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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
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Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Hangar damaged in drone strike on US airbase in Iraq's Ain al-Asad Press TV 08 May 2021 -- An air base in Iraq's western province of Anbar housing American troops has come under attack, damaging a hangar for military aircraft.
• Drone Attack Damages Hangar at US-Coalition Air Base in Iraq VOA 08 May 2021 -- At least one armed drone was shot down after attacking the Ain al-Asad Airbase in Iraq's Anbar province early Saturday morning, but inflicting no casualties to U.S.-led Coalition forces stationed at the base. There have been at least half-a-dozen attacks on U.S.-led coalition targets in recent weeks.
• US European Allies Reportedly Struggling to Pace Themselves, Urge Washington to Slow Afghan Drawdown Sputnik 08 May 2021 -- The American troop drawdown from Afghanistan was proceeding according to plan, according to an earlier press statement by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, after US and NATO ground forces began to withdraw from the Islamic republic on 1 May, in line with an announcement made by President Joe Biden on 14 April.
• Attack on Civilians in Afghanistan US Dept. of State 08 May 2021 -- "The United States condemns the barbarous attack near a girls' school in Kabul, Afghanistan. We offer our condolences to the victims, many of whom were children, and their families. We call for an immediate end to violence and the senseless targeting of innocent civilians."
• Kabul school bombing condemned by senior UN officials UN News 08 May 2021 -- Saturday's deadly bombing outside a high school in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, has been condemned by leading UN officials including the Secretary-General António Guterres. The attack led to the deaths of at least 30 people, including several schoolchildren.
• Bomb blast outside school kills 30+ Afghans in Kabul Press TV 08 May 2021 -- Over 30 people have been killed in a bomb explosion outside a school in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
• USS Monterey Seizes Illicit Weapons in the North Arabian Sea US Navy 08 May 2021 -- The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) seized an illicit shipment of weapons from a stateless dhow in international waters of the North Arabian Sea on May 6-7, 2021.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US military to destroy last batch of missiles carrying deadly VX nerve agent Press TV 08 May 2021 -- The United State military has revealed that its last batch of stockpiled missiles armed with highly lethal VX nerve agent outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) had been delivered for destruction.
• ROCKI 21-02: 19th AW experiments with lead wing concept DVIDS 08 May 2021 -- The 19th Airlift Wing's ROCKI 21-02 exercise at Volk Field ANG Base, came to a close May 6, as the wing assessed its ability to deploy into theater as a lead Air Expeditionary Wing – becoming Air Mobility Command's first to experiment with the lead wing construct in a dynamic exercise environment.
• USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5) Commissions DVIDS 08 May 2021 -- The Navy commissioned its newest Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) ship USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5) Saturday, May 8, at Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, California.
• Russia Pledges Support For Tajikistan Amid Concern Over Afghanistan RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia is working on strengthening its military base in Tajikistan to boost regional security as the situation escalates in Afghanistan.
• US Africa Command Top General Says China Wants Naval Base in Region Sputnik 08 May 2021 -- The US' relationship with China did not get any better when the Biden administration took office, with officials from the two countries openly bickering before the media at a meeting in Alaska hosted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this year.
• UK Military Spends £800 mln on More Than a Hundred Challenger 3 Tanks Sputnik 08 May 2021 -- According to the UK Defence Ministry, the vehicle will be the UK's first fully-digitised tank.
• HMAS Larrakia supports Solomon Islands' COVID-19 response Australia DOD 08 May 2021 -- Royal Australian Navy vessel HMAS Larrakia will arrive in Solomon Islands this week to support the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force's (RSIPF) COVID-19 response.
• Ukrainian troops to join U.S.-led military exercise People's Daily 08 May 2021 -- Ukrainian troops will participate in a United States-led multinational exercise dubbed Defender Europe 21, the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Friday in a statement on Facebook.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Yemen's forces will cease operations once Saudi-led aggression, siege stop: Official Press TV 08 May 2021 -- A senior member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council says Yemeni forces will suspend their retaliatory military operations only after Saudi Arabia and its allies put an end to their devastating war and all-out blockade against the Arab country.
• Iran dismisses Morocco's baseless accusations at AIPAC Press TV 08 May 2021 -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry has rejected baseless accusations by the Moroccan government that Iran carries out destabilizing activities in North and West Africa.
• Hotel linked to Libya's presidential council attacked in Tripoli Press TV 08 May 2021 -- Armed men have attacked a hotel employed as a headquarters by Libya's presidential council in the capital Tripoli.
• Building of Libyan Presidential Council Headquarters in Tripoli Attacked, Representative Says Sputnik 08 May 2021 -- A building of one of the headquarters of the Libyan Presidential Council was attacked in Tripoli on Saturday, a council representative, Najwa Wahiba, told Sputnik.
• Violence displaces 250,000 in 2 weeks in greater Mogadishu: UN People's Daily 08 May 2021 -- More than 250,000 people have been displaced in the past two weeks in violence and generalized insecurity in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and its environs, the United Nations humanitarian agency has said.
• UN Calls on Israel to Halt Evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem VOA 08 May 2021 -- The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling on Israel to halt forced evictions of Palestinian refugee families living in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, although Israel claims Palestinians are exploiting the potential evictions to spur unrest.
• In wake of Israel's brutal raid, EU calls for de-escalating perilous situation in al-Quds Press TV 08 May 2021 -- The European Union (EU) has called for de-escalating the alarming situation in East Jerusalem al-Quds and the al-Aqsa Mosque after Israeli forces brutally raided Palestinian worshipers at the holy mosque compound.
