Guriel, Galmuduk region, Somalia. The Somali national army regains control of the city, which had been taken by the ASWJ militia, a former ally in the war against Shabaab and Al-Qaeda. The dead are about 120 according to ASWJ and 16 according to the government, while over
Historic security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The deal will see the US and UK give Australia the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time. It is widely seen as an effort to counter China’s influence in the disputed South
The leader of the Islamic State group in the Sahara is killed by French troops. Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi formed the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) in 2015. The group is accused of many attacks in the region, including the targeted killing of French
Kabul. General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, boarding the C-130, is the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan.
Kabul, Afghanistan. The airport, in agreement between the Americans and the Taliban, is still under NATO control, to allow for evacuation. 80,000 Afghans have already been evacuated in the gigantic airlift organized by the NATO military forces. In the crowd that throngs to access the airport, in front
Afghanistan. The Taliban also conquer Kunduz, in their rapid advance after the withdrawal of the allied troops. A few days earlier they had also conquered Sar-e-Pul and Taloqan.
Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The Americans leave the base overnight, a little earlier than the published plans. Thus ends a military intervention that lasted 20 years, which began immediately after the events of 11 September 2001, after the proven involvement of the Taliban in providing cover to
Israel. Triggered by a local issue in Jerusalem, and by the subsequent ultimatum to Israel launched by Hamas, an intense conflict erupts between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, mainly with rockets, drones and aerial bombardments: a total of 4360 rockets fired by Hamas towards
Qamishli, Syrian Kurdistan, on the border with Turkey. Asayish (Kurdish: Asayîş, Arabic: الْأَسَايِش), or the Kurdish forces for internal security, after a short battle, take possession of most of the city, which was previously largely occupied by government troops and pro governmental.
Rome. Walter Biot, officer of the Italian Navy, is arrested for espionage. He handled documents covered by secrecy preordained for the security of the state. Biot dealt, among other things, with the projection of the Italian defense assets in foreign operational theaters and also with NATO, EU and
Al-Qa’im, Syria. Two American F-15s hit 11 targets, buildings and trucks in Al-Qa’im in Syria, loaded with ammunition and explosives, on the Iraqi border, on the Euphrates, targets linked to the pro-Iranian militias. Ten days earlier in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, pro-Iranian militias had hit an American
Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. Pro-Iranian militias hit a US base with missiles. A civilian contractor was killed and some soldiers, including an American, were injured. After an investigation also carried out with Iraqi support, ten days later the United States will respond by bombing 11 targets, buildings and trucks
United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reveals a cyber attack by the Russian side, ongoing for months, against the digital infrastructure, managed by the company, SolarWinds, which manages the American military nuclear apparatus. It is presented as the worst case of cyberwarfare in US history. The targets
Tehran, Iran. Nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh is assassinated by automatic shots fired from a remotely operated satellite device.
Nagorno-Karabakh, Caucasus: Azerbaijian and Armenia sign a peace agreement, guaranteed by Russian troops positioned on the current front line. A few hours ago the Azerbaijani troops conquered the historic city of Shusha, thus occupying the entire southern part of the region, and are at the gates
Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 3 suicide bombers blow themselves up inside the university. There are 22 dead and dozens injured. The attack is claimed by Daesh / ISIS.
Vienna. Terrorist attacks with firearms and knives in 6 different points of the city, kill 5 people (including one of the attackers) and injure 14, including a policeman. The attacker who remained on the ground appears to have tried in vain in the past to reach Syria
Nice, France. A man armed with knives enters the Catholic Basilica of Notre Dame, repeatedly yells Allahu Akbar and kills 3 people: a 60-year-old in prayer, almost beheaded, the 55-year-old sexton with a deep cut in the throat, and a 44-year-old woman who manages to escape
Nagorno-Karabakh, Caucasus: the conflict between Azerbaijians in Armenia is rekindled in an unexpectedly bloody way.
