UNIPATH STAFF In a nine-day demonstration of tactics by 40 special operations teams from around the world, Jordan’s Annual Warrior Competition 2018 concluded with a triumph by the Black Panthers SWAT team from the Lebanese internal security forces. The annual event — which tests individual and team skills such as marksmanship, hostage rescue, rappelling, and armed incursions — was held April 29 to May 7 at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) in Jordan. It was the second time the Black Panthers took top prize after finishing first in 2016. Over several days, the competition whittled down…
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UNIPATH STAFF After the collapse of the Soviet Union, all five Central Asian countries — Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — committed themselves to nonproliferation of nuclear materials, denuclearization and cooperation with international arms agreements. That process of eliminating the remains of the nuclear arms industry continues to this day. In May 2018, Kyrgyzstan held an international conference dedicated to safeguarding former uranium mines in Central Asia and reducing the public health threat from radioactive waste. European Union representative Michele Rivasi, speaking on behalf of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, called on the international community to help clean up uranium…
UNIPATH STAFF With hopes of becoming a strategic trade and transportation hub between Asia with Europe, Turkmenistan opened a major port in the city of Turkmenbashi on the Caspian Sea in May 2018. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that the port will improve maritime access to the Black Sea region, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Asia-Pacific. He added that the port would help achieve “integration into the international system of economic relations, enhancing Turkmenistan’s role as an important center for transit communications.” Berdimuhamedov expressed his readiness to discuss use of the port…
UNIPATH STAFF Before a crowd of dignitaries that included Qatari Minister of Defense Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, Qatari troops showed off a newfound proficiency in airdropping battlefield supplies from C-17 and C-130 military aircraft. The May 2018 demonstration was the culmination of four weeks of training between Qatari Army and Air Force personnel and U.S. and Italian partners. The training focused on proper ways to assemble bundles and affix parachutes so that troops on the ground can receive vital supplies such as weapons, fuel and food. To show off their skills, Qatari airdrop systems technicians, known as “riggers,” worked…
Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool Abdullah Alzubaidi led media operations to defeat Daesh propaganda During the battles waged by the Iraqi Armed Forces to liberate Iraq from the abomination of terrorism emerged many stories of Iraqi heroism. The world learned the names of many men who distinguished themselves through their heroic deeds. Publicizing these morale-boosting tales of military triumphs — while rebutting Daesh’s lies — was largely the role of one commander: Special Forces Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool Abdullah Alzubaidi, spokesman for the Combined Joint Operations Command. In the direst straits, amid the tensions of the Iraqi street and social media…
A focus on civil rights and economic development will create a sense of community in cities liberated from Daesh DR. SAAD AL-HADITHI, professor of political science, University of Baghdad The Iraqi government, previously headed by Prime Minister Dr. Haider al-Abadi, has assumed responsibility for reshaping security policy in dealing with citizens in areas once under the control of terrorist organizations. He succeeded in rebuilding bridges of trust that had been broken before the terrorist takeover of their cities. As the commander in chief of the Armed Forces, then Prime Minister al-Abadi initiated restructuring of the military and security system and…
An interview with Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Alaq, head of the Iraqi Directorate of Military Intelligence UNIPATH STAFF Unipath: What was the role of the Directorate of Military Intelligence in the defeat of Daesh? Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Alaq: After the events of June 10, 2014, and the control of terrorist gangs of large areas of Iraq, our directorate began to collect intelligence and recruit a large number of sources and collaborators who provided us with important information. The directorate managed to infiltrate the terrorist organization and locate the enemy’s command and control and weapons caches, and accurate airstrikes led to the loss of a…
Special Operations Forces Expel Terrorists From Strongholds in Eastern Afghanistan LT. AMY FORSYTHE, U.S. NAVY In one of the largest joint operations ever conducted between U.S. and Afghan special operations forces, Afghan commandos captured a major Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) stronghold in eastern Afghanistan in June 2018, effectively depriving the terror group of its local capital. The Afghan commandos were advised by U.S. Army Special Forces Soldiers assigned to NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan. The joint force of Afghan Special Security Forces (ASSF) and U.S. Green Berets killed 170 fighters affiliated with ISIS-K, the terror network’s Afghan offshoot, during a multipronged…
Iraq’s Directorate of Media and Moral Guidance gained skills in countering terrorist propaganda Unipath Staff Daesh adopted misinformation campaigns through its electronic army, which broadcast rumors and twisted facts to sow horror and chaos in the hearts of residents. Its methods of psychological influence inflated its military capabilities by publishing news of victories and fake battles. The Directorate of Media and Moral Guidance in the Iraq Ministry of Defense played a major role in attacking Daesh’s propaganda enterprise and destroying the morale of its fighters. Unipath magazine met with the man who led this unconventional war and helped to achieve major…
How an Iraqi Grandmother Saved Soldiers’ Lives and Inspired a Nation Unipath Staff It is a tradition among Arab tribes to have a nakhua, or title, for those who make the tribe proud. The nakhua of the al-Jabour tribe is “Akhu Hadla.” But maybe, after the courage shown by Aliyah Khalaf Saleh al-Jabouri, known as Umm Qusay, the new nakhua will be “Akhu Aliyah.” Umm Qusay is now a familiar name that has entered the hearts of the Iraqi people for helping to save the lives of more than 50 Iraqi Soldiers stranded in areas overrun by Daesh thugs. She is…