Syria

Israel is maintaining pressure on Iranian-led units in Syria trying to establish bases near the Israeli border. It conducted two more air attacks on Friday after a deadly airstrike earlier this week.  In the first operation, a warehouse used by the terrorist group Hezbollah in Homs was reportedly struck by Israeli missiles just after midnight […]

A massive bomb blast in the northern Syrian town of Afrin killed at least 46 people including 11 children and wounded another 50 in a crowded downtown street. Officials expect the death toll to rise. The bomb was detonated using a fuel tanker to increase the lethality of the explosion. Turkey’s defense ministry blamed the […]

Green Berets prepare to breach an entryway during a readiness exercise near At-Tanf Garrison, Syria, April 25, 2020. Coalition and partner forces regularly train on tactics and various weapon systems in an enduring effort to defeat of Daesh in southern Syria. Special Forces teams have deployed to Iraq and Syria since 2015 for the fight […]

The Israeli Air Force conducted a heavy airstrike on a Syrian military airport outside of Damascus, before dawn on Monday, hitting several positions that base Iranian troops.  Early reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) stated that seven people were killed, four Iranian troops and three civilians, while four other people were wounded, […]

As SOFREP previously reported, Russia earlier this month made headlines for the arrival of a Russian Air Force Antonov-124 cargo plane at New York’s JFK Airport on 1 April. The cargo plane, registration number RA-82038, reportedly delivered much-needed medical supplies to the city following a phone conversation earlier that week between President Trump and Vladimir […]

The Russian investigative newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, has identified a Russian Wagner Group contractor as the man responsible for the torture and beheading of a Syrian national back in 2017.  The newspaper named the alleged torturer as Stanislav Yevgenyevich Dychko. He had been hired as a reconnaissance gunner by the Russian government-linked Wagner mercenary company. However, […]

The Russian military is getting to put its newest battle tank through extensive testing in a dry, desert-like, environment, with a backdrop of a bloody civil war, in Syria. The purpose is to iron out any potential issues with it before it is fielded widely to its own forces in 2021. The head of Russia’s […]

Russia’s Wagner Group is having an increasingly difficult time in Africa. About a year ago, Moscow was crowing about beating the West and China in securing private military contracts, underbidding several western countries’ bids by touting their “Syrian Model” of success. As a result, they ended landing upwards of 20 private military contracts in Africa. […]

On Wednesday, an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) drone blasted a Jeep carrying four Hezbollah members, among them a senior officer. The vehicle was reportedly shuttling arms from Syria into Lebanon.  Initial reports were conflicting as the IDF first reported that some of the terrorists from Hezbollah were killed in the strike but then changed to […]

German law enforcement officers arrested four Islamic State sympathizers who were plotting to attack U.S. installations and personnel in the country. The four men came from Tajikistan. Identified only by their first names and the first letter of their surname (Azizjon B., Muhammadali G., Farhodshoh K., and Sunatullokh K.), they age between 24- and 32-years-old. […]

Eight Special Operations Airmen were recognized for their valor during a deployment in Afghanistan as part of a 75th Ranger Regiment task force. The Air Commandos came from the 17th Special Tactics Squadron. In conjunction with the Rangers and other American and Coalition units, they completed 129 direct action raids and 153 kinetic strikes. The […]

In the past few days, the United States did a bit of saber-rattling by flying its newest stealth fighter, the F-35, over its Special Operations bases in Syria. This is the American version of daring the bully in the schoolyard to test him one more time. It was probably no coincidence that the F-35 flew […]