Operation Serval Operation Serval Operation Serval () was a French military operation in Mali. The aim of the operation was to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali, who had begun a push into the center of Mali. Operation Serval followed the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2085 of December 20, 2012 and an official request by the Malian interim government for French military assistance. The operation ended on July 15, 2014, and was replaced by Operation Barkhane, launched on August 1, 2014 to fight Islamist fighters in the Sahel. Three of the five Islamic leaders, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, Abdel Krim
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War October 2015, Russian president Vladimir Putin said the military operation had been thoroughly prepared in advance; he defined Russia′s goal in Syria as "stabilising the legitimate power in Syria and creating the conditions for political compromise" By the end of 2017, the intervention produced significant gains for the Syrian government, including the recapture of Palmyra from ISIL in March 2016, retaking the major city of Aleppo in December 2016, breaking the three-year-long siege of Deir ez-Zor and establishing full control over that city in November 2017. In early January 2017, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed