DefenceTalkLeftist rebels with the National Liberation Army (ELN) claimed responsibility Saturday for this week’s attack on a Colombian army helicopter in which eight troops were killed. The incident took place on Monday, in the northern department of Norte de Santander. “On June 22. … at 12:30 pm, in … Teorama, Norte de Santander, ELN units […]https://www.defencetalk.com/colombias-eln-rebels-claim-to-down-army-helicopter-64730/

DefenceTalkAccording to a report by the think tank Center of European Policy Analysis, Russian troops performed an island attack exercise over the Gulf of Finland in March of this year. The report emphasised a need for increased security and cooperation between Poland, Baltic and Nordic nations, calling the region a “new front line” to Russia’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-think-tank-nordic-baltic-polish-9-should-boost-security-64712/

DefenceTalkWarplanes from the Saudi-led Arab coalition have launched heavy raids against rebel positions in seven Yemeni provinces, witnesses and military sources said Wednesday. The attacks that began overnight and continued Wednesday were the most intensive since the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan last week, witnesses said. Positions were targeted in the northern […]https://www.defencetalk.com/saudi-led-warplanes-bomb-rebels-across-yemen-64706/

DefenceTalkThe US will deploy heavy weapons in central and eastern Europe for the first time, Washington said Tuesday, in the midst of the worst stand-off between Russia and the West since the Cold War, triggered by the crisis in Ukraine. “We will temporarily stage one armoured brigade combat team’s vehicles and associated equipment in countries […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-to-deploy-heavy-weapons-on-natos-eastern-flank-64647/

DefenceTalkWASHINGTON: Anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant forces have made significant gains in northern Syria, which will have positive effects in Iraq as well, a senior U.S. Central Command official said today. During a telephone conference from Southwest Asia with Pentagon reporters, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve Chief of Staff Marine Corps Brig. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/general-significant-gains-made-by-anti-isil-forces-in-northern-syria-64598/

DefenceTalkThe leader of Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen was targeted in a CIA drone strike last week, though US officials would not immediately confirm he had been killed, The Washington Post reported Monday. Nasir al-Wuhayshi’s group, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is behind several plots against the United States, including an attempt to blow up a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cia-drone-strike-targets-top-al-qaeda-leader-in-yemen-report-64511/

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/

DefenceTalkFor Malian troops making their first forays into the country’s north since jihadists took control, French military support provides reassurance at a time when they are strangers in their own back yard. Islamist militias linked to Al-Qaeda — some foreign fighters but most homegrown jihadists — seized the vast expanse of desert in 2012, effectively […]https://www.defencetalk.com/mali-troops-get-reacquainted-with-lost-north-64465/

DefenceTalkTwenty civilians were among at least 45 people killed in Saudi-led air strikes on the rebel-held armed forces headquarters in the Yemeni capital on Sunday, a medic said. The raids on the army headquarters in central Sanaa came a day after the kingdom’s air defences shot down a Scud missile fired from the war-torn country. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/45-dead-in-saudi-led-raids-on-yemen-capital-64403/

DefenceTalkGerman Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Tuesday that the issue of whether Germany should pay reparations to Greece for the Nazi occupation during World War II had been settled, while not denying the country’s moral responsibility. Athens’ new radical leftist government has stepped up pressure on Berlin over the emotional and controversial issue of war […]https://www.defencetalk.com/germanys-schaeuble-insists-greece-war-payments-settled-64111/