Resources - News

This section includes the latest news relating to U.S. security policy around the world. Updated daily, the news provided in this searchable database highlights the most relevant security developments from around the world. 

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The CIA’s Syria Program and the Perils of Proxies

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Almost every aspect of the Obama administration’s policy toward Syria has been scrutinized, lambasted or praised in recent months, but one of the most significant facets, the CIA’s covert aid program to Syrian rebels, has largely slipped below the radar.English
Country(s): 
Syria
Author(s): 
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Nathaniel Barr
Publisher / Source: 
Daily Beast
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid

Azerbaijan, Armenia Welcome Lifting Of Nuclear Sanctions Against Iran

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Two rival countries in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Armenia, have welcomed the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. English
Country(s): 
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Author(s): 
RFE/RL
Publisher / Source: 
RFE/RL

Mali Government, Rebels Urge Progress on Implementing Peace Deal

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Mali called for the swift implementation of a peace agreement with Tuareg-led rebels during talks on Monday seen as vital for preventing a resurgence of Islamist militant attacks in the vast West African nation. The two sides signed the United Nations-backed deal last year but the Tuareg-led coalition has complained that it falls short of their demands for their northern region, which they call Azawad.
Country(s): 
Mali
Author(s): 
Patrick Markey
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters (UK)
Tag(s): 
Peace Negotiations

The Fight Against Drug-Trafficking in the Jungles of Rio de Janeiro

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
It is essential that the public security entities in the state of Rio de Janeiro devote attention to drug traffickers’ utilization of Rio de Janeiro's forests, which presents an increasing risk to public safety and is transforming an area of environmental preservation into a refuge for armed criminals. Similarly, the Armed Forces must adopt procedures to prevent the recruitment of Soldiers, with special attention to the members of the elite forces.
Country(s): 
Brazil
Author(s): 
Colonel Fernando Montenegro
Publisher / Source: 
Dialogo
Tag(s): 
Counternarcotics

Cameroon Receiving Ratel Infantry Fighting Vehicles

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Cameroon’s military is apparently receiving a number of Ratel infantry fighting vehicles, which have been deployed with its Rapid Intervention Battalion. This is according to IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, which quotes a Cameroonian military source saying that the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) is now operating Ratel 20s. Deliveries began in December 2015, according to the source, and the BIR now has 12 with its Light Intervention Units deployed to the Far North province, where the force is leading operations against Boko Haram militants.
Country(s): 
Cameroon
Publisher / Source: 
Defence Web (South Africa)
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid

Pentagon takes aim at ISIS hackers

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
The killing of two Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) hackers is raising new questions about whether the Pentagon is targeting the group's tech-savvy members. English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Syria
Author(s): 
Cory Bennett
Publisher / Source: 
The Hill
Tag(s): 
Security
Terrorism

Could Trouble in Burundi Take Down the Whole Region?

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Nine months after President Pierre Nkurunziza upended Burundi’s fragile post-conflict peace by announcing he would stand for a third term in office, all indications are the crisis is getting worse rather than better. New evidence of sexual assault by security forces and growing allegations of mass killings coupled with the staunch unwillingness by Nkurunziza’s government to participate in regional talks aimed at resolving the crisis are leaving many to wonder how bad things will get.
Country(s): 
Burundi
Author(s): 
Kimberly Curtis
Publisher / Source: 
UN Dispatch
Tag(s): 
U.N. Peacekeeping

Saudi-led Strikes Hit Police Buildings in Yemen's Sanaa, Sources Say

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Air raids by the U.S.-baked Saudi military coalition killed at least 15 policemen and wounded more than 20 people when they hit police buildings in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, overnight, medical and police sources said on Monday.English
Country(s): 
Yemen
Author(s): 
Mohammed Ghobari
Mohammed Mukhashaf
Sylvia Westall
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Conflict

CENTCOM: Airstrikes likely killed 8 civilians in Iraq, Syria

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State group likely killed eight civilians and injured three more, U.S. Central Command said in a release Friday.English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Syria
Author(s): 
Stephen Losey
Publisher / Source: 
Air Force Times
Tag(s): 
Conflict

Colombia's President Santos Enacts Tougher Law on Acid Attacks

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos has signed a law that imposes tougher sentences on the perpetrators of acid attacks.English
Country(s): 
Colombia
Publisher / Source: 
BBC
Tag(s): 
Civil Society