• US asks Israel to 'deescalate' tensions in occupied al-Quds Press TV 08 May 2021 -- The United States has called on Israel to de-escalate tensions in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds, and warned against carrying out forced evictions of Palestinian families.

News Reports

• Major US pipeline halts operations after cyberattack Press TV 08 May 2021 -- A major US pipeline has been forced to halt some of its operations due to a crippling cyberattack on its energy infrastructure.
• Two Russians Plead Guilty To Cybercrimes That Targeted U.S. Banks, Companies RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- Two Russian nationals are among four men who have pleaded guilty to cybercrimes that targeted banks and companies across the United States, resulting in millions of dollars of losses, the Justice Department said on May 7.
• U.S. Seeks 17-Year Sentence For Former Green Beret Who Pleaded Guilty To Spying For Russia RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- U.S. prosecutors said they were seeking a 17-year prison sentence for a former U.S. Army Green Beret who pleaded guilty last year to years of providing classified information to a Russian military intelligence agent.
• U.S. Government Seized Phone Data Of Journalists Who Wrote About Trump Campaign's Russia Ties RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- The Justice Department secretly obtained the phone records of three Washington Post reporters who wrote about the federal investigation into ties between Russia and former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, the newspaper said on May 7.
• Czech PM Asks European Council To Condemn Russian Involvement In Arms-Depot Blast RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said that he has asked the European Council to condemn Russia for its involvement in the deadly explosion of an arms depot on Czech soil in 2014.
• Greater Bay Area best point for Hong Kong to integrate into national development: HKSAR gov't official People's Daily 08 May 2021 -- The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is the best dovetailing point for Hong Kong to integrate into the national development, Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said on Friday.
• China urges UN members not to attend US-backed event on Xinjiang Press TV 08 May 2021 -- China has slammed as "politically-motivated" a virtual United Nations event sponsored by a group of US-led Western states which aims to discuss Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, calling on UN member states not to attend it.
• Coast Guard detains Chinese ship, crew for trespassing off Penghu CNA 08 May 2021 -- A Chinese offshore supply vessel and its 12 crew members were detained Friday after they were caught trespassing in Taiwanese waters off the coast of Penghu, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said Saturday.
• 'No reasonable justification' for Taiwan's exclusion from WHA: Blinken CNA 08 May 2021 -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called for Taiwan to be allowed to participate in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA), saying there is "no reasonable justification" for its continued exclusion from the forum.
• Mainland spokesperson rebukes DPP official for provocative remarks People's Daily 08 May 2021 -- A mainland spokesperson on Friday lashed out at separatists seeking "Taiwan independence," saying they shall be judged by history.
• Zarif marks 3rd anniversary of US unilateral exit from JCPOA IRNA 08 May 2021 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a twit on Saturday marked the 3rd anniversary of Trump's unilateral exit of the United States from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, arguing that an ill-famed clown breached both the US commitments and the UNSC Resolution 2231 three years ago.
• Iran mulls over extending deal with IAEA on inspections of nuclear sites: Senior diplomat Press TV 08 May 2021 -- A senior Iranian diplomat says the Islamic Republic may consider extending a deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on inspections of its nuclear sites as negotiations are underway in the Austrian capital of Vienna between Tehran and the P4+1 group of countries to revive a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement.
• Iran's Zarif Says Onus on US to Return to Compliance With Nuclear Deal Sputnik 08 May 2021 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has argued that it was up to the United States to take a step toward compliance with the nuclear deal.
• Forty Myanmar Junta Troop Deaths Reported After Clashes with Rebel Army and Local Militia Radio Free Asia 08 May 2021 -- A rebel army and a local militia have killed 40 Myanmar junta soldiers in two days of fighting this week in regions near the country's northern and western borders, witnesses reported, in what would be the largest number of casualties inflicted on security forces since the Feb. 1 military coup.
• Pakistani Opposition Leader Barred From Leaving Country For Medical Treatment RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has barred opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif from leaving the country for medical treatment abroad.
• Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Take Steps To Improve Strained Ties RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have signed agreements to improve ties after months of strained relations over the disputed region of Kashmir.
• Pakistan PM Khan Begins 'Important' Saudi Visit VOA 08 May 2021 -- Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan began on Friday a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia to boost historically close relations between the two longtime allied nations.
• France threatens more punitive measures against Lebanese officials over political deadlock: FM People's Daily 08 May 2021 -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said here on Friday that France is prepared to prevent Lebanese officials involved in corruption from entering it, threatening to impose tougher sanctions if political deadlock persists in Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
• Maldives Arrests 2 Suspects in May 6 Attack on Ex-President Nasheed Sputnik 08 May 2021 -- The Maldives police said on Saturday that they had arrested two individuals as part of a probe into the attack on parliament speaker and former president Mohamed Nasheed.
• UN Reports Acute Food Insecurity in Southern Madagascar VOA 08 May 2021 -- The United Nations says thousands of people in Madagascar are suffering from famine, while more than 1 million others are facing acute hunger and are forced to resort to extreme measures to keep from starving.
• Chad's Military Council Seeks Central African States Support VOA 08 May 2021 -- Envoys from Chad's ruling military council are seeking support from its central African neighbors in fighting rebels who they say endanger a smooth return to civilian rule. Chad's delegation told Cameroon's president that without peace, a transition to civilian rule will be impossible, but Chad's opposition says the military rulers should immediately step down if they genuinely want peace to be restored.