DefenceTalkUS-led warplanes hit a pro-regime convoy in Syria that ignored warning shots, weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration launched America’s first strikes against Damascus forces in the war-torn country. The strike by the coalition fighting the Islamic State group happened on the same day IS jihadists killed more than 50 people in attacks on two […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-led-warplanes-hit-syrian-forces-69987/

DefenceTalkThe US Central Intelligence Agency said Wednesday it had formed a special unit dedicated to assessing North Korea’s nuclear weapons threat. The CIA created its first single country-focused mission center, pulling together resources from a range of units to collect and analyze information on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missile technology that could extend […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cia-forms-special-unit-focused-on-north-korea-threat-69958/

DefenceTalkNo decisions on whether to increase U.S. forces in Afghanistan have been made yet, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters in Israel Tuesday. Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford said national security leaders have not gone to President Donald J. Trump yet with Afghanistan troop recommendations for 2017 and beyond. “One of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-officials-studying-force-size-in-afghanistan-dunford-says-69951/

DefenceTalkThe United States is closely examining whether a Russia-brokered deal to establish safe zones in Syria can work in the long term, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said. “All wars eventually come to an end and we have been looking for a long time how to bring this one to an end,” Mattis told reporters ahead […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-studying-moscows-syria-deal-mattis-69929/

DefenceTalkThe US military will ask the Donald Trump administration next week to deploy thousands more troops to Afghanistan, a senior official says. US media have reported that the Pentagon will request between 3,000 and 5,000 conventional military personnel, mainly to advise and assist Afghan military and police units in the fight against the Taliban. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-to-request-thousands-more-us-troops-for-afghanistan-69918/

DefenceTalkBamako: Shelling and rocket fire on a UN camp in Mali’s troubled Timbuktu killed one yet to be identified person and wounded nine peacekeepers, the United Nations mission said Wednesday. It is the latest attack to hit the mission, known as MINSUMA, stationed in the country since 2013 and considered its most dangerous active peacekeeping […]https://www.defencetalk.com/rocket-attack-on-un-camp-in-mali-kills-one-wounds-9-69890/

DefenceTalkGermany’s defence minister on Sunday vowed zero tolerance for far-right extremists in the military amid a widening scandal over a soldier who allegedly plotted an attack which he planned to blame on refugees. “We can tolerate many things, but not political extremism, right-wing or religiously motivated extremism,” the minister, Ursula von der Leyen, told public […]https://www.defencetalk.com/scandal-widens-over-far-right-german-soldier-in-attack-plot-69861/

DefenceTalkA huge blast which struck near Damascus airport early on Thursday was caused by Israeli missiles hitting a “military position”, Syria’s state SANA news agency reported. “A military position southwest of Damascus International Airport was targeted at dawn today by an Israeli aggression using several missiles fired from occupied territory, sparking explosions in the area,” […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israeli-missiles-hit-near-damascus-airport-69839/

DefenceTalkUS Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned of “another tough year” in Afghanistan as he arrived on an unannounced visit Monday, hours after his Afghan counterpart resigned over a deadly Taliban attack that triggered anger and left the embattled army in disarray. Paying his first visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, Mattis met with President Ashraf […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-chief-warns-of-tough-year-for-afghanistan-69812/

DefenceTalkUS Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday urged France to continue its African anti-terror operations under its new presidency, as he visited strategic Djibouti on the day of France’s first-round election. “I have no doubt that the French will continue to make their own decisions in their own best interest and that the terrorists will […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-counting-on-french-anti-terror-ops-in-africa-mattis-69796/