security Conference The White House 17 Feb 2018
• Readout of Secretary James N. Mattis' Meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashili and Minister of Defense Levan Izoria DoD 17 Feb 2018
• Press Gaggle by Secretary Mattis En Route to Washington, D.C. DoD 17 Feb 2018 -- Presenter: Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis
• NATO Secretary General meets world leaders at the Munich Security Conference NATO 17 Feb 2018 -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed security challenges facing the Alliance in a series of bilateral meetings at the Munich Security Conference on Friday and Saturday (16 -17 February 2018).
• NATO Chief Warns of Growing Nuclear Threat From North Korea, Russia VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- The head of NATO has said the alliance is determined to avoid a new arms race with Russia, but he warned that Moscow is developing new nuclear weapons that pose a threat to the West.
• Tensions Between Russia And West Simmer In Munich RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- Tensions between Russia and the West over the war in eastern Ukraine and Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election were on full display during the second day of a high-profile security conference in Germany featuring world leaders and top diplomats.
• How New Admiral-Series Super-Frigates Will Help Project Russian Naval Power Sputnik 17 Feb 2018 -- The Admiral Gorshkov, lead ship of the new Project 22350 series of frigates, will be commissioned in August, with Admiral-series vessels expected to become the backbone of the Russian Navy's ocean-going presence over the next decades. Military observers Andrei Kotz and Viktor Murakhovsky outline what capabilities the advanced vessels will offer.
• Theresa May calls for security treaty with EU by end of 2019 Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- UK Prime Minister Theresa May has called for a new security partnership with the European Union that should be in place by next year to ensure military, intelligence and counter-terrorism cooperation after Britain exits the EU in 2019.
• Iranian naval fleet docks at Sri Lanka ISNA 17 Feb 2018 -- Iranian Navy’s 50th naval fleet docked at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
• 'Billions for Defense': German Government Plans to Increase Its Military Budget Sputnik 17 Feb 2018 -- Speaking at the 2018 Munich Security Conference, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen touted the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) pact and berated Washington for the planned funding cuts related to the UN and international aid.
• Sub-Par: Not a Single German Navy Submarine is Seaworthy Sputnik 17 Feb 2018 -- Germany's military hardware woes continue worsen: the German Parliament has announced that none of the German Navy's submarines are in operational condition. The navy maintains six submarines, but accidents and wear and tear have rendered all of them unusable.
• £260m deal signed to keep RAF giants flying UK MOD 17 Feb 2018 -- A £260 million agreement with the United States Government to support RAF C-17 heavy lift transport aircraft into the next decade has been signed by the MOD, Defence Minister Guto Bebb announced today.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• At least 18 people killed in new Saudi airstrikes on Yemen’s Sa'ada province Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- At least 18 people, including women and children, have been killed when Saudi warplanes carried out a number of airstrikes in an area of Yemen’s northern province of Sa'ada as the Riyadh regime presses ahead with its devastating campaign against the conflict-plagued country.
• Turkey denies reports of using chemical weapons in Syria's Afrin Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- Despite reports that the Turkish military has made use of internationally-banned chemical weapons in its ongoing offensive in Syria’s northwestern region of Afrin, Ankara denies having carried out a gas attack, arguing it takes the “utmost care” of civilians.
• Turkey Fighting Terrorism, Not Waging War in Syria – Prime Minister Sputnik 17 Feb 2018 -- Ankara is not fighting a war in Syria but is fighting against terrorism, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Sunday.
• Kurdish Fighter Claims Turkey Using Napalm, Chlorine in Afrin Operation Sputnik 17 Feb 2018 -- The Turkish troops have failed to advance in Syria's Afrin district, where they prefer to use the hit-and-run tactics, according to Reizan Hedu, a representative of the Kurdish self-defense forces in Afrin.
• OSCE warns against truce violations in E Ukraine, urges renewed peace efforts Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) warns against an alarming number of truce violations in Ukraine’s east, which has been the scene of deadly fighting between Kiev’s troops and pro-Russia forces, calling for a renewed peace process to prevent the outbreak of a “major conflict” there.
• NATO Chief Sees Little Progress On UN Peacekeepers For Ukraine RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he has seen little progress in talks about a UN peacekeeping mission in eastern Ukraine.
• Israel flattened 6 EU-funded structures in West Bank in January: UN Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Israeli authorities demolished six European Union-funded buildings in the occupied West Bank in January alone under the pretext of lack of building permit.
• Israeli tanks, warplanes target besieged Gaza Strip following a bomb blast Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- Israeli warplanes and battle tanks have pounded the Gaza Strip after a bomb explosion left casualties among Israeli forces as the Tel Aviv regime goes ahead with its acts of aggression against the besieged Palestinian coastal sliver.
