Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
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News Reports

Current Operations

• Washington claims China offered bounties for US troops in Afghanistan Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- The out-going administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly trying to verify intelligence alleging that China has offered to pay militants in Afghanistan to kill American troops.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US military recalls home aircraft carrier in hasty setback of its Iran scheme Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- The US defense chief has abruptly recalled home its Nimitz aircraft carrier from the West Asia amid opposition by top military advisers, marking a reversal of a major show-of-force strategy aimed at deterring Iran from taking retaliatory action for the US terror assassination of its top commander Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani along with several other senior Iranian and Iraqi military officers early last year in Baghdad.
• Newly-acquired AFRL test aircraft to aid personnel recovery research US Air Force 03 Jan 2021 -- A small aircraft that is poised to make a big impact on military personnel recovery made a brief stop in the Dayton area on its way to St. Mary's County, Maryland, where it will be used to test the Air Force Research Laboratory-developed Low Altitude Sensing Helmet system.
• Russia will soon test Sarmat ICBM capable of beating any defenses Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Russia is planning to conduct "in the near future" flight tests of its new intercontinental ballistic missile, which it says is capable of beating any defense systems.
• Xi signs order to release revised regulations on military equipment People's Daily 03 Jan 2021 -- Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), has signed an order to release revised regulations on military equipment.
• Report: German govt. approved $1.4bn arms sales to countries involved in Yemen, Libya wars in 2020 Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- The German government approved export of weapons and military equipment worth around $1.4 billion in 2020 to countries involved in the deadly conflicts in war-torn Yemen and Libya, a report says.
• International military training resuming in 2021 Australia DOD 03 Jan 2021 -- The Australian Defence College will resume limited international training for foreign military partners in 2021, with the first officials arriving in Australia in early January.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• China warns UK against deploying warships to South China Sea Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- China has sent a stern warning to the United Kingdom against plans to deploy warships to the disputed South China Sea, threatening that such a "hostile" move would provoke retaliation from Beijing.
• Two French soldiers killed during operation in Mali Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Two French soldiers have been killed as an explosion hit their armored vehicle in the West African country of Mali, the French presidency said.
• Elysee Palace Reports Deaths of 2 More French Troops in Mali Sputnik 03 Jan 2021 -- Two French troops were killed and another sustained injuries during an operation in Mali after their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device on Saturday, the Elysee palace reported, less than a week after another three French servicemen died in a similar fashion.
• Militants kill hundred in simultaneous attacks on two Niger villages Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Around 100 people have been killed and dozens more injured in simultaneous attacks on two villages by militants in Western Niger, local officials say.
• At Least 100 Killed in Attack on Local Villages in Western Niger, Mayor Says Sputnik 03 Jan 2021 -- The most recent attack in the terrorism-stricken country occurred in mid-December, when 28 were killed and hundreds injured, with the Boko Haram claiming responsibility for the atrocity.
• UN condemns back-to-back attacks in Central African Republic UN News 03 Jan 2021 -- The UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) condemned, in the strongest terms, succeeding assaults launched by armed groups in Damara on Saturday and Bangassou on Sunday.
• Rebels seize city in CAR weeks after alleged coup attempt Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Rebel forces have seized the city of Bangassou in the Central African Republic, following a fierce gun battle.

