Middle East

  • Yemen’s Houthis hit US-owned dry bulk ship in the Gulf of Aden

    January 15, 2024

    Houthi forces in Yemen struck the U.S.-owned and operated dry bulk ship Gibraltar Eagle with an anti-ship ballistic missile, U.S Central Command said on Monday, although there were no reports of injuries or significant damage. The vessel’s U.S.-based operator Eagle Bulk Shipping said that it was hit by an “unidentified projectile” while sailing 100 miles off ...

  • Iran identifies suspected bomb-maker behind twin blasts, arrests 35 people

    January 11, 2024

    Iranian authorities say they have identified the alleged ringleader who made bombs used in the twin bombings on January 3 in the southeastern city of Kerman that killed more than 90 people, state media reported. On Thursday, the Ministry of Intelligence said the main suspect who planned the bombings was a Tajik national known by his ...

  • Israel: ISIS-influenced terrorists planning Jerusalem attacks arrested

    January 11, 2024

    Israeli security forces last month arrested two Palestinians planning Islamic State-inspired terror attacks in Jerusalem, the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) cleared for publication on Thursday morning. The suspects, both in their twenties, were arrested in December in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jebel Mukaber, according to a joint police and Shin Bet ...

  • On Hamas, what did Qatar know and when did it know it?

    January 11, 2024

    Enemies of enemies are famously friends in the Middle East — except in the case of Qatar, which has managed to keep the world guessing by making all its neighbors the staunchest of frenemies. Gauging Qatar’s true loyalties has long been a parlor game in the volatile region, but in the wake of October 7, the ...

  • Yemen: Houthis launch missiles, drone barrage in new Red Sea attack

    January 10, 2024

    Yemen’s Houthis launched their largest missile and drone attack to date on ships in the Red Sea, forcing a response from US and UK forces patrolling the critical waterway. American and British jets and warships shot down 18 drones and three anti-ship missiles around 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday, according to the US military. It ...

  • Israeli fire led to death of six soldiers in Gaza blast, three more killed

    January 9, 2024

    Nine IDF soldiers were killed in three incidents in Gaza on Monday, with eight soldiers wounded. Six of the killed soldiers and most of the wounded came from an incident with explosive material near the partially underground and partially above-ground Hamas rocket manufacturing factory uncovered by the IDF at al-Bureij in central Gaza. Israeli fire on ...

  • Syria: Eight SAA soldiers and one civilian killed, 13 others injured in a terrorist attack in Palmyra

    January 9, 2024

    Eight soldiers were martyred Tuesday while 13 others were injured in a terrorist attack on a bus south of Palmyra in Homs eastern countryside. “Eight soldiers and one civilian were killed, 13 others were wounded in a terrorist attack with an explosive device on a military bus in Syrian al-Badyiah to the south of Palmyra,” Read more… Source: ...

  • Yemen: Two army officers killed in roadside bombing in Abyan

    January 7, 2024

    Two officers of the Yemeni government forces were killed on Saturday in a roadside bombing in the country’s turbulent southern province of Abyan. The local military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the explosion occurred when a military vehicle carrying the officers and soldiers was passing through a valley in the eastern part of ...

  • Israel: Border Police officer dies following IED explosion in West Bank

    January 7, 2024

    Israel Police announced the death of Sergeant Shay Germay, a border police (Magav) fighter, who was in an operational vehicle that was hit by an explosive device (IED) during a counterterrorism operation in the West Bank. The Magav vehicle had been hit by the IED in the Jenin refugee camp, at the time wounding four Israeli ...

  • Red Sea: Drone Boat Used In Attempted Attack

    January 4, 2024

    The Houthis have introduced unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to their current array of threats to Red Sea shipping. While the Yemeni militant group has used crude drone boats before — they actually pioneered the operational use of kamikaze USVs years ago — these weapons have not appeared in the current crisis until today. The USV “detonated ...

  • Israel: IDF uncovers, destroys explosive devices in West Bank

    January 4, 2024

    Israeli security forces located and found and confiscated weapons and hundreds of explosive devices in the West Bank Nur Shams refugee camp inside a building that also housed a kindergarten run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), according to a Thursday IDF statement. In addition, many weapons and other pieces of military equipment ...

  • Iran: Kerman terrorist explosions leave 103 dead and 171 injured

    January 3, 2024

    At least 103 people lost their lives and 171 were injured as the result of two terrorist explosions in Iran’s central city of Kerman on Wednesday, according to the latest reports released by Emergency Medical Services of Iran. The incident took place in Kerman Martyrs Cemetery where thousands of people were observing the fourth martyrdom anniversary ...

  • Lebanon: Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri killed in Beirut blast

    January 2, 2024

    Lebanese media report that Saleh al-Arouri, a deputy political leader of Hamas, was killed in a drone strike in southern Beirut on Tuesday along with six others – two Hamas military commanders and four other members. He was a key figure in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, and a close ally of Ismail Haniyeh, ...

  • Yemen: Unknown gunmen bomb crude oil pipeline in Shabwa

    January 2, 2024

    Unknown gunmen carried out an attack and blew up a major crude oil pipeline in the country’s southeastern province of Shabwa on Monday evening. The blast was directed at the pipeline responsible for transporting crude oil from the Jannah Hunt oil field in the Usaylan district, the source said on condition of anonymity. This pipeline stretches ...

  • Israel: IDF locates weapons lab, rocket launchers, strikes terrorists on Gaza beach

    January 2, 2024

    Over the last 24 hours, soldiers from Israel’s navy and ground infantry units have identified terrorists placing explosive charges on Gaza beaches and nearby buildings with the intent to attack IDF troops, the military spokesperson said on Tuesday. The navy, in cooperation with air and ground forces, killed several terrorists and destroyed explosives that posed a ...

  • Chinese peacekeepers in Lebanon obtain mine clearance and EOD quality certification

    January 2, 2024

    BEIJING, Jan. 2 — The 52 members of the 22nd Chinese Peacekeeping Troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) passed the mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) quality assessment conducted by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) recently. The evaluation was carried out at a mine clearance training ground in the ...

  • US forces attack three Houthi boats in Red Sea, killing at least 10 fighters

    December 31, 2023

    The US military stated earlier on Sunday that it sunk three boats waging an attack on a container ship in the Red Sea as it continued its patrol mission to counter threats from the Houthi rebels. Helicopters from two US warships – the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely – shot at the “Iranian-backed Houthi small boats” ...

  • Denmark assists Iraq in clearing landmines

    December 31, 2023

    The Danish government has contributed an additional $3.17 million to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq. The new contribution will help the Iraqi government protect civilians from the threat of explosive ordnance and support humanitarian, socioeconomic, and reconstruction efforts, according to a statement released by the UNMAS. The Danish government has given the ...