Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday, June 14, that it carried out a series of simultaneous operations in cooperation with Iraq’s General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, dismantling an organized international drug smuggling network. The ministry said in a statement on Facebook that the operation was carried out “as …

The key benchmark is whether armed groups in Iraq, regardless of loyalties or ideology, operate under the authority of the state rather than alongside it In an apparent step forward in longstanding plans to bring Iraq’s militias under state control, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pledged on 27 May to disband …

Two immigrants from Brazil through social networks recruited citizens into the Russian army, and when they were at the front, they appropriated the payments due to them. The victims were forced to sign the powers of attorney to recruiters, using their ignorance of the Russian language. More than ten Brazilians …

A cache of leaked internal documents from “Battalion 7,” a paramilitary formation stationed at the strategic Prophet Younis summit on Syria’s coast, offers more than a window into a single militia. Taken together, the files amount to a rare schematic of the irregular warfare architecture the Syrian regime engineered after …

Any Syrian contribution would likely take the form of stricter border controls to curb the movement of fighters across illegal crossings, along with intelligence sharing and logistical coordination—especially now that Syria has joined the U.S.-led international coalition, Ultra Syria writes. Recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump about Syria’s potential …

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continues to expand in scope and complexity as all sides issue new red lines and Iran demands constraints on Israel on several regional fronts. President Trump is trying to deny his wartime partner, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a veto over U.S. terms for a …

Toplines Russian forces may launch an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) at Ukraine in the next 24 to 48 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force warned on June 12 that there is a “high probability” that Russian forces will launch an unspecified IRBM from the Kapustin Yar missile launch site in …

Key Takeaways Persistent internal disagreements remain among Iranian regime leaders over the concessions that the regime should accept in negotiations with the United States. Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Ahmad Vahidi and his inner circle appear to continue to seek an agreement that meets Iranian maximalist demands …

With his shaved head, thick neck, and heavy jaw, Andrei has the look of a man built to intimidate. His professional background matches that impression. Andrei’s resume describes him as a former commander in an elite Russian airborne unit who served in “combat operations” in Chechnya, worked as a personal …

Between depopulation and cultural rediscovery, a network of organizations is attempting to restore meaning and vitality to the peripheral areas of Southeastern Europe. A reportage Almost everything in the Danube Delta unfolds horizontally, at eye level: the village houses, the boats, the faces of the boatmen who guide them. Even …