DefenceTalkCairo has carried out air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Libya after the jihadists posted a video showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians. Egypt said a “tough intervention” was needed and with France called on the UN Security Council on Monday to “take new measures” against the jihadists in neighboring Libya. With […]https://www.defencetalk.com/egypt-strikes-is-group-targets-in-libya-63134/

DefenceTalkBy targeting the Islamic State group with air strikes in Libya, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, having crushed Islamist opponents at home, has become a key ally of the West against jihadists, experts say. His warplanes bombed IS camps and weapons stores in the Libyan city of Derna hours after the Sunni extremists released a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/libya-raids-turn-egypts-sisi-into-key-anti-is-ally-63131/

DefenceTalkEgypt’s decision to buy 24 Rafale jet fighters from France underscores its determination to diversify its sources of weapons and reduce its dependence on the United States, experts said. The 5.2-billion-euro ($5.9 billion) deal is a historic first foreign sale of the Rafale for France, which is set to sign the contract in the Egyptian […]https://www.defencetalk.com/egypt-ends-us-arms-monopoly-with-french-jet-fighter-deal-63045/

DefenceTalkU.S. defense spending dropped to 38 percent of the global total in 2014, compared to its 47 percent share in 2010, according to an assessment of global military capabilities published Wednesday in Britain. Analysts at the International Institute for Strategic Studies says the shift comes as military spending in the Middle East and Asia rises […]https://www.defencetalk.com/military-spending-rises-in-asia-middle-east-62946/

DefenceTalkSyria will not allow foreign ground troops on its territory to fight the Islamic State group, Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on Monday. Speaking at a news conference in Damascus, Muallem also said Jordan had not responded to a Syrian request to coordinate efforts against IS after the group killed a captured Jordanian pilot. “So […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syria-rejects-foreign-ground-troops-to-fight-is-62858/

DefenceTalkA squadron of warplanes from the United Arab Emirates arrived Sunday in Jordan to help the kingdom in its fight against the Islamic State group, state media reported. The F-16 fighter jets were deployed at a Jordanian air base along with UAE pilots and technicians, said the kingdom’s official Petra news agency. Jordan and the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/uae-warplane-squadron-lands-in-jordan-to-back-strikes-on-is-62781/

DefenceTalkJordan announced Sunday it conducted dozens of air strikes on the Islamic State group that murdered one of its pilots, as part of an international assault Washington says is beginning to bite. Air Force chief Major General Mansour al-Jobour said the kingdom had launched 56 air raids on IS since Thursday. “On the first day […]https://www.defencetalk.com/jordan-pounds-is-as-air-war-begins-to-bite-62779/

DefenceTalkThe first deliveries of Saudi-funded French weapons to help Lebanon combat jihadists will begin in April, a spokesman for Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday. Fabius confirmed the time frame at a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Romain Nadal told reporters. Riyadh pledged $3 billion […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lebanon-to-start-receiving-french-arms-in-april-62804/

DefenceTalkWith the collapse of the government in Sanaa, the United States has lost a reliable partner in its fight against Al-Qaeda in Yemen with potentially dire consequences, officials and experts said Friday. The result could mean an emboldened Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), able to operate more freely amid political turmoil and without pressure […]https://www.defencetalk.com/yemen-upheaval-deals-blow-to-us-fight-against-aqap-62240/

DefenceTalkCanada’s opposition leader accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday of having lied when he promised no ground combat alongside airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq. The accusation comes after Canadian special forces exchanged gunfire with Islamic State fighters in the Mideast country in recent days, in the first confirmed ground battle between […]https://www.defencetalk.com/canadas-harper-lied-about-ground-combat-in-iraq-opposition-62050/