News Reports

• Trump, in Phone Call, Pleaded with Georgia Officials to Overturn His Election Loss VOA 03 Jan 2021 -- In an extraordinary phone call, U.S. President Donald Trump pleaded Saturday with election officials in the southern U.S. state of Georgia to find him enough votes to overturn his pivotal loss there to President-elect Joe Biden.
• Pakistan arrests alleged financier of 2008 Mumbai attacks Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Pakistan has arrested a man accused by the United States and India of financing the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks.
• China responds to U.S. delisting three Chinese enterprises People's Daily 03 Jan 2021 -- The United States' act of abusing national security to suppress Chinese enterprises is inconsistent with market rules and will weaken the confidence of all parties in the U.S. capital market, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said Saturday.
• Beijing's policy toward Taiwan unlikely to change in 2021: think tank CNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Beijing's hostile policy toward Taiwan is likely to continue in 2021, according to a year-end report released by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), a government-funded think tank in Taiwan.
• Martyr Soleimani 1,000 times more powerful than Gen. Soleimani IRNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Iranian IRGC commander General Rahim Nowei-Aghdam said on Sunday that today, Martyr Qasem Soleimani is 1,000 times more powerful than General Qasem Soleimani.
• ISIS only side gaining benefits from Gen. Soleimani's assassination by "terrorist-in-chief": Zarif IRNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in a Twitter message on Sunday evening that the only ones who benefitted from the US assassination of Lieutenant-General Qasem Soleimani was Daesh (ISIS) terrorists.
• Iran decides when, where to avenge assassins of General Soleimani: IRGC Spokesman IRNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman Brigadier-General Ramezan Sharif said on Sunday that it is Iran that decides when and where to avenge assassination of Lieutenant-General Qasem Soleimani who was assassinated by the US terrorist army in Iraq on January 3, 2020.
• Minister says Iran will take revenge of General Soleimani IRNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Iranian Minister of Defense Brigadier-General Amir Hatami reiterated on Sunday that Iran will take revenge of the US assassination of Lieutenant-General Qasem Soleimani.
• IRGC spox: Gen. Soleimani thwarted US plot to disintegrate states of region IRNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif said the US seeks to plunder nations in the region and disintegrating Islamic states, adding that Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani thwarted the US plot to disintegrate states in the region.
• Unlawful assassination of Gen Soleimani a wake-up call: Iran's Foreign Ministry ISNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Foreign Ministry stressed that the US military presence in the region is destabilizing.
• US itself the main loser in assassination of Gen Soleimani: Khatibzadeh ISNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh stressed that Iran diplomacy apparatus' efforts to pursue the case of assassination of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani will continue until the perpetrators and commanders of the brutal crime are brought to justice.
• Daesh main beneficiary of General Soleimani's assassination: Iran's Zarif Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group was the "only beneficiary" of the cowardly assassination of Iranian legendary counterterrorism commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani by the United States.
• Gen. Soleimani's assassination proved US presence in region destabilizing: Iran Foreign Ministry Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has once again denounced the "unlawful" assassination of the country's legendary counterterrorism commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, by the United States, saying it proved that the US military presence in the West Asia region is destabilizing.
• Iraqis Mark Anniversary Of Top Iranian General's Assassination RFE/RL 03 Jan 2021 -- Thousands of Iraqis converged on central Baghdad's Tahrir Square on January 3 to mark the first anniversary of the twin assassinations in a U.S. air strike of a top Iranian general and a leader of an Iraqi powerful Shi'ite militia.
• Complete lifting of all sanctions US' sole option to correct Trump's failed strategy: Shamkhani ISNA 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran's secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani stressed that America's perceptual war to magnify a trivial issue such as its return to JCPOA will not be successful.
• US must lift all Iran sanctions to correct Trump's failed 'maximum pressure' policy: Top security official Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran's top security official has once again highlighted the failure of the so-called 'maximum pressure' campaign pursued by the outgoing US President Donald Trump against the Islamic Republic, urging the United States to lift all sanctions as the only option possible to rectify its failed strategy.
• Ukraine plane crash victim families offered life-time benefits Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- Victim families of a Ukrainian plane crash that happened in January last year near the Iranian capital Tehran have been offered with life-time benefits by Iran's Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.
• Iran's strategic weapons thwart plot to disintegrate region: DM Press TV 03 Jan 2021 -- The Iranian defense minister says the strategic weapons produced by the Islamic Republic and used by resistance forces have prevented a hegemonic plot to disintegrate the region.
• Iranian Supreme Leader Uses Propagandistic Documentary To Try To Burnish His Image RFE/RL 03 Jan 2021 -- Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomes a group of artists and filmmakers while exchanging pleasantries and cracking a joke about reports a prominent filmmaker had received residency in Canada.
• Three Executed In Iran For 'Terrorist' Acts And Murder RFE/RL 03 Jan 2021 -- Iran has hanged two men for "terrorist acts" and another for murder and armed robbery, the judiciary's official Mizan news agency said.
• Many Tajiks Forced To Skip Meals As Poverty Deepens, Survey Shows RFE/RL 03 Jan 2021 -- Maryam, a school janitor in the northern Tajik city of Khujand, says she often skips meals so her three children can eat "enough food."
• Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia Resume Talks on Renaissance Dam Under AU Auspices, Report Says Sputnik 03 Jan 2021 -- Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have resumed negotiations over Addis Ababa's contentious Great Renaissance Dam under the auspices of the African Union (AU), media reported Sunday.
• Planned Chinese Dam Along South Asian River Triggers Concerns in India, Bangladesh VOA 03 Jan 2021 -- China's planned super dam on a major river that flows into India and Bangladesh threatens to turn into another in a series of flashpoints with New Delhi, and has sparked concerns in Bangladesh, which is critically reliant on the river for its fresh water supply.
• New Year, New Charges as Thai Protesters Slapped with Royal Defamation Charges VOA 03 Jan 2021 -- Thai authorities January 1 made their 38th arrest of a pro-democracy activist in recent weeks under the country's tough lèse majesté law as authorities crack down on the country's unprecedented protest movement.