Burkina Faso and Mali to Coordinate Forces After Deadly Attacks

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Burkina Faso and Mali have agreed to work together to counter the growing threat of Islamic militants in West Africa by sharing intelligence and conducting joint security patrols following two deadly and well-coordinated attacks in the region. Their prime ministers met on Sunday, two days after al Qaeda militants seized the Splendid Hotel in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, opened fire on a restaurant and attacked another hotel nearby, killing at least 28 people from at least seven countries, and wounding 50 other people.
Country(s): 
Burkina Faso
Mali
Author(s): 
Edward McAllister
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters (UK)
Tag(s): 
Counterterrorism

Desertions Deplete Afghan Forces, Adding to Security Worries

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
In 2015, the Afghan army had to replace about a third of its roughly 170,000 soldiers because of desertions, casualties and low re-enlistment rates, according to figures released by the U.S. military last month. That means a third of the army consists of first-year recruits fresh off a three-month training course.English
Country(s): 
Afghanistan
Author(s): 
Sayed Sarwar Amani
Andrew Macaskill
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters

How Mexico Cartels Corrupt U.S. Border Agents

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
An investigative report by the Texas Observer last month revived longstanding concerns about US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), calling into question whether the nation’s largest law enforcement agency is effectively combating corruption and infiltration by criminal organizations.
Country(s): 
Mexico
Author(s): 
Mike LaSusa
Publisher / Source: 
InSight Crime
Tag(s): 
Corruption

Uzbeks Say Inmate Due for Release Died in 2010

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
The Uzbek government, lobbied by rights groups and pressured quietly by the United States to free a high-profile political prisoner, has finally revealed a secret: He died five years ago. Akram Yuldashev, one of the most prominent religious leaders in post-Soviet Central Asia, died in prison in 2010 at the age of 52, the Uzbek authorities confirmed this month.English
Country(s): 
Uzbekistan
Author(s): 
Andrew E. Kramer
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Human Rights

Venezuela Tries Low Level Military Drug Traffickers

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Seven current and former Venezuela military officials are to be tried for allowing illegal drug flights to transit through the country, in a small-scale prosecution that continues to leave the highest ranks of corrupt military untouched.English
Country(s): 
Venezuela
Author(s): 
Mimi Yagoub
Publisher / Source: 
InSight Crime
Tag(s): 
Counternarcotics

Burundi: 900 Deaths Estimated as Conflict Between Nkurunziza and Opposition Rages On

Friday, January 15, 2016
The death toll in Burundi may have been greatly underestimated, with latest numbers almost double that of the United Nation's December estimates, a political analyst specialised in Burundian affairs has claimed. Burundi's deadly violence erupted after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced a controversial decision to run for a third term, which he won in contested elections in July. The opposition said he was violating the constitution's two-term limit as well as the Arusha agreement that ended Burundi's 12-year civil war in 2005.English
Country(s): 
Burundi
Author(s): 
Elsa Buchanan
Publisher / Source: 
International Business Times
Tag(s): 
Conflict

Mabus: Get Moving On That F-18 Sale To Kuwait

Friday, January 15, 2016
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus wants the arms export bureaucracy to get a move on and approve Boeing‘s “crucial” sale of Super Hornet fighters to Kuwait.English
Country(s): 
Kuwait
Author(s): 
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr
Publisher / Source: 
Breaking Defense
Tag(s): 
Arms Sales

Al-Shabab Seizes African Union Base in Somalia

Friday, January 15, 2016
Al-Shabab militants have overrun an African Union military base outside the southern Somali town of el-Ade. The Islamist group says it has taken "complete control" of the AU camp and killed more than 60 Kenyan soldiers. Residents told the BBC that al-Shabab had raised its flag at a camp for Kenyan troops and said insurgents had paraded bodies through the town.English
Country(s): 
Somalia
Publisher / Source: 
BBC (UK)
Tag(s): 
Terrorism

This is the Pentagon's New Strategy to Defeat ISIS

Friday, January 15, 2016
The new plan calls for fighting the terror group like a conventional enemy, relying on traditional military tactics such as maneuver-style warfare and attrition. English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Andrew Tilghman
Publisher / Source: 
Military Times
Tag(s): 
Terrorism

South Sudan Has Acquired Surface-to-Air Missiles

Friday, January 15, 2016
South Sudan has deployed S-125 (SA-3) surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), which it appears to have acquired from its neighbour Uganda, and QW-2 Vanguard SAMs from China. This is according to IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, which analysed satellite data to reveal that South Sudan has had the S-125 missiles since at least 2013. English
Country(s): 
South Sudan
Publisher / Source: 
Defence Web (South Africa)
Tag(s): 
Arms Control

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