http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/16/abdel-fattah-el-sissi-egypts-president-under-unusu/print/
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi doesn’t think it’s such a good idea for western powers to get involved militarily in Libya, but if they want to do something, they should send arms and supplies to Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, which is linked to the internationally recognized government based in the eastern city of Tobruk. The group can fight back against ISIS "much better than anyone else," he told an Italian newspaper, "better than any external intervention that would risk putting us in a situation that could get out of hand and provoke uncontrollable developments." American commandos have been in and out of Libya for months, trying to assess what militias would be the best to throw American support behind, should a national government over form in Tripoli. WP: "Is Al-Sisi's Tenure Ending"
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/16/abdel-fattah-el-sissi-egypts-president-under-unusu/print/
0 Comments
“What Russia’s Military Withdrawal Means for Fight against ISIS, Assad Regime” (Daniel Trombly, USNI News)
“It will be easier to assess the relevant salience of resource constraints and diplomatic motives for Russia’s withdrawal announcement as the actual implementation and the regime’s reaction to it unfolds. A fast and relatively larger withdrawal of resources would suggest the importance of resource constraints, or resource tradeoffs if further escalation follows in Ukraine or other theaters of military importance to Russia. A reduced profile for Russian forces but relatively limited relocation would highlight the diplomatic signaling aspects, while the measure of its effect on Assad concessions to Russian interests will be more apparent in its approach to the ceasefire and reaction to developments in peace talks. Regardless, the announcement does not lend itself to a monocausal explanation. As for its success, there are many potential spoilers for a deftly-managed negotiation that preserves the Syrian state. Inter-rebel competition could drive some groups back to the battlefield to undermine rivals that benefit from peace. A tenacious ISIS defense could drag out that aspect of war longer than Moscow prefers. The Assad regime may not fall in line with Russian objectives and try to bring Russia back to the battlefield. As U.S. observers should know, a graceful withdrawal from a foreign civil war is much more easily announced than accomplished.” Syrian Kurdish groups are planning to declare a federal Kurdish region in the north of the country, according to senior Kurdish officials who have been party to recent discussions. The declaration would stop short of independence, instead creating “a federal region of northern Syria, with equal rights for Arabs and Turkmens,” the New York Times reports. The United States and Russia have encouraged political decentralization to end Syria’s civil war, but the parties to the current proximity talks in Geneva -- the Assad regime and the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) -- oppose a federated system. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that the United States would support the arrangement if it is part of a negotiated political settlement, but that it opposes the unilateral declaration of a federal region. Turkish officials have also rejected the plan. "Syria's national unity and territorial integrity is fundamental for us. Outside of this, unilateral decisions cannot have validity," one foreign ministry official told Reuters.
The proximity talks in Geneva are continuing today. U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura met with new opposition delegations last night; a representative of the Cairo, Moscow and Astana Groups said she was optimistic about the discussions but the move could cause problems with the HNC, which has opposed their inclusion in the talks. The head of the Assad regime’s delegation is still refusing to meet directly with the HNC, stating that the HNC’s lead diplomat is a “terrorist.” Group Claims Responsibility for Ankara Bombing The Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK), a terrorist splinter of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has claimed credit for orchestrating the deadly car bomb attack in Ankara on Sunday that left at least 35 people dead. The TAK has previously claimed responsibility for another bombing in Ankara last month. The German embassy in Ankara and the German consulate and a German school in Istanbul are closedtoday due to a terrorist threat, though it is unclear if the threat is related to the recent bombings. In addition to curfews in southeastern Turkey and airstrikes in Iraq, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has responded to the attacks by proposing that the legal definition of terrorism be broadened to include people who facilitated attacks, though this could likely be used to justify further repression of political dissent. “Exploiting Disorder: Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State” (International Crisis Group)
