Author: M Barbu

Political Exhaustion Weighs on Voters in Third Bulgaria Poll

While the November 14 presidential election looks like a shoo-in for the incumbent Radev, the general election on the same day looks harder to call

Bulgaria is closing an unprecedented year: by the end of 2021, its citizens will have voted in no less than four elections: inconclusive general elections in April and in July, yet another general election on November 14 and, on the same day, presidential elections scheduled by default for 2021.

In Serbia, Justice Gets an Early Release

The release of the convicted war criminal Sreten Lukic and his return to Serbia highlights how the Belgrade authorities are still doing nothing to prosecute other high-ranking officials for wartime crimes in Kosovo and the subsequent cover-up.

Isaw him only once – in court. But I tracked the results of his work in bones and graves.

Sreten Lukic, Serbia’s head of police for Kosovo during the 1998-99 war, was granted early release from prison last month. He has returned to live in Serbia after serving two-thirds of a 20-year sentence for murder, persecution, deportation, and forcible transfer as crimes against humanity.

Kurdish-led SDF conducted 12 operations against ISIS in October

“These joint operations demonstrate our mutual commitment as partners to deny Daesh any presence & influence in NE Syria.”

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out 12 operations against the Islamic State group in northeast Syria, the organization’s Coordination and Military Operations center said late on Tuesday.

“With @Coalition, October saw 12 operations to root out terrorist cells – 51 were detained,” the center tweeted.

Islamic State attack sparks sectarian bloodletting in Iraq’s Diyala

An Islamic State attack has triggered a crescendo of acts of violence against and displacement of Sunnis in Iraq’s Diyala province, which borders Iran and has long suffered the presence of cells operating in its dense orchards and parts of the Hamrin Mountains.

An Islamic State (IS) attack against members of a prominent Shiite-majority tribe in Iraq’s eastern region of Diyala in late October was followed by retaliatory violence against local Sunnis, sparking fears of a return to the years of massive sectarian bloodshed.

Why are Turkish-allied formations collapsing in Syria?

Factions pulling out of the recently formed Syrian Liberation Front raise questions about the future of Turkish-backed rebel groups.

Sources close to Sultan Soleman Shah Brigade, one of the largest factions of the Syrian Liberation Front, said that the brigade has effectively withdrawn from the front to join the Thaeeroun Movement of Azm Operations Room.

Pakistan: The Anti-American “Ally”

In an interview aired in the US in June 2021, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan will deny US use of its territory for “over-the-horizon” surveillance of possible terrorist activity in Afghanistan. Now, there are negotiations for the US to use Pakistan’s airspace for military operations in Afghanistan, but is this really an ally on which the United States can count?

Qandil restricts YPG terrorist Mazloum Abdi’s leadership: Report

The terrorist group PKK’s leadership in Qandil restricted the authority of the notorious ringleader of its Syrian wing YPG, Ferhat Abdi Şahin, over a leadership dispute, Habertürk daily reported. Şahin, also known as Mazloum Kobani and Şahin Cilo, is currently on Turkey’s most-wanted list for orchestrating terrorist attacks in Turkey.

The report said that PKK leaders took the decision a year ago, as they were concerned about Şahin’s “fame” and purported international relations network. It added that the decision came as a shock for the YPG and Şahin and held a meeting with United States officers to discuss the issue.

SOHR: Clashes between Syrian forces and pro-Turkey mercenaries in Hama and Aleppo

Clashes erupted between forces of the Syrian government and mercenaries of “Tahrer al-Sham” in the western countryside of Aleppo as western countryside of Hama witnessed mutual targeting by heavy weapons amid hovering by reconnaissance aircraft.

Clashes took place in Basraton, west of Aleppo, after the midnight, causing human losses, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Right, the SOHR.

In new Syrian operation, Turkey faces a Gordian knot

Any Turkish action in areas under Kurdish forces’ control would likely draw a reaction from Russia, the US, or both, analysts say.

For months now Turkey’s leadership has promised to carry out a new military operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. But Ankara has found itself having to tiptoe around the presence of US and Russian forces there, confronting a Gordian knot that is likely to dampen its ambitions and delay any large scale offensive, analysts say.

Ucraina acuză Rusia că a lăsat un număr mare de militari la graniță

Rusia a lăsat 90.000 de militari la granița Ucrainei după ce exercițiile militare din zonă s-au încheiat, a atras atenția ministrul ucrainean al apărării, citat miercuri de către Reuters.

Forțele armate ruse au organizat recent o serie de exerciții la scară largă, inclusiv cu parașutiști. La final, militari din cadrul Armatei 41 ruse au rămas la circa 260 kilometri de graniţa cu Ucraina, a precizat Ministerul Apărării ucrainean.