#2
This pictures may attract some liberal protesters
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/09/2026 6:05 Comments ||
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#3
So now we wait for the other shoe to drop with regard to Israel and Iran. The rat bastard coward has sought shelter in Russia because he expects to be nuked ((probably)swag). Really winging it here, but between his flight and Russian evacuation of personnel from Israel, I expect something momentously bad. I would like to be wrong.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
01/09/2026 6:50 Comments ||
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#8
Re #2: Because of the fur or because she's a McArthur? BTW__ my respect for Bugout Doug just went up qyite a bit - she was a fox... which I guess ties back to the original point of this post.
🚨Chinese Nationals Ordered to Evacuate Northern Afghanistan After Deadly Attacks
Following a deadly assault on Chinese mining camps in Takhar, which claimed the lives of 5 Chinese workers, the Chinese Embassy has directed all its citizens to leave Takhar and Badakhshan… pic.twitter.com/ZY11njAepn
🚨Chinese Nationals Ordered to Evacuate Northern Afghanistan After Deadly Attacks
Following a deadly assault on Chinese mining camps in Takhar, which claimed the lives of 5 Chinese workers, the Chinese Embassy has directed all its citizens to leave Takhar and Badakhshan provinces immediately.
This is the 3rd attack in these northern Afghan provinces bordering China and Tajikistan, highlighting a worsening security situation.
The Afghan Taliban regime is directly behind these attacks, creating chaos, targeting civilians, and failing to protect both locals and foreign workers. Their brutality and lawlessness have claimed innocent lives and forced evacuations, exposing the regime as a clear threat to safety, security, and development in Afghanistan.
Are the Taliban really so stupid as to kill the unbeliever foreigners willing to invest in providing things that earn the Taliban money?
#1
Are the Taliban really so stupid as to kill the unbeliever foreigners
fanatic /fə-năt′ĭk/ noun
- A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause.
- A person affected by excessive enthusiasm, particularly on religious subjects; one who indulges wild and extravagant notions of religion.
- A person who is zealously enthusiastic for some cause, especially in religion.
[SudanTribune] A drone strike, suspected to have been launched by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targeted a Sudan Shield Forces (SSF) camp in the Butana plains of Al-Jazirah State in central Sudan on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring five others.
Local sources told Sudan Tribune that the drone attacked the camp in the areas of Jebel Al-Labtiour and Qureimat Al-Radma. The strike resulted in the death of one soldier and left five others with injuries.
Youssef Amara Abusun, an SSF commander, said on Facebook that these aggressive acts would not deter the will of the Sudanese people or undermine their cohesion. He added that such attacks would increase their determination to defend their land and dignity.
NEW: Developments on the ground are accelerating in El-Huve (Al-Khuway), a city in West Kordofan state. Local sources report that the Sudanese army is advancing toward strategic axes around the city, amid intense clashes with the UAE backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The… pic.twitter.com/ni56CfDdrr
NEW: Developments on the ground are accelerating in El-Huve (Al-Khuway), a city in West Kordofan state. Local sources report that the Sudanese army is advancing toward strategic axes around the city, amid intense clashes with the UAE backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The sources confirmed that the fighting remains highly fierce, with the use of heavy and medium weapons, turning El-Huve into a scene of heavy combat between the two sides. This advance comes as part of the army’s plan to expand its area of control in West Kordofan, while the Rapid Support Forces are attempting to reinforce their defensive lines to repel the assault.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/09/2026 00:00 ||
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[1782 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
JNIM blew up the bridge linking Benena (Mali) and Djibasso (Burkina Faso) near the border between the two countries, amid a major surge in activity by the group in the Boucle de Mouhoun region in northwest Burkina Faso in recent months. pic.twitter.com/GIDJ922bdX
JNIM claims to have ambushed two patrols of the pro-government Donzo militias near "Koulougotoma" and "Tougoulougoura" in the Segou region, central Mali this evening. pic.twitter.com/qUOCdYFrAV
Waves of Saudi-backed National Shield Forces @diralwatan (NSF) have been entering the city of Aden in southwestern Yemen without any resistance from STC-aligned forces.
