What's Going on in the World Today 110406

 
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USA
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EUROPE
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ASIA

South Korea: U.S. To Allow Korean JCS To Command Materiel, Personnel March 31, 2011

The South Korean and U.S. militaries agreed, in principle, to appoint the chairman of the Korean Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) to command U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force personnel and equipment to support the South Korean military in case of a provocation from North Korea, a government source said, Chosun Ilbo reported April 1. Since the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, the South Korean JCS had persistently called for the option to mobilize U.S Forces Korea for support, a military source said. Under consideration is the command of reconnaissance aircraft such as U-2s, E-8 Joint-Stars, artillery from the Second U.S. Infantry Division, such as Multiple Launch rocket Systems and M-109 self-propelled guns, Apache attack helicopters and medevac helicopters, as well as some U.S. Navy and Air Force personnel.

RUSSIA
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IRAN
Turkey: Illegal Iranian Arms Shipment Seized March 31, 2011

Turkey told the U.N. Security Council’s committee on Iran sanctions that it seized a weapons cache on March 21 that Iran was trying to export in violation of a U.N. arms embargo, Reuters reported March 31. The arms — 60 AK-47 assault rifles, 14 BKC/Bixi machine guns, almost 8,000 rounds of ammunition, 560 60 mm mortar shells and 1,288 120 mm mortar shells — were aboard an Iranian YasAir Cargo Airlines Ilyushin-76 aircraft bound for Aleppo, Syria. According to the report, which was sent to the committee March 29, the plane was authorized to transit Turkish airspace so long as it made a “technical stop” at Diyarbakir airport. The items were seized and moved to a military warehouse in Diyarbakir, the report said. The final destination of the arms is unclear. The crew was released and allowed to return March 22 to Tehran, but the incident is being investigated.


 
IRAQ
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ISRAEL
Palestinian Territories: Militant Groups Request Rearmament April 5, 2012

Twelve divisions of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a Fatah-affiliated militant group in the Gaza Strip, have asked the Hamas government to return weapons it had seized from fighters in 2007, Maan news reported April 5. According to a letter submitted to Hamas, the militants asked for the weapons because they are ready to confront any Israeli “aggression, incursion or folly.”

Palestinian Territories: Israel Strikes Smuggling Tunnels, Weapons Caches April 6, 2011

Israeli jets have carried out four airstrikes on smuggling tunnels and weapons caches in the Gaza Strip, DPA reported April 6, citing witnesses and doctors. Israeli F-16 jets fired missiles at two tunnels used for smuggling goods under Gaza’s border with Egypt, destroying them, witnesses said. The jets went on to make airstrikes on empty land where it believed that militants had hid weapons underground.
 
AFGHANISTAN

 
Afghanistan: NATO Repels Attack On Kabul Base April 2, 2011

NATO forces killed at least two militants April 2 when they repelled an attack on a NATO base just outside the Afghan capital of Kabul, AP reported, citing an email from NATO. The attackers were using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, and at least one of them may have been wearing a suicide vest, NATO said. Kabul’s provincial police chief said that according to reports there were three attackers; two died when their suicide vests detonated and the third was shot, he said.

MIDDLE EAST
Egypt: MB May Run For Nearly Half Of Parliament Seats April 6, 2011

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) could contend for as much as 49 percent of the seats in the September parliament elections, an MB leader said, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported April 6. The MB will announce its candidates within a week, an MB spokesman for the Sharqiya province said. A Guidance Bureau member said the group’s Shura Council would decide how many candidates it will field, likely within a few days. MB leaders said the party hopes to secure 35 to 40 percent of the seats.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Mexico Security Memo: April 5, 2011 | STRATFOR
 
MISC
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Except where noted courtesy www.stratfor.com