UNIPATH STAFF Bahraini security forces — both military and police units — combined their strengths for an exercise called Homeland Shield 2020. The Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) invited units from the National Guard and the Interior Ministry for phase one of the exercise, held mainly near Bahrain’s western coastline from Ras al-Matala to Ras al-Bar. BDF participation included Army Aviation, the Air Force, armored battalions, mechanized infantry battalions, the Royal Military Police Unit, the Thunderbolt Force, and the Royal Special Force. The exercise agenda included storming buildings, freeing hostages, close-quarters combat, shooting and marksmanship, formation skydiving, and fast roping. His…
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UNIPATH STAFF Afghan security forces underscored their growing proficiency with the arrest of three senior ISIS leaders trying to establish terror networks in the South and Central Asian region after defeats in Syria and Iraq. Regional ISIS commander Abu Omar Khorasani was among those detained during operations in Kabul that also netted the men who headed the group’s intelligence and propaganda wings. The Afghan Interior Ministry announced the arrests in May 2020. In April 2020, Afghan forces in Kandahar captured Abdullah Orakzai, leader of the Khorosan branch of ISIS, along with several of his henchmen. Previously captured ISIS militants provided…
UNIPATH STAFF AU.S. delegation led by David Mount of United States Central Command’s (CENTCOM) program to curb proliferation of weapons of mass destruction visited Turkmenistan in early 2020. The purpose of the visit was to discuss cooperation in preventing the proliferation of nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological weapons. CENTCOM has conducted anti-WMD simulations with several of its security partners in the Middle East and Central Asia, including detection, removal and disposal of chemical agents by teams of emergency personnel. The CENTCOM meeting was one of several recent efforts aimed at improving relations between the U.S. and Turkmenistan. Areas of mutual…
UNIPATH STAFF The Royal Navy of Oman opened a lifeline to a section of the country geographically and economically isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Musandam governorate, a mountainous peninsula that juts into the Strait of Hormuz, is separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The COVID lockdown resulted in the closure of land borders between the UAE and Musandam, which left its 31,500 residents without easy access to food, fuel, medical supplies and other necessities. The sultanate was forced to improvise ways to deliver those essentials to its noncontiguous province. The Royal Navy began…
UNIPATH STAFF Terrorists attempting to hide in the rugged triangle formed by Salah al-Din, Kirkuk and Ninevah governorates in northern Iraq were ousted from their lairs during joint operations that began in March 2020. Iraqi forces targeted Daesh remnants seeking to reorganize their ranks and carry out large-scale terrorist operations as they had in the past. Dozens of terrorists were killed in operations that engaged Iraqi military helicopters, Air Force jets and mechanized ground forces. In early March 2020, the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS) killed 25 Daesh militants in the Qara Chokh Mountains in Ninevah using airborne troops and…
Brig. Gen. Mohammed Al-Mustafa’s leadership of an elite Marine regiment has earned him international recognition UNIPATH STAFF | Photos by Lebanese Armed Forces All attempts by terrorist groups to fracture Lebanese national unity by plunging the Lebanese people into infighting have failed. Their attempts to undermine security and stability in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp and in Tripoli and other northern cities ultimately disappointed. The will of the Lebanese people won out in the end. Behind such a victory lies a national force capable of fending off security threats, men and women who love their country and defend its sovereignty. These…
Afghan girls build a ventilator using old car parts to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic UNIPATH STAFF When COVID-19 struck Afghanistan, the country was suffering from a shortage of medical equipment to fight the virus. But thanks to the ingenuity of five girls in the northern city of Herat, Afghanistan was able to create an inexpensive ventilator from machine parts easily available across the country. The girls — ages 14 to 17 — went online to find a mechanical solution to the ventilator shortage, designing an air pumping device powered by windshield wiper motors from Toyota Corollas no longer in…
After defeating Daesh, Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service seeks to upgrade equipment, skills and training UNIPATH STAFF Notwithstanding Daesh’s control over Mosul in June 2014 and the loss of central government control over vast territories between Mosul and Baghdad, a battalion-size force continued to fight inside Mosul, not withdrawing until receiving orders to move on toward Baiji. The force battled its way over more than 300 kilometers to arrive at its destination, retaining all its weapons and equipment, along with the psychological will to continue the fight. Some military commanders refer to this mission as “the miracle.” Staff Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saidi, commander…
Freedom of speech needs to be protected in a post-conflict Yemen MAGED AL-MADHAJI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE SANAA CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES | Photos BY YEMENI MINISTRY OF INFORMATION For the past few years, women have been abducted in northern Yemen, tortured, raped, forced into false confessions of prostitution, and left traumatized and stigmatized — their punishment for publicly contradicting the Houthi authorities. This has been an open secret in Sanaa that independent Yemeni journalists should have been investigating, corroborating and publishing to shine light into every shadowy corner that nurtures such atrocities. It is impossible, however, for journalists in northern…
The COVID-19 crisis elevated the importance of the Jordan Armed Forces’ informational branch BRIG. GEN. (ret.) MOKHLESS MOHAMMED AL-MEFLEH, FORMER GENERAL DIRECTOR OF MORAL GUIDANCE, JORDAN ARMED FORCES The media plays a prominent role in human life, so much so that it has become indispensable, especially given the media’s technical evolution. This, in turn, has led to the increasing importance of daily information, so that the world has come to be described as a small village. Military media is an integral part of this information system. Military media is considered part of the state’s overall strategy, premised on the fact that…