Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Taliban Kills 12 In Attack On Security Forces In Western Afghanistan RFE/RL Gandhara 16 Jan 2021 -- A group of Taliban militants has killed 12 members of the local security forces in the country's western Herat Province, in what provincial police on January 16 described as an insider attack.
• Taliban Welcome US Troop Drawdown in Afghanistan, Reaffirm Commitment to February Deal Sputnik 16 Jan 2021 -- The Taliban see the US troop drawdown in Afghanistan as a "good advancement" in implementing the February deal, the spokesman for the movement's political office in Doha said on Saturday.
• Idaho National Guard sends 300 to support inauguration Army News 16 Jan 2021 -- The Idaho National Guard sent more than 300 Soldiers and Airmen to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15 to augment the District of Columbia National Guard and support the U.S. Secret Service for the presidential inauguration.
• National Guard Judge Advocates Brief Soldiers and Airmen During Operation Capitol Response Army News 16 Jan 2021 -- District of Columbia National Guard (DCNG) judge advocates provide guidance to Soldiers and Airmen during Operation Capitol Response on Jan. 10, 2021 at the D.C. Armory.
• D.C. National Guard provides assistance for peaceful transition of power Army News 16 Jan 2021 -- In past presidential inaugurations, the District of Columbia National Guard has escorted presidents, marched in ceremonial parades, conducted crowd management and ensured the safety of participants of the event. While D.C. National Guard plays no less pivotal a role, this year is turning out to be a bit different.
• Maryland National Guard in DC to support inauguration Army News 16 Jan 2021 -- Approximately 800 members of the Maryland National Guard are on duty in Washington to support the 59th presidential inauguration, with a Maryland general officer taking a critical role in the effort.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Russia Informs UN Of Withdrawal Of 'Military Instructors' From Central African Republic RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- Russia has informed the United Nations that it plans to withdraw 300 "military instructors" sent to the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) in the run-up to presidential and legislative elections.
• China sends new naval fleet on escort mission PLA Daily 16 Jan 2021 -- The 37th fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Saturday left the port city of Sanya in south China's Hainan Province for the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia to escort civilian ships.
• US warns India against S-400 purchase deal with Russia: Report Press TV 16 Jan 2021 -- The United States warns India that it would not get a waiver on its planned acquisition of S-400 air defense systems from Russia, implying that New Delhi will face sanctions similar to those imposed on Turkey for buying the advanced equipment.
• Iran's ballistic missiles destroy marine targets from 1,800 km IRNA 16 Jan 2021 -- The final stage of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) military drills finished by targeting marine targets successfully by Iranian ballistic missiles.
• Iran to unveil new drone achievements in near future, cmdr says IRNA 16 Jan 2021 -- Iranian Army has plans to unveil new drone achievements in the near future, Air Force Commander Brigadier-General Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Saturday,
• Iranian missiles land within 100 miles from US aircraft carrier: Fox News Press TV 16 Jan 2021 -- Long-range missiles from Iran landed 100 miles from the Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group belonging to the United States, Fox News has reported.
• IRGC's ballistic missiles destroy mock enemy warships 1,800 kilometers away during drills Press TV 16 Jan 2021 -- Iran's home-grown ballistic missiles have destroyed mock enemy warships with pin-point accuracy, hundreds of kilometers away, in the northern Indian Ocean as the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) conducts massive military drills.
• Iran Holds Anti-Warship Missile Drill Amid Tensions With U.S. RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has conducted the second and last phase of a drill launching anti-warship ballistic missiles at a simulated target in the Indian Ocean, state television reported.
• Iran Fired Long-Range Missiles in Drills Hitting Targets Over 1,000 Miles Away, Reports Say Sputnik 16 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force on Saturday launched long-range ballistic missiles as part of annual military drills that struck maritime targets over 1,000 miles away, media reported.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• India Rejects Border Dispute Discussions With Nepal During Foreign Minister's Delhi Visit Sputnik 16 Jan 2021 -- The three-day visit by Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali to New Delhi is the first by a Nepalese dignitary to India since the border row flared up between the neighbours at the end of 2019. Nepal's PM K. P. Sharma Oli said before Gyawali's trip that he would "take back" the disputed territories from India.