“But if roots are complex, the catalyst is clear enough. The descent of most of the 2011 Arab revolutions into chaos has opened enormous opportunity for extremists. Movements have gathered force as crises have festered and evolved, as money, weapons and fighters flow in, as violence escalates. Mounting enmity between states means regional powers worry less about extremists than about traditional rivals, leverage the fight against IS against other enemies or quietly indulge jihadists as proxies. Especially in the Middle East, jihadists’ expansion is more a product of instability than its primary driver; is due more to radicalisation during crises than beforehand; and owes more to fighting between their enemies than to their own strengths. Rarely can such a movement gather force or seize territory outside a war zone or collapsed state. Geopolitics hinders a coherent response. The starting point should be to dial back the Saudi-Iranian rivalry that drives Sunni and Shia extremism, deepens crises across the region and is among the gravest threats to international peace and security today. Easing other tensions -- between Turkey and Kurdish militants, for example, Turkey and Russia, conservative Arab regimes and the Muslim Brotherhood, Pakistan and India, even Russia and the West -- is also essential. In Libya, Syria and Yemen, tackling jihadists requires forging new orders attractive enough to deplete their ranks and unite other forces. Of course, none of this is easy. But redoubling efforts to narrow other fault lines would be wiser than papering them over in an illusion of consensus against ‘violent extremism’.” “Anatomy of an election” (Hossam Bahgat, Mada Masr)
“The revelation that the state had a hand in creating this [the For the Love of Egypt electoral] list did not come as a surprise to many. In the months leading up to the elections, the media had hinted and then explicitly accused unnamed ‘sovereign’ state agencies of interfering in politics, and seeking to shape the first parliament in Sisi’s tenure by throwing their weight behind certain candidates. But the bombshell testimony from one of the people involved in the creation of the FLE was the first public confirmation of the direct role played by the president’s office and General Intelligence -- a role that went beyond simply backing selected candidates to build a state-sponsored electoral list. After publishing his statement, Abdel Azim declined to be interviewed, but his testimony encouraged others to recount what they had seen in the run-up to the elections in November and December 2015. Mada Masr spoke with some of them over the last few months. Most of them agreed to tell their stories on condition of anonymity. Together, they offer a portrait of the painstaking, sometimes bumpy process of constructing a parliament loyal to the current president.” Representatives from more than 35 Pakistani religious political parties and groups on Tuesday rebuked an "un-Islamic" law that protects women from violence. – Washington Times Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the government to lift a travel ban on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, paving the way for him to leave the country while awaiting trial for treason and other charges. - Reuters Russia and fragile ex-Soviet ally Tajikistan have begun large-scale military drills close to the Central Asian state's restless border with Afghanistan, a Tajik military official confirmed Tuesday. - AFP Taliban rebuffs Pakistani government’s calls to join Afghan peace talks
Two weeks ago, Pakistani government officials and Taliban militants secretly met in Islamabad in an effort by Pakistani officials to pressure the Taliban to join the Afghan peace talks (Reuters). Pakistan’s threat to expel the Afghan Taliban from their traditional safe havens in Pakistan was not enough to compel the group to commit to the peace talks. A retired military officer in Islamabad who is close to the peace process said, “They (the Taliban) no longer need their Pakistan bases in the same way, so if Pakistan threatens to expel them, it does not have the same effect.” Officials and spokesmen from both sides deny the meeting took place. The Taliban continues to publicly state their disinterest in participating in the peace process. A member of the Taliban’s leadership council recently said, “They (Pakistani officials) have asked our representatives to bring more decision-making people to the next meeting ... to the meeting with U.S. and Afghan officials. This is their dream, but they will not be able to see our senior commanders.” Google deletes app used by Pakistani intelligence officials to spy on India Google deleted from its PlayStore an application called SmeshApp, a spyware tool capable of infecting smartphones and personal computers (TOI). According to CNN-IBN, the app was being used by Pakistani intelligence officials to snoop on Indian soldiers and gain access to troop locations and counterterrorism operations. The information was stored on a server based in Germany but was collected by a man based in Karachi. The CNN-IBN report also posits that