Author: Steven Sahiounie

Protests over the death of George Floyd have grown nationwide and are expected to continue for a fifth day in Minnesota and across the US. The Pentagon said it has increased an alert status of some US military units amid civil unrest. It added that it has not received a request ‘at this time’ by Minnesota governor for US military troops to support the state’s national guard or state law enforcement. Stores were looted and gas stations were set on fire in Minneapolis as rioting continued overnight. Earlier this week, the National Guard was sent to the area to control the situation.…

Some active-duty US military police officers have reportedly been ordered to prepare to deploy if local authorities request their assistance. The Pentagon has announced an increase in the alert status of some US military units in order to potentially support Minnesota which is currently struggling with civil unrest. The Pentagon also noted that some US military units units are now on four-hour recall status, though the Minnesota governor apparently hasn’t yet sent a request for the support of US troops. “At this time there is no request by the Governor of Minnesota for Title 10 forces to support the Minnesota…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator US Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, US Africa Command, released a statement on May 26 accusing Russia of sending Russian military aircraft to Libya to support the Libyan National Army (LNA).  The accusations are detailed and include photos and images, which are supposed to convince the reader that Russia sent planes to Syria, where they were repainted to disguise their source, and then flown on to Libya. However, the photos don’t provide evidence of the accusations. The US statement uses the word “assesses” five times, and also uses the phrase “are likely to”.  Those…

Two Russian Su-35 aircraft intercepted a P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft assigned to U.S. 6th Fleet over the Mediterranean Sea May 26. The spy plane was flying in the international airspace close to the Syrian coast, where Russia’s Hmeimim airbase located. The Pentagon said that “the intercept was determined to be unsafe and unprofessional due to the Russian pilots taking close station on each wing of the P-8A simultaneously, restricting the P-8A’s ability to safely maneuver, and lasted a total of 64 minutes.” “U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert…

On May 25th, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that Turkish security forces had “neutralized” 1,458 “terrorists” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and Syria, since the beginning of 2020. “As of Jan. 1, a total of 1,458 terrorists have been neutralized as a result of the operations carried out within the framework of the fight against terrorism in northern Iraq and Syria,” Hulusi Akar said in the central Kayseri province.“Turkish Armed Forces will resolutely continue its fight until the last terrorist is neutralized,” Akar added. “The neutralization of these terrorists” came within the framework of counter-terrorism operations…

On May 27, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) carried out a series of airstrikes on ISIS remnants around the Homs desert in central Syria. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the airstrikes targeted the southwestern Raqqa countryside, which borders the northeastern part of the Homs desert. The National Defense Forces (NDF) are currently conducting a large-scale operation against ISIS cells in southwestern Raqqa. Russian journalist Oleg Blokhin shared many photos of the ongoing operation a few days ago. ISIS launched a series of fierce attacks from the Homs desert in the last few months. The Syrian…

Russia has dismissed as “disinformation” claims by the United States that Moscow has deployed fighter planes to Libya to support its “mercenaries” aiding the rebels in the North African country. Andrey Krasov, the deputy head of the defense committee of Russia’s State Duma, told Interfax on Tuesday that the accusation “does not correspond to reality.” “Russia’s position is well known: we are in favor of ending the bloodshed in Libya, we urge all parties to the conflict to refrain from using weapons and sit at the negotiating table,” Krasov said. He made the comments in response to a statement by…

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered China’s armed forces to “comprehensively” strengthen the training of troops and be prepared for war, as tensions rise between Beijing and a number of other countries. Speaking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress on Wednesday, Xi praised the Chinese army’s contribution to the country’s fight against the coronavirus epidemic but called on the armed forces to ramp up military training. “It is necessary to explore ways of training and preparing for war because epidemic control efforts have been normalized,” China’s official news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.…

The Western military coalition, purported to fight the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, has reportedly deployed three Patriot missile batteries at a US base in Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr. The Arabic-language al-Alam television news network, citing local sources, reported on Wednesday that the batteries were deployed to the base set up at the Koniko gas field, which is located about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) east of the provincial capital city of Dayr al-Zawr, during the past few days. Koniko is one of the largest gas plants in Syria. The sources added that the US-led coalition forces are working to install similar batteries…

The Unit Corporation said in a statement on Tuesday that it has filed for bankruptcy after acquiring debt of more than $650 million thereby becoming the third oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States to become a casualty to the measures implemented to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic. “Like many companies in the oil and gas industry, we have felt the impact of the severe downturn in commodity prices, which has only worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic”, Unit Corporation President and CEO David Merrill said in the statement. Merrill emphasized the need for the company to…