Russia and Ukraine
| Ukrainian servicemembers in American equipment, including Scorpion W2 camouflage. Photo: Reuters. |
The Russian trucks that entered Ukraine without Ukrainian permission
have left the country after delivering what is believed to be humanitarian aid
to the separatist stronghold of Luhansk. A spokesman of the Ukrainian military
says that they left carrying machinery from factories in the city.
Ukraine has held a military parade to celebrate the 23rd
anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union. Footage of the parade
shows some soldiers wearing American body armor and Scorpion W2, the new
standard camouflage pattern of the U.S. Army. The pattern – and other U.S. equipment
– have been seen on Ukrainian servicemembers in eastern Ukraine.
Absent an open Russian invasion, the Ukrainian military is
on the verge of capturing Luhansk and Donetsk, another city held by the
pro-Russian separatists.
The humanitarian situation for civilians has been negatively
affected by the widespread use of imprecise Soviet-era artillery and
undisciplined volunteer militias by both sides. Between 2,000 and 2,500 people
have died in the fighting. Peace talks in Minsk will likely have no result.
Iraq
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| An Iraqi Turkmen fighter in a defensive position in Amerli. Photo: Ali al-Bayati/AFP/Getty Images |
Combat between ISIS and the Iraqi military near a major oil
refinery. ISIS has attacked the facility multiple times, but the Iraqi military
has successfully repulsed all attacks.
The Shia village of Amerli is under siege by ISIS. A Turkmen
militia appears to be defending Amerli, but the villagers are lacking food and
water. Observers fear a massacre if the terrorist group captures the town.
Rising sectarian violence in Iraq worsened this week. Sunni
parliamentarians suspended negotiations to form a new government after Shia
gunmen killed 73 Sunni worshippers at a mosque in Diyala province. The removal
of divisive Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has not been enough to reduce
tensions.
Syria
ISIS has taken territory from the Syrian government. Giving
in to public demand for retaliation, the Syrian government has launched
airstrikes against ISIS in response. Unlike American airstrikes in Iraq, they
seem to have mostly hit civilians. Failure to act meaningfully against ISIS may
delegitimize the Syrian government – especially if the moderate U.S.-backed
rebels of the Free Syrian Army succeed in fighting the terrorist group. The
Syrian government ignored ISIS earlier this year, as the group initially targeted
Free Syrian Army, who have fought the Syrian government since 2011.
A British member of ISIS beheaded American journalist James
Foley this week. American special forces failed to rescue him and other
hostages earlier this summer, finding that the hostages had been moved shortly
prior to the raid.
The Syrian military has introduced improvised bar armor for
its T-72 tanks – a low-tech solution to a high attrition rate. The bars and
chains, set at a distance from the tanks’ armor, are meant to detonate incoming
anti-tank rockets prematurely to prevent destruction of the vehicle. The
improvisation suggests that Syrian government armories are running out of
reactive armor – a more effective, but more expensive, technology that does the
same thing with a directed explosion.
More than 191,000 people have been confirmed killed in the
Syrian Civil War. Some estimates put the death toll at above 260,000.
| An air strike hits a house in Gaza. Photo: Reuters. |
Israel and Gaza
The exchange of rockets and airstrikes resumed again when
peace talks collapsed on Wednesday. Both sides claimed victory when Israel
withdrew ground troops from Gaza on August 5.
The barrage of airstrikes has had a severe effect on Gaza’s
economy, destroying 360 factories. Thousands of acres of farmland have been
ruined.
Hamas has executed 18 people it accuses of “collaborating
with Israel” without trial. Along with three Hamas commanders, more than 2,000
others, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza; fewer than seventy
Israelis, almost all soldiers, have been killed.
Afghanistan
The Taliban have launched a major offensive in southern
Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Helmand has been the site of near-continuous
fighting since 2006. Afghan police claim that the Taliban have been using
night-vision goggles, suggesting a foreign supplier.
Reports indicate that the Taliban have been using drugs to
make bombers – including children – suicidal.
The disputed presidential election is still being recounted.
The total number of casualties over the course of the
thirteen-year war is unclear.
Libya
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| Militiamen ride on a T-55. Photo: Reuters. |
Islamist fighters have seized the airport in Tripoli, Libya’s
capital. Unknown planes struck Islamist positions last week. The diverse
militia groups fighting in Libya have coalesced into roughly Islamist and nationalist
coalitions, which are in conflict with each other. The Libyan government has
failed to exert effective control.
India: Kashmir
Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire across the Line
of Control early Saturday morning, killing four civilians. Both countries
accuse the other of shooting first. An Indian border guard was killed in
cross-border fire last month.
Hopes for improved relations were dashed last week when
India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled high-level talks with
Pakistan, after Pakistani representatives met with an Indian separatist group.
Pakistani diplomats have talked with the group in the past. Modi earlier
accused Pakistan of waging a proxy war in Indian Kashmir. The separatist insurgency
in Kashmir has led to 93 deaths this year.
This year, other insurgencies in India have killed 476.
China: Xinjiang
China has executed eight people believed to be behind the
2013 bomb attack in Tiananmen Square. The attack is believed to have been the
work of Uighur separatists. The Chinese government has launched a massive
crackdown on ongoing Uighur unrest in Xinjiang.
Uighur representatives have disputed the government’s
narrative on a recent supposed riot, claiming that police fired on a peaceful
protest, and have killed others in “massacres”.