Tehran, Iran. Al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammed al-Masri is killed, along with his daughter, by two men on motorcycles. The daughter, Miriam, is the widow of Osama Bin Laden’s son Hamza. The initial report in the official Iranian press speaks of a Lebanese history professor and his daughter, and
Mali. France announces that Abdelmalek Droukdel, leader of Al-Qaeda in Ord-Africa, was killed in May by French forces, and a senior leader of Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS), Mohamed Mrabat, was captured.
North Western Libya: the GNA government forces have control of the city of Tarhuna and of the whole southern part of Tripoli: the LNA forces of Haftar withdraw.
North Western Libya: GNA government forces manage to regain complete control of Tripoli airport.
North-Western Libya: hundreds of Russian mercenaries with much of their equipment leave the area by air flights, directed to the rear of central Libya controlled by Haftar (LNA). Turkish drones supporting Al-Sarraj (GNA) do not attack the retreating Russians.
North Western Libya: UAV drones (supplied by Turkey) and GNA government forces destroy or capture as many as 7 Russian-made Pantsir-S1s in just 48 hours. These are self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon systems costing approximately USD 14 million each, supplied to General Haftar’s LNA forces from the United
Northwest Libya: The giant and strategic al-Watiyah airbase is captured by the Al-Sarraj (GNA) government, who then pursue the retreating Haftar (LNA) men
N’Djamena, Chad. 44 prisoners of Boko Haram, affiliated with the Islamic state ISIS, were found dead poisoned in their cells. They are part of a group of 58 arrested in a raid after Boko Haram killed 100 Chad soldiers.
Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian security forces kill 7 jihadists, with suspected ties to ISIS, during a raid, followed by a violent 4-hour urban battle, in the Al-Amireya neighborhood of Cairo. Extremists were planning attacks on Coptic churches ahead of Sunday’s Orthodox Easter. An Egyptian policeman dies during the firefight
Libya. The forces of the Tripoli-based government of Al Sarraj, Government of National Accord (GNA), recapture the coastal cities of Sabratha, Surman, al-Ajaylat, Regdalin, al-Jumayl, Zelten and al- It, and thus regains continuity of control of territory along the entire Libyan west coast. Turkish air support is
Yemen. Al Qaeda of Arab Peninsula (AQAP) chief Qasim al-Raymi is killed by an American drone. He had taken the lead of AQAP in 2015, when his predecessor was killed in the same way. AQAP was born in 2009, and has been active ever since in the Arabian
Libya. The city of Sirte, first under the control of Al-Sarraj (a government recognized by the UN) of Tripoli, falls under the control of the general of Bengazi, Haftar. Only a few days earlier a ceasefire had been agreed between the parties in Berlin, with European mediation.
Tehran, Iran. A Ukrainian airliner carrying dozens of Canadians, Iranians, Ukrainians as well as other nationalities (176 people) is accidentally shot down by two Iranian anti-aircraft missiles. The episode is first attributed to a failure, then the responsibility is strongly denied by the Iranian authorities, and finally
Iraq. 16 Iranian missiles fall on the American bases of Irbil and Al Asad. No one is injured or killed. At the Al Asad base there are 2000 American soldiers and its landing strip is huge: more than 5km in length. In Erbil, in addition to the Americans, there
Tripoli, Libya. The military academician is hit by a bombing while the recruits are practicing. The dead are 31 and the wounded 33
Baghdad, Iraq. In the aftermath of the killing of General Solimani, a new American raid in Iraq, which kills 6 people including the commander of the pro-Iranian brigades Hashed Al-Shaabi.
Baghdad, Iraq. An American drone kills the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, and 3 other Iranians and 5 Iraqis. Soleimani was head of Iranian covert operations, in particular the Qods Brigades, and a key man in the ayatollah regime.The order to strike came directly from President Trump. Among the
Turkey. The parliament approves a military expedition of thousands of soldiers in the civil war in Libya, to support the government of Tripoli (recognized by the UN and supported by Turkey, Pakistan), against that of Bengazi (supported by Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates Arabi, Bahrain)
Moscow. Terrorist attack on the headquarters of the secret services (ex KGB) that lasted for over an hour, by one or more Kalashnikov armed people (initially they are declared as 3 and then corrected to one). One officer killed and 5 injured.