Waves of Saudi-backed National Shield Forces (NSF) have been entering the city of Aden in southwestern Yemen without any resistance from STC-aligned forces.
So far, the units that have entered Aden as part of the NSF, all from the 1st Division, i am seeing elements from the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 7th Brigades. The 3rd Brigade is now in control of Jabal Hadid Base. These forces have taken control from the Southern Giants Forces of Al-Ma’ashiq Presidential Palace.
However, there are reports that the Southern Giants Forces are resisting the handover of Aden International Airport.
More:
New sheriff in town. Videos from Aden show the Southern Giants Brigades @alamalikah asserting control, including taking over the @adenairport.
The video footage suggests a relatively small organized unit, likely a company-sized force, entering the city. The members of the… pic.twitter.com/D5pqpajRt5
[FoxNews] US Southern Command said the action was carried out 'without incident'
U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker on Friday in a pre-dawn action, the U.S. Southern Command announced.
"In a pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident," the U.S. Southern Command wrote in a post on X.
"Apprehensions like this are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale," the statement added. "The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere."
U.S. Southern Command said the operation sent a clear message that "there is no safe haven for criminals."
"The vessel’s AIS (location) tracker was last active 52 days ago in the Venezuelan EEZ, northeast of Curaçao," British maritime risk management company Vanguard said, according to Reuters. "The seizure follows a prolonged pursuit of tankers linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments in the region."
The Olina was reportedly flying the flag of Timor-Leste, according to Reuters, which cited Equasis. The vessel had previously sailed from Venezuela and returned to the region, Reuters reported, attributing the statement to an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The Olina, previously named the Minerva M, was sanctioned by the United States for its role in transporting Russian oil, according to The Wall Street Journal. The outlet noted the move could further inflame tensions between Washington and Moscow, coming just days after the U.S. seized another vessel that claimed Russian protection and was reportedly escorted by the Russian Navy.
This is the fifth such seizure in recent weeks and comes less than one week after the U.S. carried out a daring operation in Venezuela in which dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cili Flores, were arrested.
One down, three to go?
The U.S. is now chasing 4 sanctioned oil tankers that have re-flagged as Russian vessels and are trying to escape from Venezuela.
[Breitbart] Videos show that the Sinaloa Cartel used marble slabs and statues to smuggle meth into Spain from Mexico. Authorities in Spain, working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, were able to raid several properties and businesses in a takedown of the cartel and its allies in that country, which led to the arrest of nine individuals.
The raids took place in recent days in various cities in Spain as authorities tried to take down the cell, which they claimed was the main meth supplier in that part of Europe. Spain’s National Police shared a video on social media that shows some of the raids carried out by their officers.
During the raids, Spanish authorities are seen breaking marble slabs that cartel members were allegedly using to smuggle drugs into the country. Authorities also arrested a Spanish businessman who was using his legitimate marble business to transport and hide the smuggled drugs.
During a raid in one of the man’s businesses, authorities found a hidden bunker where the man hid three million Euros in cash from alleged drug proceeds.
In a statement, the National Police revealed that the raids were the continuation of an investigation that began in 2023 as part of Operation Saga, which at the time led to the second-largest meth seizure in Spain’s history. In the aftermath of that operation, the Sinaloa Cartel worked with local traffickers to re-establish their presence in Europe.
Spanish authorities describe one of the individuals arrested in the raids as the main leader of a network that coordinated the smuggling of drugs between Mexico, Dubai, and Spain.
As Breitbart Texas reported, Spanish authorities have been increasing their enforcement actions as Mexican drug cartels have been increasing their presence in Europe and have been establishing successful business ventures with other criminal networks, including the Italian and Russian Mafias.
