DefenceTalkThe Pentagon said Wednesday that US air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State group may have killed 119 civilians since 2014, a figure far lower than casualty estimates by monitoring groups. The figures released by Centcom, the US military command in the Middle East, came from a months-long review of reports and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-strikes-may-have-killed-119-civilians-in-iraq-syria-pentagon-68565/

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/

DefenceTalkPakistan on Wednesday conveyed to the United States that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) are patronising terrorists groups to attack soft targets in the country. National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua conveyed the message to US ambassador David Hale in a meeting today, said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raw-nds-patronizing-terror-groups-in-afghanistan-pak-national-security-adviser-tells-us-envoy-68490/

DefenceTalkRussia warned the US-led coalition Wednesday against driving jihadists from Iraq to Syria, in the offensive to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State jihadist group. “It is necessary not to drive terrorists from one country to the other but to destroy them on the spot,” the chief of Russia’s General Staff Valery Gerasimov said in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-tells-us-led-coalition-not-to-drive-terrorists-from-iraq-to-syria-68448/

DefenceTalkChief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, speaking at the Peace and Prosperity seminar on Tuesday, said Indian intelligence agency RAW is actively involved in destabilizing Pakistan. “Hostile intelligence agencies are averse to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” said the chief of army staff. Let me make it clear that we will not allow anyone to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/indias-raw-involved-in-destabilizing-pakistan-says-general-raheel-67225/

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/

DefenceTalkPakistan on Friday protested to India after arresting a man suspected of being an Indian spy, sparking a new diplomatic tiff between the nuclear-armed neighbors. The man was arrested during a raid in the southwestern province of Balochistan, Pakistani media reports said quoting local security officials, calling him an agent with India’s Research and Analysis […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-protests-to-india-after-spy-arrest-67188/

DefenceTalkThe United States Defense Department said on Tuesday that the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan should not be a cause of concern to India as the deal “always” took into account the regional security situation. India has expressed its disappointment at the decision by the Obama Administration to sell to sell eight Lockheed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-16-sale-pakistan-not-concern-india-pentagon-66781/

DefenceTalkChina adopted its first counter-terrorism law Sunday after early drafts of the bill attracted strong criticism for provisions that may tighten media controls and threaten the intellectual property of foreign firms. The legislation comes as Beijing wages a hard-hitting campaign to stamp out ethnic violence in its Xinjiang region and tries to tighten control over […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-adopts-first-counter-terrorism-law-66185/

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/