• Takfiri terrorists hit Nigeria army base in Borno, take control Press TV 16 Jan 2021 -- Takfiri terrorists have attacked an army base in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, taking the facility under their control.
• Peacekeepers under attack again in Mali, as one Egyptian blue helmet dies, another seriously injured UN News 16 Jan 2021 -- The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned another fatal attack carried out against a peacekeeping convoy that left a 'blue helmet' from Egypt dead, and another seriously injured on Friday.
• UN Rushing to Relocate Ethiopian Refugees Away From Sudanese Border VOA 16 Jan 2021 -- The United Nations and other agencies are rushing to relocate thousands of refugees camped out along the disputed Sudan-Ethiopia border to safer areas further away.
• Guterres welcomes Palestinian announcement of elections as 'crucial step' towards unity UN News 16 Jan 2021 -- The UN Secretary-General has welcomed Friday's announcement from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the first full parliamentary and presidential elections in 15 years, scheduled to begin in May.

News Reports

• Biden Names Iran, Ukraine Veterans To Top State Department Posts RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Wendy Sherman, the country's lead negotiator of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, to be the No. 2 official at the State Department.
• Far-right groups receive Bitcoin donations weeks before storming US Capitol TRT 16 Jan 2021 -- US investigators are working to see how far-right groups are being funded in the country and to what extent funds played a role in violence that took the lives of several people.
• Researchers: More Than a Dozen Extremist Groups Took Part in Capitol Riots VOA 16 Jan 2021 -- In the days since the violent Jan. 6 rampage at the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump's supporters, a fuller picture has emerged about the rioters, with researchers identifying members of more than a dozen extremist groups that took part in the riots.
• Text of a Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to the Southern Border of the United States The White House 16 Jan 2021
• NASA Conducts Test of SLS Rocket Core Stage for Artemis I Moon Mission NASA 16 Jan 2021 -- NASA conducted a hot fire Saturday of the core stage for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will launch the Artemis I mission to the Moon. The hot fire is the final test of the Green Run series.
• Museveni Declared Winner in Uganda; Military Blocks Opposition Candidate's Home VOA 16 Jan 2021 -- Uganda's electoral commission on Saturday declared President Yoweri Museveni the winner of the 2021 general elections. Meanwhile, Ugandan military and police surrounded the home of opposition leader and presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine.
• Uganda says sitting President Museveni wins 6th term as main rival alleges vote rigging Press TV 16 Jan 2021 -- The incumbent president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, has won a sixth five-year term in the recent election, electoral officials say, while his main rival alleges that there has been widespread fraud, rejecting the results.
• Germany Hands Over Navalny Interview Transcripts To Russia, Demands Criminal Probe RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- Germany has sent to Russia the transcripts of interviews its authorities conducted with Aleksei Navalny, and demanded that Moscow carry out a full investigation into the poisoning of the Russian opposition politician.
• Moscow Court Jails Member Of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation On Extremism Charges RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- A Russian court has ordered a member of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) accused of inciting extremism on the Internet to be kept in pretrial detention until February 28, according to a top human rights lawyer.
• Council Of Europe Urges Russia To Explain NGO Designation As 'Undesirable' RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- The head of the Council of Europe has expressed "great concern" after the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe was added to the list of "undesirable" organizations in Russia.
• China blasts Trump administration for imposing new sanctions on Chinese firms People's Daily 16 Jan 2021 -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Friday rebuked the Trump administration for blacklisting some Chinese companies with alleged military ties, which he said has shown the world exactly what bullying is.
