Month: September 2023

New Kurdish group in Syria attacks Turkish-backed opposition in Afrin

The Afrin Liberation Forces, which has escalated attacks against the Turkish-backed opposition in the Aleppo countryside, is being secretive about the sources of its support, weapons and training.

The Afrin Liberation Forces, a group of Kurdish fighters from Afrin also known as Hezen Rizgariya Efrine (HRE), recently stepped up their attacks against the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Turkish army in the countryside of Aleppo. The attacks suggest HRE is a well-trained and organized group.

Why are migrants to Europe fleeing from and through Tunisia?

An ailing economy and tough border measures elsewhere along Africa’s north coast are to blame

THE ITALIAN island of Lampedusa is home to around 6,000 people. In the past week most of the 14,000 migrants who reached Italy have arrived on its shores. Hundreds more have died trying to make it there by sea in the past year, including a newborn baby whose body was recovered on September 16th. The following day Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, visited the island with Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister. Mrs von der Leyen promised a “co-ordinated response” by the EU to the surge in arrivals on Lampedusa.

China Continues To Deepen Its Political Influence In Georgia – Analysis

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s recent visit to China and his meeting with President Xi Jinping heralded the establishment of a strategic partnership between China and Georgia. Garibashvili called his visit historic. Moreover, he expressed Tbilisi’s willingness to deepen its relationship with Beijing and support all the global projects—the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Global Civilizational Initiative, Global Development Initiative, and the Global Security Initiative—China is invested in to reshape international rules and norms and revise the world order.

Tensions On Belarus Border: A Look At Military Spending And Arms Import Patterns – Analysis

Relations between Belarus and its NATO neighbours deteriorated further over the summer. Troops have been deployed on both sides of the Belarus–Poland border, and each country has accused the other of escalating tensions. Lithuania this month closed two of six border crossings with Belarus. Belarus’s defence minister, Viktor Khrenin, went as far as suggesting that ‘the possibility of a direct military clash with NATO in the future has become quite obvious’.

What Do We Know About Self-Finance Terrorism?

Abstract: The landscape of terrorist financing has transformed owing to the self-starter phenomenon, characteristics of terrorist organizations, self-funded terrorism, and weapons of choice. On a different note, nationally and internationally, financial institutions still rely on traditional counterterrorist financing policies. These policies against the financing of terrorism were drafted as a result of the 9/11 attacks to identify large, complex attacks financed through the international financial system. Unfortunately, the policies have proven to be redundant in tracing the financial footprint of small cells and lone actors – such groups use little to no money to fund their activities. So far, the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism policies have been studied from their ability to trigger suspicious reports and cost-of-compliance perspectives, but not from the perspective that seeks to answer why the existing system is insufficient at detecting self-funded terrorism.

Haiti, caught in the crossfire

*All names have been changed for personal safety

In the two years since the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, people in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince have been caught in a spiral of ongoing violence and insecurity. The turmoil has impacted daily lives, plans for the future, and access to much-needed medical care. Just last week, on July 7, 2023, armed men violently entered a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Tabarre and forcibly removed a patient from the operating room, where he was being treated for gunshot wounds.

In letter to Biden, Barzani warns of Iraqi Kurdistan’s collapse, urges mediation

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s letter to Biden is aimed at jolting the administration into action as tensions rise between Erbil and Baghdad.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has appealed to President Joe Biden to intervene in a deepening crisis with the central government in Baghdad, airing fears that the Kurdistan Region might even collapse as an entity if the crisis is left unchecked, Al-Monitor has learned.

Le général Sourovikine remplacera-t-il Prigojine ?

Des photos du général Sourovikine faisant partie de la délégation militaire russe en Algérie sont apparues sur le net. Apparemment, l’ancien chef de l’armée de l’air russe a été nommé par les hauts responsables du pays pour remplir les fonctions de Prigojine au sein du PMC Wagner. La structure devra peut-être faire face à un reformatage juridique et à un changement d’image. Il n’y a plus beaucoup de «musiciens» dans la zone OMS aujourd’hui et tous ont déjà rejoint le PMC, qui est sous le contrôle total du ministère russe de la Défense.

Keeping Jihadists Out of Northern Côte d’Ivoire

What’s new? As jihadist groups in the Sahel move southward, Côte d’Ivoire has beefed up its security deployment in the north and rolled out a range of social projects to alleviate poverty and youth unemployment. Militant violence has subsided since a series of attacks in the north between 2020 and 2021.