AENR30: The Spring Offensive

This podcast covers the past two weeks, mainly focusing on Afghanistan and Ethiopia. Index/References: APC - Armored Personnel Carrier Civil Contract: Armenian centrist political party led by current PM Nikol Pashinyan D-30: Soviet-made 122mm artillery howitzer. Used by over 60 nations and non-state actors; widely used in Tigray War (2020-Current), Yemeni Civil War (2014-Current), & Syrian Civil War (2011-Current) Doctors Without Borders - Médecins Sans Frontières: International medical/humanitarian non-govt organization founded in 1971. Known for work in war zones and providing aid to area rife with disease EDF - Eritrean Defense Force; belligerent in the Tigray War (2020-Current) ENDF - Ethiopian National Defense Force: Federal armed forces of Ethiopia; belligerent in the Tigray War (2020-Current) Free Perú - Partido Político Nacional Perú Libre: Peruvian left-wing political party founded in 2007 and officially registered in 2016; widely seen as socialist/Marxist-Leninist Hayastan Bloc - (Locally: Armenian Alliance): Armenian political alliance led by former President Rober Kocharyan. Made up of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Reborn Armenia party, and the One Armenia Party Houthi movement - (Arabic: Ansar Allah/English: Supporters of God): Yemeni Shia rebel movement founded in 1994. Backed by and widely seen as a proxy group of Iran; main belligerent in Yemeni Civil War (2014-current) L-100-30: Civilian variant of C-130 Hercules airplane made by Lockheed Martin MANPADS - Man Portable Air-Defense System: Surface-to-air missile used to take down aircraft, usually in the form of a shoulder fired missile launcher NFAC - Not Fucking Around Coalition: American black nationalist militia mostly operating in the southern US, founded in 2017 PMU - Popular Mobilization Forces: Umbrella of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias that were created in 2014 to assist govt security forces in fighting ISIS. Have also seen fighting in Syria and are widely recognized as an Iranian proxy force. The majority of militias are Shia Muslim Popular Force - Fuerza Popular: Peruvian right-wing, populst political party founded in 2010 Saudi-led coalition: Military intervention into the Yemeni Civil War backing the internationally recognized govt. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the largest contributing members TDF - Tigray Defense Forces: Armed force of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region; belligerent in the Tigray War (2020-Current) TPLF - Tigray People's Liberation Front: Ethnic Tigrayan nationalist political party; ruling party of the Tigray Region and long-time ruling party of Ethiopian federal govt UAV - Unmanned Aerial Vehicle; commonly known as “drone(s)”