[IsraelTimes] In first significant anti-Israel protest under Mamdani administration, police keep demonstrators away from synagogue entrance and neighborhood residents
Anti-Zionist protesters in New York City chanted in support of Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... at a rally near a synagogue and Jewish school on Thursday.
The demonstration was the first significant protest under New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, and had raised safety concerns in the neighborhood, but police kept the protesters apart from neighborhood residents and away from the synagogue entrance.
The protest, organized by the Pal-Awda activist group, targeted an event marketing real estate in Israel that was held at the Young Israel synagogue in the Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood in Queens.
The protesters chanted, "Say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here," "Shut the fuck up Zionists, Israel does not exist," "Zionism will fall," "Death to the IDF," "Intifada people’s war," and "Settlers go back home."
The protesters were confined to a police "pen," inside a metal barricade, about half a block away from the synagogue entrance. A group of Jewish counter-protesters from the neighborhood was in a separate pen across the street. There were around 200 anti-Zionist demonstrators and slightly fewer Jewish counter-protesters.
The Jewish crowd waved Israeli and American flags and chanted "USA" and "Fuck Mamdani."
One man carried a flag for the bad boy Jewish Defense League.
The Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood is home to a large Orthodox and Bukharan Jewish
…the Persian-speaking Jewish community of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan dates back to the Babylonian Exile, specifically having settled in the farther reaches of the Persian empire after Cyrus the Great freed the Jews from captivity, allowing them to return to Jerusalem or travel anywhere within his empire. There are over 300,000 of them in the West, Australia, and Israel, with only a few dozen still remaining back home…
population.
There was a heavy police presence at the scene and in the surrounding area, which was closed to traffic.
A yeshiva and a public school are located at the intersection where the protest took place, but the schools were closed. The protest began around 6:30 p.m.
The chants for Hamas marked an escalation. While individuals at protests in New York City sometimes wear Hamas headbands, carry the flags of terrorist groups, or voice support for gunnies on their own, it appeared to be the first time a crowd chanted for Hamas together. Anti-Zionist activists have steadily escalated their rhetoric over the past two years.
Pal-Awda advertised the event on social media in recent days, telling its followers to wear masks and saying, "No settlers on stolen land." The advertisements were shared widely by anti-Zionist groups on social media, including by the New York branch of the fringe, anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace.
Pal-Awda said the protest targeted the Israeli company CapitIL, but a spokesperson for the group said it was not holding any events in New York.
Advertisements for an event hosted by a group called Mortgage Israel circulated on social media. Mortgage Israel did not respond to a request for comment. The advertisements listed locations in Jerusalem, Netanya, Carmei Gat, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Ashdod and Tel Aviv — all within Israel’s internationally recognized borders — as well as Ma’ale Adumim, which is over the Green Line in the West Bank.
New York State Assembly member Sam Berger, who is Jewish and represents the area, stated that the protest had forced the early closure of after-school programs at a daycare and two elementary schools due to security concerns.
Berger told The Times of Israel that Pal-Awda had protested in the community about a year and a half ago. At that rally, the protesters hurled antisemitic slurs at residents and waved a Hezbollah flag, Berger said ahead of Thursday’s rally.
"It crossed the line from peaceful protesting to agitation and harassment," Berger said ahead of Thursday’s protest. "Now that same group is here again, so reasonably, there is a lot of panic from the community."
"This is a residential area. This is an area with a lot of young families who are now worried about the safety of their children," he said.
"We don’t live in Manhattan. We’re a quiet residential community," said Sorolle Idels, the founder of the Queens Jewish Alliance advocacy group, who lives in the neighborhood. "We’re not used to this kind of disturbance and we don’t welcome it."
Idels said her group had asked neighborhood residents to keep away from the area.
Events marketing real estate in Israel have been a protest flashpoint for years, partly because the demonstrations take place in Jewish areas, often at synagogues, while most other demonstrations do not. The synagogues do not organize the events, but rent out their space.
