During the morning hours of June 5, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE announced the cutting of all diplomatic ties with Qatar. While the new development is unlikely to have any effect on Qatar’s and any of the other impacted countries’ security conditions in the short term, we assess that this measure may lead to multiple local and regional ramifications over the coming months.
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Category: Reports
Current Situation According to statements made by the Egyptian Armed Forces (EAAF) Spokesperson, the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) targeted “terrorist gatherings” in Derna during the overnight hours of May 26-27, and in an unspecified area in Libya during the morning hours of May 27. The airstrikes were conducted after “confirming the targets’ involvement in planning…
On May 1, Hamas’ Political Bureau Chief Khaled Mashaal revealed during a press conference in Doha, Qatar a revised version of the group’s charter, accepting the idea of a Palestinian state according to the June 4, 1967 borders. However, according to the charter, the group still does not recognize the state of Israel. In addition, the new charter stresses that the “struggle is against the occupation and not against the Jews”. Meanwhile, according to Mashaal’s summary of the changes to the charter, Hamas will not abandon armed struggle nor “give up one parcel of Palestinian land,” and “strives to liberate all Palestinian lands from the river to the sea” (referring to the Jordan river and the Mediterranean, including the state of Israel).
On May 9, early elections will be held for the next President of the Republic of Korea, commonly known as South Korea. The day has been categorized as a public holiday, and as such, schools, banks, and other government services and offices will remain closed. The early election follows the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye on March 10, the culmination of a series of corruption allegations and mass protests that began in late 2016. Leading the polls are (in order) Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party, Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People’s Party, and Hong Jun-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party, a rebranded iteration of Park’s former Saenuri Party. Hong’s vote share has been steadily increasing in recent polls at the expense of Ahn’s decline.
According to the state news agency, clashes between militants and security personnel in Sidi Bouzid which commenced during the morning hours of April 30, had concluded in the late afternoon hours. According to the source, in addition to a militant who previously died when detonating an explosive belt and another who was fatally shot by security forces, four other militants were arrested, while no casualties were inflicted on security personnel.
On April 19, security forces and non-governmental installations were targeted in 13 locations spread between Narathiwat, Pattani, and Songklha in a series of simultaneous attacks that began at approximately 19:00 (local time). In Narathiwat, grenades were thrown at a checkpoint in Yi-ngo, a patrol in Si Sakhon, in a residential area of Waeng, and at a special forces unit in Rangae; shooting attacks were launched against a military base in Tak Bai and a defense volunteers’ group in Sungai Padi; and a bomb reportedly went off in Rueso.
Both the Hasam Movement and Liwaa al-Thawra subscribe in essence to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, and set as an objective to remove the “regime of the military coup” and replace it with what they perceive as the democratically elected and legitimate Muslim
On April 16, the Turkish public will vote on a referendum which, if passed, will enact major reforms to the national constitution. At the core of the referendum is the decision to replace the existing parliamentary system of government with an executive presidency. The passing of this referendum will thus reform all of Turkey’s branches of government.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has stated that two US naval destroyers stationed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea launched a total of 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) at Syria’s Sharyat Airbase, located approximately 25 km southeast of Homs City, at 04:40 (local time) on April 7.
In light of the recent events in Syria, where on April 4 the Assad regime is alleged to have used sarin gas to attack a rebel-controlled town in the Idlib Province, killing nearly 100 people and wounding hundreds more, it is necessary to review the possibility of chemical attacks by militant groups or individuals in non-conflict zones.