Northeast Syria. American troops (about 900 soldiers) return to patrol some areas of north-eastern Syria, in correspondence with the Iraqi crossing and oil wells.
Barisha, northwestern Syria, almost on the Turkish border. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State / Islamic State / ISIS / ISIL / Daesh, is killed by an American special forces operation. The area is under the control of Sunni militias, including Al-Qaeda, which is a
Syria. US President Trump declares that the ceasefire in Northeast Syria is now permanent and that he is lifting the sanctions against Turkey for it.
Syria. American Vice President Pence, together with Turkish President Erdogan, announce an agreement for a temporary ceasefire in the Turkish assault on the Kurds in the Syrian north-east. On the ground, the Turks occupied only a minority part of the security corridor at the border, which they
Georgia. Massive cyber attack on 2,000 government sites. In February of the following year, at the end of an investigation, Georgia, Great Britain and the United States identify the origin in the Russian secret servants (GRU). Similar attacks were also carried out in Ukraine in 2015, 2016, 2017,
Syria. Women’s rights activist Hevrin Khalaf, general secretary of the Kurdish Future Party, is stoned and killed by pro-Turkish militias.
US President Donald Trump announces the withdrawal of American forces from the Syrian north-east, effectively paving the way for Turkish military intervention.
Saudi Arabia. The kingdom’s main oil hub near the east coast on the Persian Gulf is attacked with drones and missiles. The first immediate claim is from the Yemeni Houthi rebels, supported by Tehran, but subsequent investigations point the finger directly at the Iranians, due to the
Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps shoot down an American RQ-4A Global Hawk drone. The Iranians claim it was in Iranian territorial waters, while the Americans claim it was in international waters.
Sri Lanka. Easter day for Catholics. Several coordinated terrorist attacks in churches in different cities of the country kill 321 people in prayer in Catholic churches to celebrate Easter. The attack is claimed by ISIS.
Baghus Fawqani, Syria. Even the last bitter resistance of the Islamic state (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) close to the left bank of the Euphrates is won by the Kurds of the SDF with the American support of USAF.
Milan. The driver of a bus with 51 middle school students, Ousseynou Sy, a 46-year-old Senegalese in service for the Autoguidovie di Crema, threatens the children and spreads the petrol: “Let’s go to Linate, today nobody gets out alive”. One of the schoolchildren, Adam Hel Amami, a
Christianchurch, New Zealand. 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant Harrison, with no criminal record but obsessed with the idea that Muslims are invading the world, enters a mosque and kills 49 people and injures dozens of others, including children.
Baghus Fawqani, Syria. The Kurds, with the support of the American-led coalition, are right in the last territory still occupied by the Islamic State (or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh). The Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant no longer has territories, after more than 5 years
First Trump for the United States and then Putin for Russia withdraw from the INF treaty (treaty to abolish medium-range nuclear missiles, signed in 1987 by Reagan and Gorbachev to remove the SS-20s and the Pershing 2 and Cruise from the European theater)
Yemen. The bomber in charge of the attack on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, which killed 17 American sailors, is killed in a targeted air strike by the USAF.
Strasbourg. Christmas markets. Cherif Chekatt, shouting “Allah Akbar” shoots people at the market, some pointing the gun to the head. There are 5 victims and dozens injured. The bomber manages to escape. After a few days of manhunt he is identified and killed.
Mogadishu, Somalia. Exactly one year after the worst Somali massacre, in which over 600 people lost their lives, Hassan Adan Isak, who drove the truck that was then detonated, is executed.
The coalition led by Saudi Arabia takes possession of the southern outskirts of al-Houdeida, the main seaside city in northern Yemen, without being able to occupy the city held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
Syria. American-French-English missile attack (105 missiles in all launched by American B-1 bombers, French Raphael, and British Tornadoes), on military targets linked to the attack with chemical weapons by the Assad regime a few days earlier .