• Israel Returns Fire After Hamas-Staged Explosion at Security Fence Sputnik 17 Feb 2018 -- Four IDF soldiers were injured, two of them severely, in Saturday’s attack at the security point, while the Israelis were patrolling the border.
• Suspected Uganda rebels kill five civilians in DR Congo Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- At least five people have been killed in an ambush by suspected Ugandan rebels in the restive Beni region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), local officials say.
• Former Pakistani Taliban Spokesman to Face Trial in Military Court VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- A senior Pakistani official has told the country's lawmakers that Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesman of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), both U.S.-designated terror groups, will be tried in a military court.
• Blasts claim 19 lives in Nigeria’s Borno State in attack blamed on Boko Haram Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- Some 19 people have been killed and dozens more wounded when three bombers blew themselves up in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State, the hardest hit by Daesh-inspired Boko Haram militancy.
• Armenian President, Azerbaijani Diplomat Trade Words Over Karabakh RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- A minor kerfuffle broke out between Armenia’s president and an Azerbaijani diplomat during a panel discussion at a high-profile security conference in Germany on February 17 as the two men traded accusations over Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
• Kosovo Celebrates A Decade Of Sovereignty RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- Kosovo is marking 10 years of independence from Serbia with a weekend of events celebrating what President Hashim Thaci called "the happiest moment for all of us as a people."
• Kosovo, Montenegro Announce Deal To Settle Border Disputes RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- Kosovo and Montenegro have agreed on a process for resolving disagreements over a border demarcation deal between the two countries, taking a step that could enable Kosovo to gain visa-free travel to the European Union.
• Vucic Tells Reuters Serbians Won't Support 'Full Recognition' Of Kosovo RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- Serbs are unlikely to support full recognition of Kosovo's independence in exchange for European Union membership, Serbia’s president told Reuters on February 16.

News Reports

• Lavrov: U.S. Meddling Charges 'Claptrap'; McMaster Says 'Incontrovertible' RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he has no reaction to U.S. indictments on alleged Russian meddling in U.S. elections, calling the accusations nothing but “claptrap” until Moscow sees the facts in the case.
• U.S. Lawmakers Express Alarm At Alleged Russian Influence Efforts RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- U.S. lawmakers and luminaries expressed alarm at the extensive efforts allegedly made by a ring of Russian operatives to influence the 2016 presidential election, as outlined in a surprise indictment by the U.S. special counsel.
• Russia Dismisses US Election-Meddling Indictments as 'Blather' VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- Moscow is claiming the charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election are "blather."
• US Man Pleads Guilty in Fraud Case Connected to Russia Election Probe VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- A California man has pleaded guilty to inadvertently selling bank accounts to Russians who were indicted Friday by a federal grand jury for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
• US Embassy in Ethiopia "Strongly" Disagrees with Country's State of Emergency VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia said Saturday it opposes the Ethiopian government's imposition of a state of emergency.
• Western Countries' Dilemma: What to Do With Captured IS Foreign Fighters? VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- The United States and its European allies are divided over the question of what to do with hundreds of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters who were captured on the battlefields in Syria and Iraq.
• US using 'large sticks' to convince N Korea to give up nukes: Tillerson Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that the United States is using "large sticks" instead of carrots to convince North Korea to give up nuclear weapons.
• As US Signals Openness to Talks With North Korea, Uncertainties Loom VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- Despite recent inter-Korean engagement at the Winter Olympics that has created a thaw for diplomacy between the United States and North Korea, the resumption of talks between the two sides remains elusive, former U.S. officials and analysts say.
• NATO sec-gen underlines high significance of JCPOA IRNA 17 Feb 2018 -- Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg speaking at Munich Security Conference on Friday underlined high significance of 2015 nuclear deal with Iran (JCPOA) and called for its full implementation.
• US to regret any nuclear deal violation: Iran's Rouhani Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has once again reiterated the Islamic Republic's full compliance with the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, stressing the United States would undoubtedly regret any violation of the deal.
• Israel Builds Case for Europeans to Accept Iran Nuclear Deal 'Fix' VOA 17 Feb 2018 -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to use the West's pre-eminent annual security conference to argue for tougher Western action against Israel's regional rival, Iran.
• Sweden Confirms Citizenship For Iranian Scientist Facing Death Penalty RFE/RL 17 Feb 2018 -- The Swedish Foreign Ministry On February 17 confirmed that it has granted citizenship to a Stockholm-based scientist who is being held in Iran and faces a death sentence.
• Turkey sentences six journalists to life in jail over links to coup Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- A Turkish court has sentenced six journalists to life in prison over accusation of involvement in the country's 2016 failed coup.
• Brazil to set up ministry of public security Press TV 17 Feb 2018 -- Brazilian President Michel Temer has announced a plan to set up a ministry in his government to deal with public security.