India and China Reinforce Their Positions in the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet Border Area Stand-off
India and China Reinforce Their Positions in the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet Border Area Stand-off
An active duty US Army soldier, Ikaika Kang, has been arrested in Hawaii on terrorism charges after he attempted to provide classified documents and a drone to the Islamic State (ISIS) group.
A Columbian man has been arrested in Costa Rica on suspicion of planning to carry out a terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert like the Manchester bombing that left 22 people dead.
It was reported that a new US diplomatic and military policy for Libya would aim to further the existing national objectives of supporting reconciliation between rival factions in the eastern and western areas of Libya, re-opening of the US embassy, and increased intelligence sharing led by US special forces.
In Burundi eight people were killed in a grenade attack on a bar in the country's northern area.
Syrian and Iraqi sources are once again claiming that ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is dead something that US CENTCOM has said that it cannot confirm.
US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have captured a town in northern Syria, al-Ukayrshi that was home to a former ISIS training camp named after Osama bin Laden.
The Iraqi government has announced the liberation of Mosul and victory over ISIS.
It was revealed that the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group is constructing at least two underground facilities in Lebanon for manufacturing missiles and weapons. One of the underground facilities is being built in the town of Hermel in the Bekaa Valley to produce the Fateh 110 Short-Range Ballistic Missile. While the second facility is being constructed along the southern coast, between the towns of Sidon and Tyre to make smaller munitions.
At least seven Hindu pilgrims were killed and 14 wounded when their bus was sprayed with gunfire by militants in Kashmir.
A suicide bomb attack in southwestern Pakistan on Monday reportedly killed a district police chief along with his body guard and a civilian.
The death toll in the battle between ISIS-linked Maute terrorists and Philippine government troops in the southern Philippine city of Marawi has surpassed 500 dead. Some 90 of the dead were soldiers and police officers while at least 381 of the dead were terrorists killed in the fighting. The official civilian death toll remains at 39 killed, but is expected to go much higher.
Sadly, on Monday, a US military KC-130T refueling tanker crashed in Mississippi killing all 16 aboard.
On the international security front, US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, announced that the US and Qatar signed a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines future efforts Qatar can take to fight terrorism. It remains to be seen if this will cool regional tensions between Qatar and its neighbors.
The Indian Army has deployed another 2,500 soldiers from Sikkim to reinforce its ongoing troop face-off with China on the Doklam Plateau. China has also sent reinforcements to Khamba Dzong and other areas near its Chumbi Valley, which is in between Sikkim and Bhutan. There are about 300-400 troops each from India and China at the stand-off site on the Doklam plateau, which is Bhutanese territory but possession of it would give strategic depth to China’s narrow Chumbi Valley near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet border junction. The Indian Army has three high-readiness, 10,000-man, Infantry divisions in region, including 17th Division at Gangtok, 27th Division at Kalimpong, and 20th Division at Binnaguri. The 63rd and 112th Brigades already deployed in east and north Sikkim, with 3,000 troops each. Two battalions under the 164th Brigade have also been "activated and moved up" to the Zuluk and Nathang Valley in the state. Elements of the 20th Mountain Division have also been moved to the region for an ‘exercise.’ China has forward deployed 3000 men but could counter India with three Army Groups in the Western Military Command Region.
The Trump administration is reportedly moving unilaterally to tighten sanctions on North Korea. China has said it is not responsible for North Korea distancing itself from any solution.
In response to North Korea’s recent Hwasong-14 Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch, the US on Tuesday test-fired its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from Alaska successfully intercepting a target missile. THAAD is used to intercept Short- and Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBMs and IRBMs) it has a perfect hit record.
