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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Perspective: Would Peace Be Fair - And How Would Afghan Women Fare - If The Taliban Returned? RFE/RL 07 Mar 2020 -- Less than 48 hours before the Taliban signed a conditional peace agreement with the United States, I telephoned the spokesman of the Taliban's Doha office to discuss the terms of the pending accord.
• Six Taliban Members Killed, 10 Injured in Clashes With Police in Eastern Afghanistan Sputnik 07 Mar 2020 -- Afghanistan has long been suffering from an unstable security situation. The government has struggled to contain the Taliban movement, which has been waging a war against Kabul for almost two decades.
• Taliban Refutes US Intelligence Information Claiming Movement Will Not Fulfill Peace Deal Sputnik 07 Mar 2020 -- On Friday, the NBC News broadcaster reported, citing three US officials, that the government collected "persuasive intelligence" proving that the Taliban movement did not intend to fulfill the peace deal inked with the US in Qatar's Doha last week.
• UN condemns deadly attack in Afghan capital UN News 07 Mar 2020 -- The United Nations has underscored its solidarity with Afghanistan following a deadly attack in the capital, Kabul, on Friday.
• Taliban Defends Its Chief as 'Legal' Ruler of Afghanistan VOA 07 Mar 2020 -- The Taliban says its peace pact with the United States does not alter the status of the insurgent group's supreme leader as the "lawful ruler" of Afghanistan, saying he is duty-bound by religion to establish an "Islamic government" after foreign "occupation" troops exit the country.
• Federal Government of Somalia, AFRICOM target al-Shabaab AFRICOM 07 Mar 2020 -- In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting an al-Shabaab camp in vicinity of Gandarshe, Somalia, Mar. 7.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US scraps plans to buy Israeli Iron Dome missile systems Press TV 07 Mar 2020 -- The United States has decided to scrap its plans to buy two more batteries of the Israeli-made Iron Dome missile system due to concerns about its compatibility with existing American technologies.
• US Refuses to Buy $1 Billion Worth of Iron Domes as Israel Rejects Handing Over Source Code – Report Sputnik 07 Mar 2020 -- The Iron Dome is one of three layers in Israel's air defences and is responsible for shooting down short-range missiles like those regularly fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.
• Moscow Calls on NATO to Consider Consequences of Escalation in Light of Planned Drills Near Russia Sputnik 07 Mar 2020 -- According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, increased NATO activities near Russia's borders will not make Moscow change its foreign policy.
• China rejects Pentagon claim it fired laser at US Navy spy aircraft Press TV 07 Mar 2020 -- China's Ministry of Defense has denied a claim by the US military that a Chinese naval ship had fired a laser at a US Navy spy plane circling overhead last month.
• Beijing Refutes Overdue Report It Fired Laser at US Navy Surveillance Plane Sputnik 07 Mar 2020 -- The US called out China more than a week after Beijing allegedly fired a laser weapon at the Pentagon's P-8A Poseidon, with Chinese defence authorities arguing the "aircraft's behaviour was unfriendly in intention".
• Spokesperson for DPRK Foreign Ministry Issues Statement KCNA 07 Mar 2020 -- A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea made public the following statement on Saturday:
• North Korea slams European states for 'illogical thinking' over recent military drills Press TV 07 Mar 2020 -- North Korea has lambasted European nations for their "illogical thinking" about Pyongyang's recent military drills after they called for a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to condemn the peninsular country's recent "missile launches."

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Yemen: UN envoy calls for 'immediate and unconditional' freeze on military activities UN News 07 Mar 2020 -- In a visit to northern Yemen on Saturday, UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths repeated his call for an immediate freeze on military activities and for warring parties to work towards a de-escalation in fighting.
• Saudi-Led Coalition Starts Military Operation Against Houthis in Yemen's Salif - Reports Sputnik 07 Mar 2020 -- The coalition said that the Houthi sites targeted in Salif posed a threat to maritime navigation and international trade in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
• Syria vows to continue war against terrorism following 'positive' Idlib deal Press TV 07 Mar 2020 -- A senior adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the Arab country will continue its war against foreign-backed terrorism following a ceasefire agreement in the northwestern Idlib province.
• Turkey Says Idlib Truce With Russia Seems To Be Holding RFE/RL 07 Mar 2020 -- A truce between Russia and Turkey in Syria's Idlib Province appears to be holding, according to the Turkish defense minister.
• Russian Military Police Patrol Syria's Aleppo, Raqqah, Hasakah Provinces Sputnik 07 Mar 2020 -- Russian military police are continuing to patrol the Syrian-Turkish border in the north Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Raqqah and Hasakah, the head of the Russian Defence Ministry's centre for Syria reconciliation, Rear Admiral Oleg Zhuravlev said on Saturday.

News Reports

• More Nord Stream 2 Sanctions On Horizon? U.S. Senator And Ukraine's Naftogaz Discuss Ways To Halt Controversial Gas Pipeline RFE/RL 07 Mar 2020 -- U.S. and Ukrainian efforts to stop Russia's Nord Stream 2 project from being completed have not ended with the December passage of U.S. sanctions that have effectively prevented vessels from laying the final stretch of the natural-gas pipeline.
• Is the Coronavirus Outbreak a Pivotal Moment for China? VOA 07 Mar 2020 -- The death last month of China's whistleblowing doctor Li Wenliang, weeks after he warned of a new, unnamed coronavirus in an online chatroom, triggered an outpouring of calls for free speech in the world's most populous authoritarian country.
• US deal with Taiwan may trigger China-US military conflict Global Times 07 Mar 2020 -- To provoke China by playing the "Taiwan card" is not only a strategic approach of the US approved by both Republicans and Democrats, but is also a "dirty business" between Taiwan separatists and US politicians that serves the interests of US defense contractors at the expense of peace and stability in the West Pacific region, said analysts on Saturday.
• Saudi crown prince orders arrest of three senior royals, including his uncle: Reports Press TV 07 Mar 2020 -- Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, also known as MbS and seen as the de facto ruler of the kingdom, has reportedly detained three senior members of the Arab kingdom's royal family, including his own uncle.
• Saudi Crown Prince's Top Royal Rivals Arrested in Apparent Power Consolidation VOA 07 Mar 2020 -- Saudi state media has yet to announce the arrests Friday of top rivals to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – former Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, his younger brother Prince Nawaf, and King Salman's last surviving full brother, Prince Ahmed Bin Abdel Aziz. U.S. media outlets broke the story Friday, leaving Arab media to guess what prompted the move.
• Zelenskiy Defends Cabinet Shake-Up, Gives Peace Ultimatum To Russia RFE/RL 07 Mar 2020 -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has defended a major shake-up of his cabinet, which has rattled investors worried that his government is backing away from major economic and structural reforms.
• Lebanon's PM says govt. cannot meet debt maturities, suspends March payment Press TV 07 Mar 2020 -- Lebanon says it cannot pay looming Eurobond maturities due next week, setting the heavily indebted state on course for the first sovereign default in its history as the Mediterranean country is hit by a severe liquidity crunch and months of anti-government protests.
• Lebanon to Default on Eurobond Debt for First Time - Prime Minister Sputnik 07 Mar 2020 -- On 6 March, Lebanon's Financial Attorney General Ali Ibrahim imposed a ban on the asset management of 20 local banks, as well as on the real estate property of their chairmen and boards of directors, according to the al-Jadeed TV channel.