Mohammed bin Salman / AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud said during an interview with the Time magazine, which was released on April 5, that Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad will stay in his position and added that a strong Iranian influence in Syria is not within the interest of the Assad. “I believe Bashar is staying for now. And Syria has been part of the Russian influence in the Middle East for a very long time. But I believe Syria’s interest is not to let the Iranians do whatever they want in Syria for the mid-term and long-term because if Syria changes ideologically, then Bashar, will be a puppet for Iran,” Bin Salman told the Times. Bin Salman said that he hopes that the Syrian president and the growing influence of Russia will play a key role in countering the Iranian influence in the war-torn country. However, the Saudi Crown Prince didn’t specify to what level Saudi Arabia is actually counting on this. “So better for hi

On April 6, the US Army Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced in an official statement that it had destroyed a vehicle armed with a heavy machine gun and had killed three fighters of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab group in an airstrike on the town of Jilib in the Middle Juba region, 240km south of the city of Mogadishu. Click to see the full size-image AFRICO claimed that no civilians had been hurt in the airstrike and confirmed that it had been conducted in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia. “US forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect US citizens and to disable terrorist threats,” AFRICOM added in its official statement. The US had conducted seven airstrikes against al-Shabaab in Somalia since the beginning of 2018, according to AFRICOM. These airstrikes are usually conducted by unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). Despite of the increased number of the US airstrikes, al-Shabaab is still capable of carrying

Pantsir-S air defense system. FILE IMAGE: Sputnik. Evgeny Biyatov The Russian military has modernized its Pantsir-S1 short to medium range air defense systems using experience gained in Syria, Commander of Russia’s Air-Defence and Missile Defense Troops Lieutenant General Viktor Gumenniy said in an interview with the Russian Defense Ministry’s newspaper Red Star. Lieutenant General Gumenniy noted that the Pantsir-S1 is capable of shooting down not only aircraft and missiles, but also projectiles. Thus, the systems have been able to repel repeated militant shelling attacks on the Khmeimim airbase. The general also revealed that over 4,000 servicemembers of the Air-Defence and Missile Defense Troops have gained expirience in Syria since the start of the Russian antii-terrorist campaign in the country.