Military & Security

China has confirmed it was building a second aircraft carrier, as neighbors worry about Beijing’s new assertiveness to claims in the South China Sea. Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said the carrier had been designed in China and was being built in the port of Dalian. Foreign military analysts …

According to preliminary information, over 30 were killed and dozens injured in a triple explosion in the center of the Syrian city of Homs, a police source told RIA Novosti Monday.  “The suicide bomber blew himself up, almost immediately a car bomb exploded, and then another explosive device …

The Syrian Air Forces have conducted 168 sorties and hit 190 terrorists targets since mid-December, the Syrian Army spokesman Brig.Gen. Ali Maihub said. “Between December 17 and December 26 the Syrian Air Forces conducted 168 sorties hitting 198 terrorist targets in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Idlib, Aleppo and Damascus …

The Syrian army confirmed on Friday that Zahran Alloush, the leader of Jaysh al-Islam terrorist group operating in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, has been killed in an airstrike by the Syrian air force.  Earlier reports indicated that Alloush along with seven other terrorist field commanders and 10 …

Christopher L. Brennan From Libya and Egypt to Syria and Yemen, the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region is undergoing unprecedented tumult and chaos. To understand the current breakdown of states and society, examining the so-called Arab Spring of 2011 that laid the groundwork for this ongoing regional anarchy is indispensable. …

Dr Ahmed Al-Burai If Deniz Zeyrek, a famous leftist journalist in Turkey, was to say, “The state of Israel and its people are undoubtedly sincere friends of Turkey and our condemnations until now are aimed at some extreme illegitimate actions of the Israeli government,” he would be condemned …

Bill Gertz Islamic State terrorists in Syria, assisted by western experts, are trying to develop improvised anti-aircraft missiles following stepped up airstrikes against its forces, according to U.S. officials and reports from the region. The effort was disclosed by an anti-ISIS social media account that revealed the anti-aircraft …

The formation of a national unity government may pave the way toward asking Russia to conduct airstrikes on Daesh positions.  The request to Russia on the launch of airstrikes against Islamic State (IS or Daesh in Arabic) can be submitted only after the formation of a national unity government, which will be in exclusive position to make …

Imagine you had a time machine that could take you back to compare what people thought would happen in 2015 with what actually did occur. Some of the events of the last year, like the Syrian rebel training programs falling apart, were utterly predictable. Others were deeply surprising; the …