(January 2, 2024)
The deal, which has not been announced publicly, highlights Washington’s reliance on the tiny Gulf country that has recently played a central role in mediating the release of Americans from captivity in Gaza and Venezuela.
The Al Udeid Air Base, located in the desert southwest of Doha, is the biggest US military installation in the Middle East and can house more than 10,000 American troops.
Kiesewetter sprach sich auch dafür aus, „extremistische Bereiche“ in den Blick zu nehmen. Konkret nannte er „AfD-Sympathisanten, die sich Russland freiwillig andienen“ sowie deutsche Kämpfer bei russischen Söldner-Truppen oder anderen russischen Kampftruppen, die nach Deutschland zurückkehrten.
(19. Dezember 1966)
Article III
States Parties to the Treaty shall carry on activities in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and promoting international co-operation and understanding.
Article IV
States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.
The moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all States Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. The use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited.
„This (US accusations – TASS) is nothing more than another attempt to find pretexts to smear Moscow‘s policies. We repeat once again for those who have not yet memorized this, that Russia is fully committed to its obligations under multilateral agreements, including those related to outer space,“ Ryabkov said. „These agreements speak for themselves. We will also continue to promote initiatives concerning the prevention of an arms race in outer space and no first placement of weapons in space.„
(June 25, 2022)
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the Army’s 10th Special Forces Group, which before the war had been training Ukrainian commandos at a base in the country’s west, quietly established a coalition planning cell in Germany to coordinate military assistance to Ukrainian commandos and other Ukrainian troops. The cell has now grown to 20 nations.
Iran‘s reaction to the looming threat of American retaliation against what the Biden administration calls Iranian proxy groups has been a consistent denial of any responsibility for the attacks on American forces — and a warning that any strike on Iranian territory or personnel would escalate tension in the tumultuous region, not make U.S. forces safer.
Iranian officials insist the country does not have proxies, and that the loosely affiliated collection of armed groups it supports across the Mideast, which it calls the „axis of resistance,“ act independently.
Ketaib Hezbollah (KH) finally got the picture. President Joe Biden’s statements about US plans for retaliation make it clear that the United States does not have an appetite for war with Iran. But the United States sure has an appetite for KH’s destruction. KH recognizes that the drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan on Sunday puts it squarely in US crosshairs. Oh the impending irony, after years of fighting to push US forces out of Iraq, to be obliterated just months before the United States voluntarily withdraws.
(10.01.2024)
„There is a need to re-organize [our] relationship [with Washington] so that it is not a target or justification for any party, internal or foreign, to tamper with stability in Iraq and the region,“ Sudani said, partly in reference to attacks by the Iraqi resistance on US bases.
The Iraqi prime minister has repeatedly said that Baghdad will neither accept foreign troops nor armed factions operating on its soil.
(29.01.2024)
(28.01.2024)
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Ending the mission of the United States-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq will be achieved during the current cabinet, said a government spokesperson on Sunday, noting that the process has already been set in motion.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, claimed attacks on three bases, including one on the Jordan-Syria border.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on October 7, there have been around 160 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria. Most of those have been claimed by regional resistance forces.
Iran has frequently said resistance groups act on their own in response to Israeli crimes in Gaza.
(24 January 2024 16:38 GMT)
The Israeli military officer, who asked MEE not to report his rank and name, said that Netanyahu and his government associates had already asked the army to establish permanent bases in the Gaza Strip, excluding the possibility of any post-war Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The officer said the order to build up the military installations was given verbally.
The official spokesperson for the Jordanian government Muhannad Mubaideen told Ammon News Agency that al-Tanf base that was attacked on Sunday is not in Jordan.
„Terrorist militias carried out the attack that targeted the al-Tanf… and the base is outside our borders,“ Mubaideen told Jordan TV.
An attack that killed three American servicemen was not on Jordanian soil but in Syria, a spokesperson for Jordan‘s government said.
Muhannad al Mubaidin told Jordanian public broadcaster al Mamlaka television that the attack had targeted the US al-Tanf base in Syria.
The U.S. Air Force MQ-9 was likely downed by an Iranian-provided surface-to-air missile fired by an Iranian-affiliated Iraqi group, U.S. officials said. The MQ-9 was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the anti-ISIS mission, a senior U.S. military official added.
The drone crashed near the Balad Air Base and was recovered by Iraqi Security Forces.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iraqi militias supported by Tehran, claimed that it shot down the MQ-9 over Diyala Province after it took off from Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait.
(today)
There have been 19 attacks against American personnel in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, including three additional attacks on Thursday, according to Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
(…)
U.S. officials made clear the strikes were conducted solely in response to the attacks against American personnel and are not connected to the Israel-Hamas war.
