DefenceTalkSyrian government warplanes took to the skies again Saturday over the flashpoint northeastern city of Hasakeh, despite a US warning against new strikes that might endanger its military advisers. In another escalation of the five-year war, regime planes this week bombarded positions held by US-backed Kurdish forces in the city fighting the Islamic State (IS) […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syrian-warplanes-fly-over-flashpoint-city-despite-us-warning-68039/

DefenceTalkAn arms watchdog on Monday urged major weapons exporters, including the United States and France, to cut sales to Saudi Arabia over its actions in Yemen, as a conference on global arms trade opened in Geneva. The World Trade Organization is hosting the second conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which came into force […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cut-weapons-sales-to-saudi-over-yemen-arms-watchdog-says-68034/

DefenceTalkTurkish armed forces on Monday launched artillery strikes on separate targets of Islamic State (IS) jihadists and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Kurdish militia in northern Syria, television reports said. Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey fired on IS targets in the town of Jarablus and PYD targets around the area of Manbij, the CNN-Turk […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkey-launches-artillery-strikes-on-is-kurdish-pyd-in-north-syria-tv-68032/

DefenceTalkRussia said Tuesday its warplanes flew out of an Iranian airbase for the first time to bomb jihadist groups in Syria, as fighting raged for control of the ravaged city of Aleppo. The deployment marks a major switch in the bombing campaign the Kremlin launched in September to support Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, as until […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-launches-first-syria-raids-from-iran-base-68018/

DefenceTalkNATO said Thursday it was watching “with concern” growing tensions between Ukraine and Russia over Crimea, and urged Moscow to defuse the situation. Ukraine earlier put its forces on high alert after Russia accused it of “terrorist attacks” into Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. A NATO official said the US-led military alliance was “monitoring […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-watching-crimea-tensions-with-concern-67999/

DefenceTalkFierce fighting in Helmand has sent thousands of Afghans fleeing to the capital of the southern opium-rich province, sparking a humanitarian crisis as Taliban insurgents besiege the city despite intensified US airstrikes. The Taliban advance on Lashkar Gah has compounded fears that the city was on the brink of falling into insurgent hands, even as […]https://www.defencetalk.com/thousands-flee-fierce-fighting-in-afghanistans-helmand-67975/

DefenceTalkSyrian military forces bolstered by Russian air strikes are making progress in the battleground city of Aleppo, rolling back the short-lived gains of a rebel offensive. A watchdog voiced concerns meanwhile over reports of a chlorine gas attack Tuesday in nearby Saraqeb, close to where Russia said one of its helicopters was shot down the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syrian-military-in-aleppo-fightback-67953/

DefenceTalkDefense ministers and other senior leaders of the counter-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant coalition have agreed on next steps in the accelerated fight against the terrorist army in Iraq and Syria, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today. Carter hosted the meeting, the third of its kind, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for […]https://www.defencetalk.com/carter-defense-ministers-agree-on-next-steps-in-counter-isil-fight-67870/

DefenceTalkThe US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group has resumed air strikes from a Turkish air base that were suspended after a failed military coup d’etat, the Pentagon said on Sunday. “After close coordination with our Turkish allies, they have reopened their airspace to military aircraft,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-led-coalition-resumes-strikes-against-is-from-turkey-base-67859/

DefenceTalkIsrael’s military on Sunday fired two Patriot missiles at a drone that “infiltrated” from war-ravaged neighboring Syria, it said. The missiles missed the drone which “returned to Syria” after the incident in the central Golan Heights, where the demarcation line between the two countries is located, the military said. “Moments ago two Patriot air defence […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-fires-missiles-at-drone-from-syria-army-67844/