UNIPATH STAFF The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan continues to modernize its Armed Forces and equipment, and to train personnel to raise capabilities and readiness, as the country faces several challenges, the most daunting of which are violence and drug smuggling on the northern border with Syria and eastern border with Iraq. Attended by His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein and a number of senior officers, exercise Resolute Response was conducted by Al Yarmouk Mechanized Brigade, one of the Jordanian Northern Command units, in September 2023. The exercise began by launching a drone, Schiebel Camcopter S-100, to surveil simulated…
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The presidents of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan held their first trilateral summit in Ashgabat in August 2023 to improve relations in Central Asia. The main areas of cooperation among these countries are energy, transportation and agriculture, issues that, before independence from the Soviet Union, were left to decision-makers in Moscow. The three countries have pursued close cooperation in building railways and roads to bind together their economies. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have paid particular attention to the use of water and hydroelectric power derived from rivers that flow through more than one country. During the summit, Turkmenistan proposed a strategic natural…
UNIPATH STAFF Pakistan’s Armed Forces demonstrated a commitment to multinational cooperation through a series of military exercises that engaged partners from the Middle East and Central Asia in the second half of 2023. Counterterrorism was the focus of the Al Battar 1 joint exercise between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in September 2023. Special forces contingents from both countries — supported by combat aircraft — displayed their skills in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northern Pakistan. The location of the exercise was deliberately chosen because it is among the provinces most affected by terrorist violence. A second counterterrorism exercise, in Barotha,…
UNIPATH STAFF Ground forces from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and U.S. Task Force Spartan conducted the Arabian Gulf Firing Drill in November 2023 in the northern region of Hafr Al-Batin in Saudi Arabia. Aiming to raise the level of combat readiness, hone the skills of participating troops in carrying out combined operations and unifying military concepts, the drill’s scenarios included battle management, planning and execution, tactical firing by mechanized infantry units, air support by army helicopters, medevac, explosive ordnance disposal, sniping, and irregular warfare operations. Led by Royal Saudi Land Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Fahd Al-Mutair, the drill’s…
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan recently published a detailed statement on its website about its commitment to building a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Azerbaijan to Europe on the floor of the Caspian Sea. The pipeline would diversify energy supplies, circumventing potentially unreliable sources of energy like Russia and Iran. This project has garnered attention over the years because it would link Turkmenistan’s ample natural gas to major gas markets in Turkey and Europe. “Turkmenistan is convinced that there are no political, economic or financial factors preventing the construction of the gas pipeline,” the statement read. “On the…
UNIPATH STAFF Sadyr Japarov, President of Kyrgyzstan since 2020, attended the first ever Central Asia and USA summit held in New York on September 19, 2023. He was one of the presidents of the five Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – that attended the summit. In a speech, President Japarov noted that cooperation with the U.S., including the C5+1 cooperative framework, was central to his country’s foreign policy. C5+1 is a diplomatic platform to facilitate cooperation and dialogue between the U.S. and the five Central Asian countries, known as the “C5.” “I believe that this…
UNIPATH STAFF Building on 31 years of partnership, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Umarov welcomed U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu to Astana for the 5th annual United States-Kazakhstan Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue (ESPD). The U.S.-Kazakhstan ESPD was created to find opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation and to advance shared priorities. The latest dialogue occurred on November 6, 2023. The Kazakh and U.S. delegations discussed political and security issues that included regional geopolitics, counterterrorism, law enforcement cooperation, countering the synthetic drugs threat, and nuclear nonproliferation. The…
On the sidelines of the Seventh Iraqi Ambassadors Conference held in Baghdad in November 2023, Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Araji reminded the international community of the threat the Syrian al-Hawl camp poses if detainees are not repatriated. Highlighting the Iraqi government’s effort to repatriate Iraqi nationals, al-Araji said 1,567 Iraqi families were transferred from al-Hawl to al-Jadaa camp, one of 12 refugee camps the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ office built east of Mosul in 2017 to house internally displaced persons. Nearly 3,000 people were charged with terrorism. Most were prosecuted, and the rest were still awaiting trial.…
UNIPATH STAFF As part of development projects and initiatives sponsored by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY), two new schools opened in November 2023 in Taiz Governorate: Omar bin Al-Khattab and Al-Wahda Al-Mushtaraka. The school openings come as a response to the urgent need for education, providing new educational opportunities and creating a safe and motivating learning environment to invest in students’ potential and abilities. The schools were equipped with amenities such as laboratories, computer rooms, gymnasiums and theaters. Out of 229 development projects and initiatives in Yemen, SDRPY implemented 52 educational projects, including printing and distributing…
Recognizing the importance of international partnerships in the defense industry, Egypt hosted the 3rd International Exhibition for Defense and Military Industries, or Egypt Defense Expo (EDEX 2023), in December 2023. Held at Egypt’s International Exhibition Center in Nasr City, Cairo, EDEX 2023 provided 411 reputable international and national exhibitors from 44 countries an opportunity to exchange expertise. The exhibitors showcased their products in 22 pavilions across three fairgrounds. Attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, several distinguished guests and senior military officers, EDEX 2023 opened with a short documentary dubbed “The Will and the Challenge” produced by the Egyptian Ministry…