(…)
A senior U.S. defense official also said Israel was not informed of the plan ahead of the airstrikes.
(26.10.2023)
“The resistance in Iraq on Wednesday targeted, with a barrage of missiles, the US occupation forces at Abu Hajar base in Khrab al-Jir, northeastern Syria, and hit its targets directly,” the Iraqi resistance said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the Iraqi resistance announced the targeting the US occupation forces at “Ain al-Assad” base in Anbar Governorate, western Iraq.
(23.10.2023)
The U.S. occupation forces on Monday looted more Syrian resources from the areas they occupy in al-Jazeera as it transported new batch of the stolen oil into their bases in Iraqi territories.
A convoy of 35 tankers, loaded by the stolen oil of al-Jazeera fields, headed for bases in Iraqi lands via illegal al-Mahmoudieh crossing, local sources said.
Turkey called on the US to stop working with Kurdish YPG militants in Syria, vowing to maintain its cross-border offensives against America’s Kurdish allies in Syria after the US shot down a Turkish drone in the region.
Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said the UAV did not belong to the Turkish military, according to a statement.
“It is not only the Turkish military that conducts counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq and Syria,” she said.
She said that the Turkish intelligence and interior ministry’s gendarmerie also joined operations.
Mali said it and Burkina Faso, both neighbours of Niger run by military juntas, were sending delegations to Niger to show support. Both countries have said they would consider any intervention in Niger as a declaration of war against them.
I might also say that the – you know, the threats of other countries supporting the coup leaders – those are even more risible than the threat of invasion.
INSKEEP: Oh, meaning that other countries aren‘t – they don‘t have very many resources to make much of a difference even if they do want to support.
PHAM: Well, no. I mean, yes, definitely. For example, Burkina Faso, which has been very vocal, it‘s gone through two coups in recent years – very vocal in its support of the junta in Niger.
“They were quite firm about how they want to proceed, and it is not in support of the constitution of Niger,” Nuland told reporters. She characterized the conversations as “extremely frank and at times quite difficult.”
She spoke after a two-hour meeting in Niger’s capital, Niamey, with some leaders of the military takeover of a country that has been a vital counterterrorism partner of the United States.
(07.08.2023)
A military source told CNN that Niger‘s armed forces brought in a convoy of about 40 pick-up trucks from other parts of the country on Sunday evening.
The U.S. has evacuated some staff from its embassy in the capital in Niamey, while the estimated 1,000 American troops stationed in the country were restricted to their bases.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the mercenary Wagner group, claimed to have control of several important military facilities in southern Russia in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Video verified by The New York Times shows that he had entered a key military complex on Saturday morning.
As the Wagner troops were said to be driving into the Russian city of Rostov, Mr Prigozhin said that his mercenaries were greeted by border guards.
He said young conscripts at checkpoints stood back and offered no resistance, adding that his forces „aren’t fighting against children.”
(June 25, 2022)
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the Army’s 10th Special Forces Group, which before the war had been training Ukrainian commandos at a base in the country’s west, quietly established a coalition planning cell in Germany to coordinate military assistance to Ukrainian commandos and other Ukrainian troops. The cell has now grown to 20 nations.
(June 28th 2022)
The extent of Western material support was perhaps best symbolised by Ukrainian special forces operating in the contested Donbas regions, which the Times highlighted had American flag patches on their equipment and carried new Western-supplied portable surface to air missiles and both Belgian and American assault rifles. Efforts on the ground in Ukraine were supplemented by considerable support provided to Ukrainian personnel in NATO member states themselves, an example being training for Ukrainian commandos in Germany provided by the U.S. Army’s 10th Special Forces Group. At Ramstein Air Base in Germany, U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard personnel simultaneously trained the Ukrainian Air Force.
Air Operations Centre in Pyry. The Poles see in real time EVERYTHING that flies towards their country from the East for 500 km.
Poland knows EXACTLY where those missiles came from.
AND Pyry feeds directly into NATO‘s Combined Air Operations Centre Uedem.
The US-led anti-ISIS coalition is building a new military base in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa, The New Arab reported, citing a source close to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The US backs the SDF and keeps about 900 troops (officially at least) in eastern Syria, allowing the US to control about one-third of Syria’s territory. The report said there are currently about 24 US-led military sites spread throughout eastern Syria.
(24 May, 2023)
There are currently at least 24 US-led coalition military sites spread throughout Syria’s northeast.
The US says its military is stationed in the country to fight against the remnants of IS.
