The UAE has added eight new aircraft shelters and a weapon storage area to a reserve airfield on the coast, commercial satellite imagery shows. The activity suggests that the UAE may maintain a detachment at the reserve airfield to rapidly respond to potential threats. Assets routinely deployed at al-Hamra include the AH-64 Apache and the…
This report analyses the 6,627 pro-government combat deaths in the Syrian Civil War that the author recorded between March 20, 2017 and June 30, 2018. The first half of the report examines the origins of the casualties and where they died while the second half is dedicated to a comprehensive overview of the major offensives…
Two U.S.-built primary satellite links and a ground control station (GCS) were relocated to the United Arab Emirates’ al-Safran airbase situated south of Madinat Zayed, imagery from Planet Labs shows. They likely belong to the recently acquired RQ-1E Predator-XP UAV the UAE purchased in 2013. The Predator XP is the unarmed licensed export variant of…
Alors que les préoccupations internationales grandissent au sujet de l’utilisation d’armes chimiques par la Syrie, de nouvelles preuves de leur utilisation par l’armée syrienne continuent à émerger. Le matin du 1er février 2018, des activistes locaux ont rapporté l’utilisation de roquettes chimiques remplies de chlore envoyées sur l’ouest de la ville de Douma, située à…
Un rapport précédent d’Eliot Higgins a rassemblé les preuves concernant au moins deux bouteilles de gaz jaunes associées aux attaques du 7 avril 2018 à Douma, en Syrie. Ce rapport examine les similitudes avec les précédentes attaques qui ont impliqué du chlore en Syrie, et dénombre les bilans humains rapportés depuis Douma allant de 43…
Iraq is on fire. Since late June, media has reported on wildfires in northern parts of Iraqi Kurdistan among the border with Turkey, along the border with Iran in the northeast and in the southeast of Iraq at the Hawizeh marshes, bordering Iran. A hazardous cocktail of climate change-induced increased summer heat, water shortages, military…
Medical and rescue facilities in opposition held areas have frequently been the target of air strikes by pro-government forces, and what appears to be the open stages of the Battle for Idlib is no different. On September 6th 2018 the Syrian Civil Defence Twitter account posted images of what was described as a White Helmets…
As a potential offensive into the remaining Syrian rebel strongholds in Idlib from the Assad government becomes more likely, Russian propaganda outlets like RT (formerly known as Russia Today), their various embassies, and their network of friendly media outlets have started pushing stories of potential chemical attacks in Idlib and Hama. Various stories spread by…
The Syrian regime continues to indicate that an offensive on rebel-held Idlib in coming, publishing videos of ammunition and soldiers being moved to borders of the region and dropping leaflets calling for reconciliation. Opposition forces have also begun preparations: digging trenches, merging organizations and groups into their umbrella, and asking civilians to begin moving from…
At just after 8:20 in the morning on the 9th of August, a bomb dropped from a Saudi-led Coalition plane struck a busy market area in the center of Dahyan, in Saada Governorate, Yemen. The bomb impacted close to the middle of the main road through the town, causing massive civilians casualties. Tragically, most of…