Douma, Syria. Over 100 dead and a thousand injured under treatment in a chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime.
Syria. The Turkish army and rebels armed by the Turks complete the capture of Afrin and the surrounding area, at the expense of the Kurds of the YPG.
Carcassone, France. Radouane Lakdim, a 25-year-old Moroccan who says he belongs to ISIS and wants Salah Abdeslam free (Paris attack in November 2015), kills two people and takes hostages in a supermarket. One of the policemen offers himself in exchange for one of the hostages and leaves
Syria. Two months after the start of the Turkish Olive Branch offensive against YPG, Turkish troops enter Afrin, the Kurdish capital of the region.
Salisbury, England. The former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, like every year, go to his wife’s grave to lay a bouquet of flowers. Yulia lives in Russia and her father in England. Someone puts the nerve agent in Yulia’s suitcase already in Russia, and causes
Syria. After an Iranian drone trespassing into the Israeli Golan, Tel Aviv’s response leads to an unprecedented bombing in the Syrian South West on government and Iranian positions. One of the Israeli F-16s is shot down on return. The two pilots are saved, one is serious. This is the
Deir Ezzor, Syria. A group of Russian militiamen (the Russian army officially withdrew in December 2017) and Syrian government forces cross the Euphrates and head towards the Coneco oil plant, under Kurdish control. The American air force intervenes, and the dead are over 300, of which over
Idlib, Syria. A Russian Su-25 military jet is shot down by rebels. The pilot launches himself, but then takes his own life with a grenade, before being captured.
Kabul, Afghanistan. A Taliban kamikaze attack, with an ambulance gaining access to the protected area of the capital, kills one hundred people and injures hundreds more.
Syria. The territories under direct ISIS control are reduced to a minimum. But it is right now that, having won the ISIS challenge, the government of Damascus and Turkey are concentrating on other objectives. Damascus attacks the rebel enclave of Idlib, while Turkey bombs and attacks the Kurdish
Iraq declares the war against ISIS won on its territory. There remain some pockets, mostly desert, in Eastern Syria, but ISIS has lost more than 95% of the territory. Of the 40,000 fighters in 2014, about 3,000 remained. The foreign militiamen killed would be almost 7,000 and about
Sinai, Egypt. ISIS terrorist attack, against hundreds of Sufi faithful (a mystical current of Islam) gathered in prayer. The victims are 305, including 27 children.
Syria. Assad’s Russian-backed government forces complete the capture of Deir ez-Zor, which began on September 5th.
New York City. Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbek immigrant to the United States, kills his van on a bike path in Lower Manhattan. He kills 8 people and injures 11. He says he is acting for ISIS. He was screaming “Allah Akhbar”. Among the 8 victims, 5 are Argentine ex-classmates
Afghanistan. A barrage of attacks that left over 70 victims among the Muslim faithful in prayer. The first took place in a Shiite mosque in Kabul and was claimed by Isis, the second in a Sunni mosque in Ghor, central province of Afghanistan.
Philippines. The city of Marawi is liberated from ISIS by the regular forces. ISIS had occupied the city for 5 months. Isnilon Hapilon, head of ISIS in the Philippines, is killed. Over a thousand ISIS affiliates are killed in the military operation.
Iraq. Iraqi regular forces and Iranian-armed Shiite militias occupy the city of Kirkuk with its oil wells. The Kurdish Peshmerga militias, who have held it since 2014, when Iraqi soldiers fled in the face of the advance of ISIS, leave the city peacefully. The Iraqi and Shiite advance
Syria. Kurdish forces, backed by the Americans, completely liberate the former capital of the Islamic State, Raqqa.
Mogadishu, Somalia. Hassan Adan Isak drives a truck loaded with explosives and parks it in the busiest intersection in the city. Then detonated. Over 600 people die. This is the worst massacre in Somalia. He will be captured and executed exactly one year after the enormous massacre.