there are 10 fake Facebook accounts used by Pakistani intelligence officials to communicate with unknowing Indian troops. After learning of the app’s use, Google deleted it. Afghanistan Another district in the embattled southern province of Helmand fell to the Taliban on Tuesday, Afghan government officials said, adding important new territory to the insurgents’ control. – New York Times The U.S. has spent tens of billions of dollars training Afghan security personnel, who have suffered enormous casualties while trying — and failing — to repel the Taliban’s advances in the country’s south, east, and north. That leaves the White House with an unpalatable choice: Keep the stringent rules limiting the numbers of strikes in place and risk seeing the militants continue to gain ground, or allow American pilots to bomb a broader array of targets at the risk of deepening Washington’s combat role in Afghanistan. – Foreign Policy Millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been wasted in Afghanistan, according to a new watchdog inspection of 44 construction projects undertaken between 2009 and 2015, raising questions about the ability of the local government and its U.S. patrons to sustain rebuilding the war-torn country’s infrastructure. – US News and World Report At least a dozen Islamic State militants accidentally blew themselves up in eastern Afghanistan Sunday during a botched operation to plant a bomb, a local official said. – Stars and Stripes Fifth Helmand district falls to the Taliban On Tuesday, Khan Neshin became the fifth district in the embattled Helmand province to fall under the control of the Taliban (NYT, Post). A firefight between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces personnel broke out late Monday night and continued into Tuesday morning. The fall of Khan Neshin comes in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Musa Qala and Now Zad districts on Feb. 21. Two other districts, Sangin and Kajaki, are nearly fully controlled by the Taliban, except for government centers. Baryalia Nazari, a provincial council member, said, “I’m afraid if this continues the province of Helmand will fall soon.” Some remain optimistic. Last month, a fresh deployment of 700 U.S. troops moved from other locations in Afghanistan to Helmand. The Helmand police chief, Gen. Abdul Rahman Sarjang, said, “The Taliban only attack outposts and overrun them, and we are retaking those posts from them, so it does not mean they are dominating Helmand.” The fall of Khan Neshin came as NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, was in Kabul for meetings with President Ashraf Ghani. Stoltenberg reiterated NATO’s support for Afghanistan and Afghan security forces, saying, “We will continue to provide financial support so they can be sustainable in the long term. The single most important thing we want to see is that Afghanistan continue to implement reforms.” He also acknowledged the impending trouble, commenting, “I expect 2016 to be difficult.” Ghani: IS is “on the run” in Afghanistan During NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to Kabul, Afghan President Ahsraf Ghani chose to highlight the successes of the country’s campaign against the Islamic State (IS), and downplayed the continued struggles against the Taliban (Reuters). Ghani said, “Daesh (IS) is on the run. They are running for cover.” Due to U.S.-NATO airstrikes and a “massive” ground operation from Afghan security forces, IS in Nangarhar and other locations on the AfPak border have been under increased threat over the last few months. In continuance of this operation and other support for Afghanistan, Stoltenberg and NATO have pledged $5.1 billion per year through 2017 to Afghanistan. Afghanistan General Campbell calls for more action against the Taliban General John F. Campbell, whose command of U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan recently ended and is in the final weeks of his military career, made proposals in the days leading up to March 2 – his final day on the job – that requested greater U.S. air support for Afghan forces fighting the Taliban, carrying out strikes against Taliban leaders, and embedding U.S. advisers with Afghan personnel on the front lines (Post). Today, U.S. forces can only attack the Taliban when the group poses a direct threat to U.S. forces or Afghan troops are faced with being overtaken. There is controversy over the channels through which Gen. Campbell submitted his recommendations, possibly circumventing Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and going straight to the White House. Gen. Campbell denied this claim. In an interview with The Washington Post, Gen. Campbell said, “We aren’t going to get more people — politically there’s no appetite because we are downsizing. So the only thing I can affect is my authority to strike different groups and my authority to provide different enablers to the Afghans.” Campbell’s recommendations are contrary to the White House’s current strategy in Afghanistan, which, in light of the official end of combat operations in 2014, holds that the United States is not fighting a war against the Taliban. As Gen. John W. Nicholson is now the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, another strategic review will come shortly. U.S. forces are scheduled to draw down from 9,800 to 5,500 in 2017. Hezb-e-Islami leader to join peace talks