April 1, 2020, 5:23 PM
On June 22, 2001, a group of well-known U.S. officials and a handful of senior policymakers gathered at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland for a senior-level exercise that simulated a biological weapons attack—an outbreak of deadly smallpox—on the United States. Designed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies (now called the Center for Health Security) and the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the day-and-a-half-long “Dark Winter” simulation was conducted to gauge how senior leaders would respond to such an attack and included such high-level participants as Sen. Sam Nunn (who played the president), former White House advisor David Gergen (the national security advisor), and the retired career diplomat Frank Wisner (the secretary of state). But Dark Winter has since become legendary in senior policymaking circles in Washington for a different reason: It has regularly been cited by its designers and participants as the clearest exhibit of the spiraling stresses, and potential social collapse, that could be sparked by a public health crisis.
(28.04.2022)
Mali’s military government on Tuesday night accused France of spying and deliberately violating its airspace in the latest tension between the junta and the former colonial power.
Speaking on ORTM state TV, Military spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said France violated the government’s order to get permission for all flights over Mali.
(22.04.2022)
The French military has said it has videos of Russian mercenaries burying bodies near an army base in northern Mali, which it says is part of a smear campaign against the French, who handed the Gossi base over to Malian forces earlier this week.
– In 2017 the UN General Assembly voted by a large majority(94-15) to refer the request for an advisory opinion on Diego Garcia to the International Court if Justice.
– In September 2018, 13 of the 14 judges of the ICJ concluded that the Chagos Islands, including Diego Garcia were illegally separated from Mauritius.
– In May 2019 the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly(116-6) to endorse the Court’s opinion that the Chagos Islands, including Diego Garcia, belonged to Mauritius. Apart from the US and the UK only four countries AUSTRALIA, Hungary, Israel and the Maldives voted in favour of the British neo-colonial claim.
– In November 2019, Britain refused to abide by the ICJ opinion and for the US to leave Chagos/Diego Garcia.
– In 2020 the UN published a map showing Chagos/Diego Garcia as part of Mauritius.
Despite all this, the US sits tight on its key military base of Diego Garcia which is thousands of kilometres from its mainland. In contrast, China’s building of islands in the South China Sea is adjacent to its own territory.
(July 11, 2022)
U.S. President Joe Biden understands the limitations facing his Saudi hosts later this month. No major breakthrough is likely during his visit to Jeddah. He will meet with nine Arab leaders: the six Gulf monarchs plus Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. The Saudis are going to take more control of Tiran Island in the Gulf of Aqaba from Egypt, according to some accounts. It is home to an American military outpost that monitors the 1978 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said Russian planes fired around 30 rockets at the Yavoriv International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, adding that some were intercepted before they hit. At least 35 people were killed and 134 wounded, he said. Reuters was not able to verify his statement.
The 360 square-km facility less than 25km from the Polish border, is one Ukraine‘s biggest and the largest in the western part of the country.
The official said the attack appeared to include at least one drone strike and possibly groundfire. It was not yet clear who carried out the attack.
Worse still, the U.S. planned to use the strategic City of Berbera as the base of its newly launched AFRICOM (Africa Command), a Pentagon-orchestrated scheme aimed at completing the militarization of the entire African continent.
MR. KIRBY: What I‘d say, Mike — what I‘d say to that, Mike, is what I‘ve been saying for the last few days, that the Afghan forces have advantages, they have capability to protect their territory and their people, they have the capacity to do that.
What — what I think the Afghan people want to see and what they deserve to see is the leadership and the will to use those advantages to their benefit.
Thanks, everybody, going to have to go now.
(CROSSTALK)
Q: … can you clarify the numbers one more time, so I have no mistakes? 3,000 going into the airport, 1,000 first going to Qatar and then to Afghanistan to help with SIVs, or staying in Qatar?
MR. KIRBY: No — no, I said the — the 1,000 enablers will go to Qatar for right now. I can‘t predict whether there‘ll be onward movement from there. Right now, they‘re going to Qatar …
Q: And the 3,500 …
MR. KIRBY: … again, for helping process, and then 3,000 to the airport in the next few days and then there‘ll be a reserve force out of Bragg that will — that will stage out of Kuwait, and that‘s roughly 3,500 to 4,000.
Q: And all of that‘s in addition to the 650 who are there …
MR. KIRBY: That is correct.
(13.08.2021)
In the western city of Herat, an entire Afghan army corps crumbled, with hundreds of troops handing over their weapons to the Taliban and others fleeing, according to local officials. The surrender deal was brokered, they said, by a group of Taliban leaders who met with Afghan government and security forces at the military base where they were holed up after the city was overrun Thursday.
(May 27, 2021
Updated July 7, 2021)
Since May 1, at least 26 outposts and bases in just four provinces — Laghman, Baghlan, Wardak and Ghazni — have surrendered after such negotiations, according to village elders and government officials.
Currently there are four Canadian hubs in four areas around the globe: Germany, Kuwait, Jamaica and Senegal. Originally conceived in 2006, these hubs have been implemented and expanded in the ensuing years.