Global defense news, analysis and opinion

Burkina Faso and DC National Guard sign counter-terror partnership

The District of Columbia National Guard and Armed Forces of Burkina Faso concluded a formal partnership to develop the African nation’s counter-terrorism and peacekeeping capacities as part of the U.S. National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership program. Burkina Faso is the 76th country to join the program, which will focus on building its security force capabilities, the D.C. National Guard said on February 3. The partnership will include “mission areas related to homeland defense and security, disaster mitigation and response, consequence and crisis management, inter-agency cooperation, border, port and aviation security, fellowship-style internships, and combat medical events” similar to the existing partnership with Jamaica, the National Guard said. “We are eager to develop our partnership with Burkina Faso through targeted security force assistance programs aimed at building Burkina Faso’s capacity in specific areas such as counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, intelligence, and defense institutions building,” said Major General William J. Walker, Commanding General, D.C. National Guard. The agreement was formally signed on February 1 with Walker in attendance, as well as Burkina Faso’s Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense Justin Som, U.S. Ambassador to Burkina Faso Andrew Young, Brigadier General Moise Miningou, the Chief of General Staff for the National Armed Forces of Burkina Faso, and …

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Burkina Faso: 14 civilians killed in attack in Yatenta near Mali border

The attack in the town of Kain in the Yatenta province bordering Mali, is one of the most serious recorded in Burkina Faso and came on the eve of a G5 Sahel summit

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Germany pledges €110 million to boost NATO battalion infrastructure in Lithuania

Germany will invest €110 million (US$127 million) in military infrastructure in Lithuania until 2021, its defense minister said on a Monday, February 4 a visit to mark two years since NATO installed battalions in the Baltic region to ward off Russia. In 2017, NATO deployed four multinational battalions to Poland and the Baltic states as a counter against possible Russian action following its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Germany leads the NATO battalion in Lithuania comprising 1,200 troops from 10 countries. “We’re going to invest in the long-term engagement,” Ursula von der Leyen told reporters, adding that Berlin would invest in “common barracks and training fields” in Lithuania until 2021. Lithuania’s defense minister Raimundas Karoblis hailed Germany’s spending plans as evidence of commitment to the NATO deployment. “We have heard very officially, very clearly at the political level … that Germany is for the long run here and will stay here as long as the security situation will demand it,” Karoblis said. The other three NATO battalions deployed in 2017 are based in Estonia, Latvia and Poland and are led by the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, respectively. The three Baltic states, with a combined population of …

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US gives control center to Niger for Boko Haram operations

The US turned over a communications and operations center to the Niger army to help the African nation battle Boko Haram

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Jordan to hold new talks on Yemen prisoner swap deal

Yemeni government delegates and Houthi rebels will reconvene in Jordan for a new round of talks to thrash out a deal on a prisoner exchange

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French Mirage 2000 jets strike vehicles that entered Chad from Libya

French Mirage 2000 fighter jets carried out air strikes to halt an armed group that entered northern Chad from Libya in a column of 40 pickups

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US withdrawal from INF treaty fires the starting pistol on a new arms race

Withdrawal from the Cold War intermediate-range nuclear missile limitation treaty serves under-pressure US President Donald Trump in several ways, Dr Michelle Bentley argues

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‘Strong’ explosion at busy market in Somalia capital, police say

A powerful blast rocked a busy market in the Somali capital Mogadishu, which is regularly targeted by Al-Shabaab, police said

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Pentagon orders 3,750 more troops to US-Mexico border

The US will send an additional 3,750 troops to its frontier with Mexico, the Pentagon said, as President Donald Trump doubled down on his call for a border wall

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Roadside bomb kills one, injures four in Manbij, Syria

A roadside bomb struck a minibus carrying teachers in Manbij in northern Syria, killing one and injuring four others

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