Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Readout of the Bilateral Engagement With His Excellency Dr. Ashraf Ghani, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan DoD 29 Feb 2020
• Afghan, U.S., NATO Officials Call Declaration a Path for Peace DoD News 29 Feb 2020 -- Under an agreement signed in Doha, Qatar, all foreign troops may be out of Afghanistan in 14 months, officials said in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
• Secretary Michael R. Pompeo At Afghanistan Signing Ceremony US Dept. of State 29 Feb 2020
• Secretary Michael R. Pompeo At a Press Availability After the Afghanistan Signing Ceremony US Dept. of State 29 Feb 2020
• Briefing With Senior Administration Official On Next Steps Toward an Agreement on Bringing Peace to Afghanistan US Dept. of State 29 Feb 2020
• Briefing With Senior Administration Officials On Next Steps Toward an Agreement on Bringing Peace to Afghanistan US Dept. of State 29 Feb 2020
• Deal With Taliban Paves Way for Start of US Pullout From Afghanistan VOA 29 Feb 2020 -- In a historic deal signed with the Taliban on Saturday in Doha, the United States promised to bring its troops home from Afghanistan in 14 months, with the first reduction, down to 8,600 from 13,000, to take place in the first 135 days.
• U.S., Taliban Sign Deal To End War In Afghanistan RFE/RL 29 Feb 2020 -- The United States has signed a historic agreement with the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and an end to the country’s 18-year conflict.
• Trump sends Pompeo to attend signing of U.S.-Taliban deal People's Daily 29 Feb 2020 -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will attend the signing of U.S.-Taliban agreement, which could be one step forward to ultimate U.S. troops withdrawal and lasting peace in Afghanistan.
• US, Afghan Taliban Peace Deal Set for Signing VOA 29 Feb 2020 -- After nearly 19 years of fighting, representatives of the United States and Afghan Taliban are expected to sign a peace deal Saturday in Doha, Qatar.
• Statement by the North Atlantic Council on Afghanistan NATO 29 Feb 2020
• NATO Secretary General visits Afghanistan as country takes historic first step towards peace NATO 29 Feb 2020 -- Today (29 February 2020), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg paid an official visit to Kabul.
• United States-Taliban deal: UN welcomes efforts to reach political settlement in Afghanistan UN News 29 Feb 2020 -- On Saturday the United Nations called for further reductions in violence in Afghanistan, and for the conditions for intra-Afghan peace talks to be met, following the announcement of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Synergy-centered maintenance key to F-35A reliability, high mission capability rates US Air Force 29 Feb 2020 -- As capable as the F-35A Lightning II has proven itself to be on the battlefield – seeking out and evading or killing high-end threats – it can be just as capable in reliability and quick combat 'turns' when maintainers leverage the synergy designed into the maintenance systems.
• China postpones 2020 H1 military recruiting PLA Daily 29 Feb 2020 -- China will postpone the military recruiting scheduled for the first half of this year to support the country's epidemic prevention and control work, a military spokesperson has said.
• China, Cambodia to hold joint military training PLA Daily 29 Feb 2020 -- The Chinese and Cambodian armies will hold a joint military training in Cambodia from March 2 to April 10, a Chinese military spokesperson has said.
• Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Guides Joint Strike Drill of KPA Units KCNA 29 Feb 2020 -- Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, guided the joint strike drill of units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on Friday.
• Royal Marines travel to Belarus for winter warfare exercise UK MOD 29 Feb 2020 -- Thirty members of 42 Commando will conduct cold weather training on the two-week exercise

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Hundreds of Indonesian Former IS Members, Families Could Become Stateless VOA 29 Feb 2020 -- A recent decision by the government in Jakarta not to repatriate hundreds of its citizens suspected of membership in the Islamic State (IS) terror group has set off a debate over the fate of the Indonesians, with some experts warning it could become an international dilemma if their citizenship is revoked.
• Yemenis encircle strategic city in al-Jawf as Saudi countermeasures fail: Report Press TV 29 Feb 2020 -- Yemen's armed forces have encircled the strategic city of al-Hazm - the capital city of the northern al-Jawf province - as Saudi attempts to break Yemeni advances failed, a report says.
• Russia says agreed with Turkey to reduce tensions in Syria's Idlib Press TV 29 Feb 2020 -- Russia says it has agreed with Turkey to ease tensions in Syria's embattled Idlib province, the last major terrorist stronghold in the war-torn country.
• Syria: Turkey using observation posts to back terrorists Press TV 29 Feb 2020 -- Syria's ambassador to the United Nations tells an emergency UN Security Council meeting that Turkey uses the observation posts it has set up in the Arab country's northwest to level support for terrorists.
• Putin, Erdogan Look To Ease Soaring Tensions After Deadly Syrian Air Strike RFE/RL 29 Feb 2020 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have held crisis talks amid rising tensions after 33 Turkish soldiers died in an air strike by Moscow-backed Syrian government warplanes.
• Syrian Government Claims to Capture More Ground in Idlib VOA 29 Feb 2020 -- As tensions continue to simmer between Turkey and Russia in the north of Syria, Ankara says another Turkish soldier was killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 34 in the last several days.
• UN-Mediated Political Talks on Libya End in Disarray VOA 29 Feb 2020 -- U.N.-mediated political talks aimed at resolving the crisis in Libya have ended in disarray, with nothing accomplished except an agreement to meet again next month.

News Reports

• Trump Names Republican Lawmaker To Be U.S. Director Of Intelligence RFE/RL 29 Feb 2020 -- U.S. President Donald Trump says he will for the second time nominate Republican Representative John Ratcliffe to be his director of national intelligence (DNI) and oversee the country's 17 spy agencies.
• Arrest of Jimmy Lai signals HK govt's enhanced enforcement after months-long riots Global Times 29 Feb 2020 -- The Hong Kong Police Force detained several Hong Kong riot leaders including Apple Daily founder Jimy Lai Chee-ying and pan-democratic figures Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum on Friday for taking part in an illegal assembly and criminal intimidation.
• No Deal from US-Brokered Nile Dam Talks VOA 29 Feb 2020 -- The Trump administration has concluded two days of what was supposed to be the final round of talks on the Grand Ethiopian Dam without reaching a deal and without the presence of Ethiopia after that country said Wednesday that it is walking away from negotiations on the project.