25 Aug 17. North Korea tests short-range missiles as South Korea, U.S. conduct drills. North Korea fired several short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast early on Saturday, South Korea and the U.S. military said, as the two allies conducted annual joint military drills that the North denounces as preparation for war.
The U.S. military’s Pacific Command said it had detected three short-range ballistic missiles, fired over a 20 minute period.
One appeared to have blown up almost immediately while two flew about 250 km (155 miles) in a northeasterly direction, Pacific Command said, revising an earlier assessment that two of the missiles had failed in flight.
The test came just days after senior U.S. officials praised North Korea and leader Kim Jong Un for showing restraint in not firing any missiles since late July.
The South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles were launched from the North’s eastern Kangwon province into the sea.
Later on Saturday, the South Korean Presidential Blue House said the North may have fired an upgraded 300-mm calibre multiple rocket launcher but the military was still analysing the precise details of the projectiles.
Pacific Command said the missiles did not pose a threat to the U.S. mainland or to the Pacific territory of Guam, which North Korea had threatened earlier this month to surround in a “sea of fire”.
Tensions had eased somewhat since a harsh exchange of words between Pyongyang and Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump had warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un he would face “fire and fury” if he threatened the United States.
North Korea’s last missile test on July 28 was for an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to fly 10,000 km (6,200 miles). That would put parts of the U.S. mainland within reach and prompted heated exchanges that raised fears of a new conflict on the peninsula. (Source: Reuters)
25 Aug 17. Saudi troops deploy to Aden.
Key Points:
• Saudi Arabia has made an unannounced deployment of troops to Aden
• The southern Yemeni port city has been in the UAE’s sphere of influence for the last two years
In a possible reflection of a rift with its main coalition partner the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia has deployed troops to Aden in southern Yemen for the first time in around two years.
Saudi Arabia has not announced that it has sent troops to Aden, but the deployment has been confirmed by a combination of amateur video footage and photographs taken in the city.
Low-quality video footage began circulating on social media channels on 17 August showing a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship docked at a location that could be identified as Aden’s container terminal.
(Source: IHS Jane’s)
25 Aug 17. Lebanese military makes rapid gains against Islamic State. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have achieved rapid progress in its long-expected operation to clear Islamic State militants from a pocket of territory close to the Lebanon’s northeast border with Syria, with sources close to the LAF telling Jane’s on 25 August that they expect the battle to be over within days.
Operation ‘Al-Fajr al-Jurd’ began on 19 August and involves up to 5,000 troops from the 6th and 9th Mechanised Infantry Brigades, the 1st and 4th Intervention Regiments, the Anti-Armour Regiment, the 1st and 2nd Artillery Regiments, as well as a sizeable number of special forces personnel drawn mainly from the Air Assault Regiment as well as detachments from Military Intelligence’s Mukafaha and Striking Force units. Resistance has been lighter than many expected and the LAF has suffered minimal casualties. As of 25 August, the surviving Islamic State fighters on the Lebanese side of the border were holed up in a valley of some 20 km 2. US observers on the ground have described the operation as “21st Century manoeuvre warfare by a modern military,” according to sources close to the LAF. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
25 Aug 17. China says nothing will sto