In a statement released on Sunday, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami, said he and his group would join peace talks with the Afghan government “to show Afghans we want peace” (Post, VOA). Hekmatyar, designated a “global terrorist” by the U.S. Department of State and blacklisted by the UN, and Hezb-e-Islami have aligned with the Taliban in the past and have previously attacked government targets. Hekmatyar is a 68 year-old former prime minister – serving briefly during the 1990s civil war – and it is unclear what influence he’ll have on the Taliban’s stance on joining the peace talks. However, Javad Faisal, a government spokesman, welcomed the announcement, saying, “It is an important and good news because Hezb-e-Islami has for years been fighting the Afghan government.” The insurgent group maintains its opposition to the United States’ role in the country, a view it shares with the Taliban. Pentagon: Expect lull in fight against Taliban during poppy harvest Brigadier General Wilson Shoffner, a spokesman for U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan, believes the looming poppy harvest season – usually beginning around the end of March – will bring with it a pause in the fighting between Afghan forces, U.S.-NATO forces, and the Taliban enemy combatants (Military). Shoffner, in a Pentagon brief conducted from Kabul last week, said, “We anticipate that spike in activity [by the Taliban] will continue until about the latter part of March and then there should be a lull as the harvest gets under way.” Opiates, sourced from Afghanistan’s bountiful poppy supply (especially in Helmand province), account for roughly 13 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and account for nearly half the Taliban’s revenue stream. “Egypt Running on Empty” (Joshua Stacher, Middle East Research and Information Project)
“The 2011 uprising did not create the mess -- the decisions of powerful actors did. Pining for the status quo ante, the elites failed to meet the most basic popular demands; now they are trying to contain the lingering tensions while building a new regime amidst intense competition among old regime figures and newer entrants. These struggles, in addition to the structural fiscal weakness of the state and the poor economy, generate fears of a polity coming undone and explain the viciousness of the backlash. Is it a house of cards? Many Egyptian observers say that no amount of aid from the Gulf, US diplomatic cover and police brutality can keep the state running. More than one person openly told me that Sisi might be overthrown, despite the huge investments and grand spectacles that went into putting him on the wobbling throne, and despite his attempts to place his sons high up in intelligence agencies. It is a bold prognostication. Yet one need only read the newspapers and be in Cairo to see the outlines of such a narrative.” “Iranian Casualties in Syria and the Strategic Logic of Intervention” (Ali Alfoneh and Michael Eisenstadt, Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
“The spike in reported Iranian losses this February -- after the drawdown of its surge forces and the supposed ceasefire -- also raises a number of questions. Did Tehran simply delay the reporting of combat deaths that occurred at the height of the surge in order to soften their domestic impact? Or did the increased losses result from military factors such as a change in the rules of engagement or an increase in the tempo of operations as ceasefire negotiations intensified, perhaps to create leverage over the rebels? The answer is not clear at this time, though the ongoing Iranian death notices -- with three more reported this week alone -- show that Qods Force and IRGC Ground Forces personnel remain very much in the fight. All that can be said with confidence at this time is that Tehran's strategy of using proxy warfare to manage risk and limit exposure in Syria has succeeded thus far. Should widespread fighting resume, the future success of this strategy will depend on Iran's continued ability to find Shiite proxies to serve as cannon fodder -- to keep its own losses down -- and Russia's cost/benefit calculus. This will also make it difficult for the manpower-short Assad regime and its casualty-averse foreign allies to retake territory far removed from the Syrian rump state, which now controls the coast and most of the country's urban spine in the west. Therefore, Syria's current partition into areas held by the regime, the rebels, and the Islamic State is likely to persist for a long time to come. This, however, serves Tehran's interest: that Syria remain in a permanent state of crisis or civil war, in need of continued Iranian support.” FOX News Channel: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/03/14/putin-orders-russian-troops -to-begin-pulling-out-syria.html FPI: Total