DefenceTalkColombian troops killed 11 dissidents of the disbanded FARC guerrilla group, officials said Monday, as a fight looms over the future of a 2016 peace agreement in runoff presidential elections. The military operation took place Sunday in the south of the country as Colombians voted in the first round of presidential elections that left a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/11-farc-dissidents-killed-in-colombian-military-operation-71704/

DefenceTalkFrance is to send a contingent of counterterror forces to help the army in Niger after militants ambushed a military patrol killing 16, the defence ministry said. The decision, announced late Saturday, was taken following a request from President Mahamadou Issoufou after Wednesday’s attack near the border with Mali. The deadly ambush, which took place […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-sends-backup-to-niger-after-16-troops-killed-69302/

DefenceTalkEgypt’s military said two soldiers were killed Saturday during a widescale offensive against jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula that killed 64 militants on its sixth day. The military launched the campaign Monday to uproot militants loyal to the Islamic State group who have turned the northern part of the peninsula into a launch pad for […]https://www.defencetalk.com/egypt-military-says-two-soldiers-64-militants-killed-in-sinai-65385/

DefenceTalkPakistani air strikes on Sunday killed 23 militants including foreigners in the country’s restive tribal regions near the Afghan border, the military said, part of a major ongoing operation against the Taliban. The attacks took place in areas close to the border with Afghanistan in Khyber and North Waziristan tribal districts. “(A) huge ammunition dump […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-military-says-23-militants-killed-in-air-strikes-64732/

DefenceTalkPakistan’s military said Saturday it had killed more than 2,700 militants since the launch of a major offensive near the Afghan border a year ago, with the latest air strikes leaving 20 dead. The raid Saturday took place near the Datta Khel area in North Waziristan tribal region. “At least 20 terrorists were killed in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-military-2763-militants-killed-in-one-year-offensive-64490/

DefenceTalkPakistan’s military Tuesday said it had killed 28 militants in air strikes in the restive tribal region near the Afghan border, a region where it has been battling Islamist groups for more than a decade. The strikes, that also killed a number of foreign fighters, took place on Tuesday in Dattakhel area of North Waziristan […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-air-strikes-kill-28-militants-60801/

DefenceTalkIslamist militants have rolled over the Iraqi army because the Shiite-led government has pursued a sectarian agenda that alienated Sunnis, the top-ranking US military officer said Wednesday. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that Baghdad had requested US “air power” to fend off the onslaught of Sunni extremists. But he […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iraqi-leaders-sectarianism-fueled-militant-advance-us-59949/

DefenceTalkMilitants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a militant offensive sweeps closer to Baghdad, prompting the UN Security Council to convene crisis talks Thursday, with the US said to be considering air strikes on the rebels. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the second city of Mosul on Tuesday […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-calls-crisis-talks-as-iraq-militants-advance-on-baghdad-59870/

DefenceTalkWashington vowed Wednesday to boost aid to Iraq and is mulling drone strikes amid fears Iraqi forces are crumbling in face of militants increasingly emboldened since the US withdrawal. Iraqi officials have already privately asked the US to consider sending in drones to root out militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-may-send-in-drones-to-iraq-to-battle-militants-59855/