Latest Articles about Military/Security
Insurgent Violence Reported in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkaria
An empty freight train was bombed and derailed on the outskirts of Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala on the evening of March 11. A source in the transport police department of the North Caucasus branch of Russian Railways told ITAR-TASS that the blast left a crater about... MORE
Laissez Faire, Laissez Passer: NATO Takes Cue From French Warship Deal With Russia
Russia’s military reform is geared to creating a mobile, rapidly deployable force, fully ready for operating in “near abroad” areas and potentially beyond (EDM, March 5). The proposed acquisition of French Mistral-class warships makes eminent sense for Russia in this context. The Russian Navy is... MORE
Will Xinjiang’s Turkistani Islamic Party Survive the Drone Missile Death of its Leader?
Though it appears to have occurred on February 15, the death of the leader of al-Hizb al-Islami al-Turkistani (Turkistani Islamic Party - TIP) was reported only in recent days (Geo TV, March 1; Dawn [Karachi], March 1; The News [Islamabad], March 2). Abdul Haq al-Turkistani... MORE
Kashmir’s Militants May Derail India-Pakistan Negotiations
Islamist terrorism in South Asia, the epicenter of global terrorism, thrives on lasting India-Pakistan enmity. Pakistan would have no interest in using jihad as an instrument of its defense policy in a conflict-free South Asia. One of the important objectives of the Pakistani and, arguably,... MORE
Kurdish Counterterrorism Group Works to Prevent Terrorism in Kurdistan and Iraq
With an intelligence and military wing of over 1,000 people, the Sulaymaniyah-based Counter Terrorism Group (CTG) collects intelligence and carries out operations to prevent terrorists in Iraq from destabilizing the Kurdistan region in cooperation with U.S. forces. Lahur Talabani, the nephew of the Iraqi president,... MORE
Drone Attacks: Pakistan’s Policy and the Tribesmen’s Perspective
This paper provides an analysis of Pakistan's policy on unmanned aerial vehicle (“drone”) attacks in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and how these attacks are perceived by students from Waziristan, the region most heavily targeted by CIA drones. The interviews with students were conducted... MORE
US Assists Kyrgyzstan in Constructing Anti-Terrorist Center in Batken
During his visit to Bishkek on March 10, the Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), General David Petraeus, reiterated that by helping to build an anti-terrorist center in Batken city, Washington does not seek to open an additional military base. The Kyrgyz President,... MORE
Killing of Said Buryatsky Unlikely to Deter North Caucasus Insurgency
A key event in early March, was the death of one of the chief ideologues of the armed resistance in the North Caucasus, Said Buryatsky (Aleksandr Tikhomirov) (www.1tv.ru, March 5). He was killed in the village of Ekazhevo in Ingushetia’s Nazran district during a major... MORE
Medvedev Acknowledges Problems in the “New Look” Armed Forces
Last week, President Dmitry Medvedev addressed a gathering of the Russian top brass in Moscow – the so called “extended defense ministry collegium.” Medvedev was upbeat about the military reform that began in September 2008 by presidential decree. According to the Defense Minister, Anatoly Serdyukov:... MORE
Mistral Procurement Disguises Weak Condition of the Black Sea Fleet
Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev’s, recent trip to Paris for bilateral talks with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, followed by receiving the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Moscow on March 5, intensified speculation over the procurement of the amphibious helicopter landing ship, Mistral, and the future... MORE