Intelligence on Russian Intervention in Syria http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/content/fpi-bulletin-five-years-disaster-syria WP: Putin As Victor https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vladimir-putin-rides-out-of-syria-as-a-victor/2016/03/15/9a1ca556-eac1-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html Atlantic Council: http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/syriasource/russia-s-announced- withdrawal-from-syria Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/russias-withdrawal-is-another-facade The first group of Russian fighter jets left Syria on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said, a day after President Vladimir V. Putin ordered the withdrawal of the “main part” of his country’s forces. – New York Times The surprise withdrawal — apparently taken without consulting with Assad — jolted the peace discussions underway in Geneva and unnerved Syria and its allies. Russia’s pullout will put significant pressure on Assad to work out a power-sharing agreement with the opposition, many analysts said, amid signs that the Syrian leader was being less accommodating to Putin than the Kremlin may have wished. – Washington Post Despite Gulf Cooperation Council states remaining silent about Russia's unexpected drawdown from Syria, their staunch ally Jordan has stated that their government has known about President Putin's plans. – Defense News The Pentagon will “wait to see” whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was sincere in announcing a withdrawal of his forces from Syria, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday. – The Hill Just under half of Russia's fixed-wing strike force based in Syria has flown out of the country in the past two days, according to a Reuters calculation based upon state TV footage. - Reuters Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria are expected to declare a federal system on Wednesday, a Syrian Kurdish official said, taking matters into their own hands after being excluded so far from political talks to resolve the Syrian war. - Reuters Analysis: The Russian leader’s announcement on Monday that he would withdraw the bulk of his forces from Syria not only caught the White House by surprise, it seemed to belie Mr. Obama’s regular warnings that Russia would be severely damaged by its military adventurism. And it reinforced the sense that Mr. Putin has managed to maintain the initiative in Syria against an American president who wants to keep the war at arm’s length. – New York Times Editorial: The United States and its allies will be left to carry on the fight against the Islamic State, which will be made considerably more difficult by the Assad regime’s survival. Thanks to Mr. Putin’s intervention, and the United States’ befuddled response to the Syrian crisis, it is not he but Mr. Obama who is left facing a quagmire. – Washington Post Anna Borshchevskaya writes: Putin seems to be laying the groundwork for casting himself as a "great world leader" -- a peacemaker who successfully carried out a limited campaign with "minimum casualties," then withdrew in order to lead international peace efforts. In doing so, he will undoubtedly seek to pressure both the United States and the Syrian opposition to stick with the Geneva process and more important, to make concessions that would benefit Putin above all else. The Russian language has a concept that best describes this situation: "pokazukha," a facade or window dressing, something Putin knows all too well how to construct. – Washington Institute for Near East Policy “Interpreting the Russian Withdrawal from Syria” (Aron Lund, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
“The world is now scrambling to understand what Putin meant and what this means for Syria. There are a few different ways to read the situation, and they are not mutually exclusive. Putin may be telling the truth. The Russian intervention has achieved quite a lot. It has undercut the Syrian opposition, stabilized Assad’s government, and produced a peace process on more favorable terms for Assad than was previously possible. Perhaps Putin was always planning for an intervention of limited duration and kept Assad informed about this. With a truce in place, now is a good time to start scaling it down. Meanwhile, other forms of support to the Syrian government are likely to continue and, if the peace process collapses, Putin could easily reverse his decision. Remember, the Hmeymim and Tartus bases will remain operational, which leaves Russia with all the infrastructure it needs to resume airstrikes on short notice.” Iraq's powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr wants Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to stay in power but replace his cabinet with professionals with no party affiliation so he can fight corruption, the head of the Sadrist bloc in parliament said. - Reuters
