UNIPATH STAFF The Arab League adopted an Egyptian resolution to develop a pan-Arab counterterrorism system, according to an official statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in December 2017. The resolution was approved just days after terrorists murdered 311 civilians at Friday prayers at Al-Rawdah mosque in North Sinai. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said the resolution reinforces efforts to build consensus in support of Egypt’s counterterrorism vision. In line with the view of the Egyptian government, the resolution called combating terrorism a fundamental human right. The resolution called for implementing the Arab Convention for the Suppression…
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Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa Leads His Nation Against Extremism UNIPATH STAFF Photos by the Associated Press A stark reminder hangs on the office wall of Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan’s chief of Army staff. The photos on display are those of children murdered by terrorists in Peshawar’s Army Public School in December 2014. Gen. Bajwa is determined not to forget. The Army he has commanded since late 2016 has recommitted itself to fighting violent extremism through well-publicized counterterrorism operations such as Zarb-e-Azb and Rudd-ul-Fasaad. “The Pakistan Army is capable of meeting all internal and external challenges. It…
A multinational task force launches a mission to secure the seas between Yemen and Somalia UNIPATH STAFF | photos by COMBINED MARITIME FORCES Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, under the command of Commodore Yusuf Almannaie of the Royal Bahrain Navy, launched a counterpiracy mission called Operation Hamad in February 2018 to deter criminals on the waters between Yemen and Somalia. The multinational task force, bolstered by a unit from Oman, is cooperating with a ship from the European Union’s Naval Forces (EUNAVFOR) to establish a strong naval presence in the Gulf of Aden, the Socotra Gap and the waters near…
Kurdish Soldiers serve with distinction in the Iraqi Armed Forces against Daesh MASTER SGT. WALEED KHALED SALEH MAZOURI BARZANI HEADQUARTERS COMPANY, 1ST SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND, IRAQI COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE I joined the Iraqi Special Operations Command in 2003 and have had the honor to participate in most of the battles of liberation. I remain a loyal Soldier dedicated to defending Iraq, its unity and its sovereignty. The reason I joined this force is that its fighters exhibit extraordinary professionalism and loyalty to the homeland. I am proud to be part of anti-terrorism forces whose members include all Iraqi factions without exception and…
Granting authority to officers on the ground improves performance in unconventional operations Unipath Staff Lt. Col. Hisham Khaleel Mubarak Al Jarrah, commanding officer of the 77th Royal Jordanian Marine Battalion, recently hosted the Regional Marine Symposium in Aqaba with U.S. and Middle Eastern counterparts. Much of the discussion concerned strengthening these compact, flexible forces for operations against terrorists. Lt. Col. Hisham sat down with Unipath to discuss enhancing the performance of his battalion by giving more command flexibility to noncommissioned and junior officers on the ground. Unipath: How did you come up with the idea to give noncommissioned officers in…
More than 4,000 women are engaged in the Afghan National Defense Security Forces MARTHA SCHAEFFER NATO SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMPONENT COMMAND-AFGHANISTAN When the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 and the Taliban seized control of the government, Afghan women watched as the Taliban terminated their rights overnight. A country where women were granted the right to vote in 1919, a year before the United States, and guaranteed the right to education and to work in 1964 no longer allowed women to participate as equal members of society. During restrictive male-dominated Taliban rule, they banned women from work places, schools, and…
International Officers Learn Valuable Lessons at the U.S. Naval War College UNIPATH STAFF When the Royal Navy of Oman decided to hold a major naval exercise with Great Britain’s Royal Navy for the first time in 17 years, it reached out to the U.S. Naval War College for expertise. The Naval War College had just started a new, 12-week program for midlevel multinational naval officers called the International Maritime Staff Operator Course (I-MSOC). It trains officers to support complex maritime operations. Omani Lt. Omar Salim al Ismaili leaped at the opportunity to attend I-MSOC. He had been tasked with helping to…
Iraqi Lt. Yasser Al-Aboudi was a skilled, courageous and ethical Soldier in the battles to defeat Daesh UNIPATH STAFF | Photos by Iraqi CTS Media Office Stories of heroism continue to flow from Mesopotamia. The heroes of the Iraqi Armed Forces have put their lives on the line to expel the terrorist gangs and their deviant ideology out of this land where all sects have long co-existed in peace. The story of the heroic martyr Lt. Yasser Al-Aboudi, a member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), would move any reader. Such stories show that, through the generations, the land of Iraq…
Hybrid warfare threatens to test the capacities of modern militaries Maj. Gen. ASKHAT N. RYSPAYEV HEAD OF the NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY, KAZAKHSTAN Photos by Reuters The international situation is extremely complex, tense and periodically intensifies the contradictions between countries and ethnic, religious, political, social and other groups, which cause various conflicts. Despite the world’s declared desire to resolve conflicts by peaceful means, military force remains one of the main tools for resolving these problems. We see the need for an in-depth study of the causes and nature of military conflicts. First, let us consider the concept of such conflicts. According to…
Saudi Arabia hosts the first meeting of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition UNIPATH STAFF Vowing to “pursue terrorists until they are wiped from the face of the earth,” Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, assembled leaders from 41 nations in November 2017 to launch a counterterrorism alliance stretching from North Africa to Southeast Asia. The aim of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) is to coordinate ideological, communications, military and financial strategies to thwart violent extremism. Prince Mohammed announced the multinational alliance in 2015, and the late 2017 gathering was the…