Situation Reports

Belarus began mass snap reserve call-ups in its western Grodno region bordering Poland and Lithuania as part of an unscheduled combat readiness inspection, with thousands reportedly summoned on hours' notice and transported to training grounds, Charter'97 reported on Feb. 23.

Pakistani officials said on Feb. 22 that the country's military launched airstrikes overnight Feb. 21 targeting seven "terrorist camps and hideouts" linked to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and Islamic State Khorasan Province in the eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost, killing at least 70-80 militants, Dawn reported on Feb. 22.

Ghana and Burkina Faso signed at least seven agreements to enhance security collaboration, tighten border controls, improve intelligence sharing and counterterrorism coordination, and combat drug trafficking, Jeune Afrique reported on Feb. 22.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam at the White House for their first formal in-person talks, Reuters reported on Feb. 20.

North Korea's Workers' Party reelected Kim Jong Un as general secretary at its ongoing ninth Party congress, which has so far focused on strengthening North Korea's "war deterrence" centered on nuclear weapons capacity, Yonhap News Agency reported on Feb. 23.

Chad closed its eastern border with Sudan amid severe clashes between forces loyal to the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, in the locality of Tina in Sudan's North Darfur state, with RSF forces allegedly clashing with Chadian security forces near the locality, Reuters reported on Feb. 23.

The European Parliament suspended ratification of the EU-U.S. trade agreement, International Trade Committee Chair Bernd Lange said Feb. 23.

Hungary vetoed approval of a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) emergency loan for Ukraine as well as a new sanctions package against Russia, Politico reported Feb. 23.

U.S. forces began to withdraw from Syria's Qasrak military base in the northeast, though the United States still maintains a military presence at the Rmelan base near the Syria-Iraq border, Reuters reported on Feb. 23.

Protests by university students broke out on Feb. 21 at several places inside Iran and continued into Feb. 22, BBC reported.