An alleged defector from within the Islamic State has handed over a thumb drive to Sky News with what he claims are the names and registration files of 22,000 members of the terror group. The defector, Abu Hamed, had been a member of the Free Syrian Army but switched over to the Islamic State. After becoming disillusioned with the group, he stole the thumb drive with the biographical data from the group's chief of internal security. The files detail the backgrounds of fighters based on a 23 question form, listing contact information and other demographic information. Syrian news outlet Zaman al-Wasl appears to have received a similar leak of 1,736 Islamic State's registration files, some of which it has published. Their data includes information gleaned from a similar 23 question form, which asks recruits basic questions about their identity, travel and professional history, and whether they wish to volunteer for suicide operations. According to Zaman al-Wasl, Turkish citizens make up the majority of ISIS foreign fighters in its registration form data set, followed by French citizens. Taken together, Saudi, Egyptian, Tunisian, and Moroccan citizens make up the bulk of the group's membership, accounting for two thirds of those identified in the forms. Sulayman Dawud al-Bakkar, an Islamic State fighter apparently responsible for manufacturing chemical weapons, was transferred to Iraqi custody Thursday after being held by U.S. forces for roughly a month. – Washington Post In what could be a major intelligence break in the war against the Islamic State, American and European officials are poring over a list of some 22,000 suspected Islamic State recruits — including operatives from the U.S., Britain and Canada — whose addresses and phone numbers were on a memory stick leaked to a British news organization by a purported defector from the Syria-based terrorist group. – Washington Times Regarding The Islamic State: The U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State militant group was "not quite yet at an inflection point" because of the militant groups resilience and ability to adapt to losses, Vice Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva said on Thursday. - Reuters Skye News: The Mother Load
Tens of thousands of documents, containing 22,000 names, addresses, telephone numbers and family contacts of Islamic State jihadis, have been obtained by Sky News. – Sky News Intra-Taliban clashes flare up in Herat Intense fighting between rival factions of the Taliban led by Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and Mullah Mohammad Rasool in the Shindand district of Herat led to roughly 100 deaths as of Thursday (Guardian). This further complicates the Afghan peace talks in which four countries – the United States, China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan – are seeking to involve Taliban officials in negotiations with Afghan government officials. To date, no one from Mullah Mansoor’s leading faction has expressed the intention or desire to do so because their demands, including a complete withdrawal of U.S.-NATO forces from Afghanistan, are insupportable for the United States and coalition partners. Since the announcement of the death of the group’s founder Mullah Mohammad Omar in July 2015, the group has been plagued by infighting, yet also control the most territory in Afghanistan since 2001. DoD: Taliban is splintering in Helmand, IS weakening in Khorasan
Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, deputy chief of staff for communications for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said on Thursday that the United States sees three distinct Taliban factions forming in the southern Helmand province, none of which are loyal to Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor (VOA). Shoffner said, “It will be very interesting to see where the revenue goes amongst those three groups and where their loyalties lie," especially as the start of poppy harvesting season – the source of heroine and, according to the U.S. military, half the Taliban’s revenue – begins soon. Additionally, the branch of the Islamic State (IS) based in the Khorasan region on the AfPak border has been relegated to one district in Nangarhar province, down from four or five districts in February. Brig. Gen. Shoffner estimates that the number of IS fighters in Afghanistan is "probably on the lower end" of between 1,000 and 3,000 fighters. The decrease in fighters and controlled territory can be attributed to more U.S. airstrikes and clashes with the Taliban over access to money and personnel and ideological disagreements. (Reuters, DefenseNews, The Hill). Sen. Paul was opposed by the two senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee and Ranking Member Benjamin Cardin of Maryland. The Committee has jurisdiction over U.S. arms sales to foreign countries. While Sen. Corker supports the sale, his opposition to subsidizing the deal using U.S. taxpayer dollars to reduce the cost to Pakistan remains. Corker said, “Prohibiting a taxpayer subsidy sends a much-needed message to Pakistan that it needs to change its behavior, but preventing the purchase of U.S. aircraft would do more harm than good by paving the way for countries like Russia and China to sell to Pakistan while also inhibiting greater cooperation on counterterrorism.”