• HKSAR gov't requires all civil servants to swear to uphold Basic Law, bear allegiance to HKSAR People's Daily 16 Jan 2021 -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has started to require all civil servants to swear to uphold the HKSAR Basic Law and bear allegiance to the HKSAR.
• Hong Kong 'strongly' slams critical US congressional report Press TV 16 Jan 2021 -- The Hong Kong government has "strongly" censured a US congressional report on Beijing's policies in the financial hub city, slamming it as "biased, politically motivated and not reflecting the truth" amid persisting US meddling in China's internal affairs.
• Taiwan, U.S. diplomats meet after official contact ban lifted CNA 16 Jan 2021 -- Taiwan's representative to Switzerland met with his U.S counterpart on Thursday, the latest Taiwanese diplomat to meet a U.S. official after the U.S. ended its restrictions on official contacts with Taiwan on Jan. 9.
• Chinese military plane enters Taiwan's ADIZ for 7th straight day CNA 16 Jan 2021 -- A Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday, the seventh consecutive day there has been such an incursion, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND).
• AEOI issues statement in response to E3 IRNA 16 Jan 2021 -- The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) in response to three European countries' remarks in a statement on Saturday reiterated the issue of metallic uranium factory differs from the production of advanced fuel, silicide, to be used in Tehran Research Reactor (TRR).
• E3 calls on Iran to halt R&D activities aimed at producing new fuel for Tehran reactor Press TV 16 Jan 2021 -- The three European signatories to a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement signed between Iran and major world powers have called on Tehran to halt its research and development (R&D) activities, claiming they are against the deal.
• France, Britain, Germany Call On Iran To Halt Uranium Metal Work RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- European powers have warned Iran against starting work on uranium metal-based fuel for a research reactor, saying it contravened the 2015 nuclear deal.
• E3 Statement on the JCPoA: 16 January 2021 UKFCDO 16 Jan 2021
• FM spox reacts to rumours on possible release of SKorean ship IRNA 16 Jan 2021 -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh commented on the rumors on the possibility of releasing a South Korean ship recently seized by Iran.
• Iran warns of rapid reaction to any possible aggression IRNA 16 Jan 2021 -- Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major-General Mohammad Bagheri on Saturday warned of rapid reaction to any possible aggression on Iran.
• Belarus Nuclear Plant Taken Offline After 'Protection System Activated' RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- Belarusian authorities say the country's new nuclear power plant has been taken offline during testing procedures after the generator protection system was triggered.
• Cuba blasts US sanctions on interior ministry as 'coercive measure' Press TV 16 Jan 2021 -- The administration of US President Donald Trump has in its final days in office imposed sanctions on Cuba's interior ministry over accusations of rights abuses, with the government in Havana denouncing the hostile move as a "coercive measure" against the Caribbean nation.
• Germany's Ruling Christian Democrats Pick Merkel Loyalist as New Leader VOA 16 Jan 2021 -- Germany's ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) Saturday chose Armin Laschet, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, as their new leader. The pick suggests the party favors continuing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's middle-of-the-road policies when she steps down in September after 16 years in office.
• Opposition Leaders Stopped From Flying to Cambodia to Face Charges Radio Free Asia 16 Jan 2021 -- Cambodian opposition officials were thwarted Saturday in their latest attempt to return to Phnom Penh from exile to defend themselves against treason and incitement charges, as airlines refused to board them without the visas they needed after the government cancelled their passports.
• National Elections in Uganda US Dept. of State 16 Jan 2021 -- The Ugandan people turned out to vote in multiparty national elections on January 14 despite an environment of intimidation and fear.
• After Trump Ban, Serbian Politicians Migrate To Alternative Networks 'Until Something Better Happens' RFE/RL 16 Jan 2021 -- Donald Trump and his American supporters have complained loudly about bans on the outgoing U.S. president by the biggest names in social media since the violence at the Capitol that sparked Trump's impeachment this week.