DefenceTalkTwin attacks in Mali this week have killed 16 soldiers and wounded 18, the army said late Tuesday, in the latest violence sweeping the Sahel state. The statement lifted the casualty toll of four soldiers dead and 17 injured in separate attacks Monday in the northeast and center of the conflict-torn country. Thirty-seven “terrorists” were […]https://www.defencetalk.com/mali-attacks-leave-16-soldiers-dead-78482/

DefenceTalkAn attack using an explosives-packed drone on an airport in Arbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, is the latest in a series targeting Western military or diplomatic installations on Iraqi soil since late 2019, and marks an escalation of the weapons used. A US-led international coalition has been in Iraq since 2014 to help local forces […]

DefenceTalkAir strikes that hit a school in rebel-held Idlib province in northwest Syria killed 22 children and six teachers, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said Wednesday. “This is a tragedy. It is an outrage. And if deliberate, it is a war crime,” said UNICEF director Anthony Lake. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “warplanes […]https://www.defencetalk.com/22-children-killed-in-air-raid-on-syria-school-unicef-68501/

DefenceTalkA Pakistani Taliban militant wanted for his role in a school massacre has died in a US drone strike in Afghanistan, Pakistani and American military officials said Wednesday. Omar Narai, also known as Omar Khalifa and Khalid Khurasani, died in Nangarhar province over the weekend, security officials from both countries said. Narai “was killed along […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-drone-strike-kills-pakistan-militant-behind-school-attack-67824/

DefenceTalkThe world needs to do more to prevent “nuclear terrorism”, the head of the UN atomic watchdog has warned ahead of an important summit and in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks. “Terrorism is spreading and the possibility of using nuclear material cannot be excluded,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano told […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-atomic-chief-warns-on-nuclear-terrorism-67190/

DefenceTalkUS military personnel involved in a devastating air strike on a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan have been or will be punished, officials said Thursday. The bombing last October of the MSF hospital in Kunduz — which came as NATO-backed Afghan forces clashed with insurgents for control of the northern provincial capital […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-military-personnel-punished-over-afghan-hospital-attack-67087/

DefenceTalkThe deadly Paris attacks have reignited debate on encrypted communications by terror cells and whether law enforcement and intelligence services are “going dark” in the face of new technologies. The exact means of communication in Friday’s strikes were not immediately clear, but media reports have said the Islamic State organization has increasingly turned to encrypted […]https://www.defencetalk.com/attacks-revive-debate-on-encryption-surveillance-65882/

DefenceTalkAn Israeli air strike on the northern Gaza Strip killed five people on Wednesday evening, medics said, as Israel’s army announced two more soldiers had died in fighting. Earlier, Israeli tank fire killed five people, including two children, in southern Gaza, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, as Wednesday’s body count reached at least 47 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-strikes-kill-dozens-in-gaza-as-toll-tops-670-60246/

DefenceTalkMilitary action against the Syrian regime would be a “tragic mistake”, Russia said Sunday, warning the West not to preempt the results of a UN probe into alleged deadly chemical attacks. Moscow warned there was a danger of history repeating itself a decade after the US-led invasion of Iraq, which it opposed, and urged the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-warns-us-against-syria-military-action-48875/

DefenceTalkPakistan reached an understanding with the United States on drone strikes targeting Islamist militants and the attacks can be useful, according leaked remarks from a former intelligence chief. Pakistan publicly condemns US missile attacks on Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives as a violation of its sovereignty, but the new revelations are the latest sign of double-dealing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/report-reveals-pakistan-us-understanding-on-drones-48334/