Pakistan receives $122 million in aid from Saudi Arabia On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed to a deal with Saudi Arabia that will see $122 million come into Pakistan from the Kingdom this year (ET). Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif are in Riyadh to attend the “North Thunder” 20-nation military exercise. The deal, officiated by Pakistani Economic Affairs Division Secretary Tariq Bajwa and Vice Chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development Yousaf Ibrahim al Bassam, consists of five grant agreements totaling $67 million and a separate loan valued at $55 million. A relatively low sum, the deal may nonetheless indicate growing economic ties – on top of increased military cooperation via the 34-nation anti-terrorism coalition – between the two nations. The $122 million is the largest aid package Islamabad has received from Riyadh in the last five years. David Ignatius reports: U.S. Special Operations forces working with a widening array of partners are slowly tightening their squeeze on Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria — moving toward an eventual assault on the jihadists’ self-declared capital of Raqqa. – Washington Post Iraq's military is once again trying to dislodge Islamic State group fighters from the vast Samarra desert, which stretches between newly recaptured territory in Anbar province and the ISIS-held northern city of Mosul. Yet, as operations move further away from the capital, government forces are increasingly plagued by logistical shortcomings. – Associated Press
The latest Pak-US Strategic Dialogue held this week delivered little of real substance, although there were some surprises and the outcome was generally positive, analysts say. – Defense News
It will take many more months to prepare Iraq's still struggling military for a long-anticipated assault on the Islamic State group's biggest stronghold in the country, the city of Mosul, U.S. and Iraqi officials say — and it may not even be possible to retake it this year, despite repeated vows by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. – Associated Press Aziz Ahmad writes: In May, the Sykes-Picot agreement, in which the West carved up our region, will turn 100 years old. At that time, we will reflect on the century of failure in Iraq that resulted from this agreement. That should be enough for the West — and Iraq — to recognize there’s a reason the map was drawn in pencil. An independent Kurdistan carved out from the ruins of Iraq will save the next generation of Kurds fleeing at the hands of an Arab Iraq. – Foreign Policy The B-52 Stratofortress could begin dropping bombs on the Islamic State group come April. The bombers would be headed to the Central Command area of operations to replace the B-1 Lancers, the last of them returning in January, officials were quoted saying at an Air Force Association Conference last week. – Defense News
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) writes: Whether out of desperation or from strategic vision, ISIS is evolving by enlarging. Accordingly, we must expand our strategy to go after the ISIS affiliates, using all of the tools of military force, strong diplomatic engagement, capacity building, and a strategy that divides—rather than unites—our enemies. – The Daily Beast Summary: On Saturday, the Taliban confirmed they would not join the next round of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) peace talks held by the United States, China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in Islamabad, Pakistan this month (NYT, WSJ, CNN, Reuters, FT). According to a statement from the Taliban’s website, “We reject all such rumors and unequivocally state that the leader of Islamic Emirate (the Taliban) has not authorized anyone to participate in this meeting.” The statement then listed the preconditions needed for Taliban participation in the peace talks, saying, “(Islamic Emirate) once again reiterates that unless the occupation of Afghanistan is ended, black lists eliminated and innocent prisoners freed, such futile misleading negotiations will not bear any results.” The Taliban’s announcement comes after Afghan and QCG officials voiced their expectations in recent weeks for engaging directly with the Taliban in the next round of peace talks. In addition, Taliban and Afghan officials met in Doha, Qatar – the site of the group’s political office – in a discreet meeting at the end of February, but it yielded no immediate results in advancing the peace talks. Taliban Strategy: On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani spoke about the state of the peace talks via video conference, as Obama reiterated the United States’ commitment to peace in Afghanistan and the region (Reuters, NYT, WH). Despite no official face-to-face peace-talk meetings yet, Afghan officials remain optimistic that can change. One Afghan official close to Ghani said, “This is just public bargaining on the part of the Taliban. They did it last time, too. They put out a statement of denial, and then they showed up to talks.” The Taliban continues to operate and gain strength in many Afghan provinces, particularly Helmand, and causes strained relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan as the group occupies territory on both sides of the border. Afghan President:
Ghani claims victory over IS in Nangarhar Speaking before the opening of parliament on Sunday, President Ashraf Ghani announced the Afghan army’s victory over Islamic State (IS) forces in the country’s eastern Nangarhar province and expressed his commitment to the group’s overall defeat (AP, Al Jazeera). “Afghanistan will be their graveyard,” he said. Following a 21-day battle with IS militants in the Nangarhar districts of Achin and Shinwar, Afghan forces claimed victory in an operation that killed a reported 200 IS fighters. According to former commander of U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan Gen. John F. Campbell, there are between 1,000 and 1,300 IS fighters in the country. Libya is a failed state, according to the top U.S. general in Africa, who said that foreign fighters, weapons and illegal migrants are flowing through the oil-rich North African country, supplying the conflicts in Syria and Iraq with combatants and threatening U.S. allies. – Associated Press Five years after the uprising that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, Tripoli is on edge, somewhere between peace and war. - Reuters
|
Archives
May 2024
Categories |