Pal-Awda led a protest outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue in November that saw demonstrators hurl discriminatory epithets and chant threats toward Jews. That protest targeted an event by Nefesh B’nefesh, a group that facilitates Jewish immigration to Israel.
Mamdani sparked a firestorm of criticism after that protest by speaking out against both the demonstrators and the synagogue, which he said had violated international law by hosting the immigration event. Nefesh B’nefesh provides information to immigrants colonists who want to move to West Bank settlements.
At the November rally, protesters were allowed to gather next to the synagogue entrance, forcing event participants to walk past them. Pro-Israel counterprotesters were also located closer to the anti-Zionist group. The protest drew criticism of the NYPD from the Jewish community, which generally commends the police for its handling of protests. After the rally, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch apologized to Park East Synagogue.
At Thursday’s protest, the demonstrators were not allowed near the synagogue entrance or the counter-protesters. There were also fewer people in attendance, likely because Kew Gardens Hills is a suburban neighborhood far from the city center.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday that, during her State of the State briefing on January 13, she will announce a policy establishing "safety zones" around houses of worship.
Jews were targeted in 330 hate crimes in 2025, more than all other groups combined, according to NYPD data released on Tuesday.
Hamas is a US-designated terrorist group, but verbal support for gunnies is protected under US free speech laws.
Successful Security Forces Operation in Spinwam, North Waziristan
Based on credible intelligence regarding the presence of Fitna Al Khawarij TTP militants at Abdul Qayyum Markaz in the Patti Khel area of Spinwam, North Waziristan, security forces planned and carried out an… pic.twitter.com/SsOaxiL8hS
Successful Security Forces Operation in Spinwam, North Waziristan
Based on credible intelligence regarding the presence of Fitna Al Khawarij TTP militants at Abdul Qayyum Markaz in the Patti Khel area of Spinwam, North Waziristan, security forces planned and carried out an intelligence-based operation. The terrorist hideout was effectively engaged, resulting in the elimination of 6 to 8 militants, while another 7 to 8 were injured.
The hideout has been completely cleared and the operation concluded successfully. Security forces remain vigilant, and follow-up actions are ongoing to track down any remaining elements.
More:
Security forces delivered a strong blow to terrorist elements across multiple locations in a single day: 🔺 Dogar, Kurram: 5 terrorists neutralized 🔺 Mirali, North Waziristan: 3 terrorists eliminated 🔺 Spinwam, North Waziristan: 8 terrorists taken out 🔺 Dattakhel, North…
Security forces delivered a strong blow to terrorist elements across multiple locations in a single day:
🔺 Dogar, Kurram: 5 terrorists neutralized
🔺 Mirali, North Waziristan: 3 terrorists eliminated
🔺 Spinwam, North Waziristan: 8 terrorists taken out
🔺 Dattakhel, North Waziristan: 4 terrorists neutralized
🔺 Bannu: 2 terrorists eliminated
In total, 22 terrorists were eliminated in one day
ALERT: Five Taliban affiliates have been killed in Tawda Pul area of Central Kurram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province around 9 PM PST, when they were intercepted by security forces in an intelligence based operation. The vehicle the TTP affiliates were travelling in was also…
ALERT: Five Taliban affiliates have been killed in Tawda Pul area of Central Kurram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province around 9 PM PST, when they were intercepted by security forces in an intelligence based operation.
The vehicle the TTP affiliates were travelling in was also destroyed in the operation.[Images available have not been posted due to editorial standards]: Official Source.
[IsraelTimes] Five children among casualties, according to terror group’s civil defense agency; IDF and Shin Bet confirmed strikes were in response to attempted rocket launch
The Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... -run Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... civil defense agency said Israeli attacks in the coastal enclave killed at least 13 people late Thursday, including five children, despite a ceasefire that has largely halted the fighting.
In a joint statement on Friday morning, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service confirmed the strikes, saying they were undertaken in response to a "failed launch" of a missile from Gaza City toward Israel.
The security organizations said the strikes "precisely" targeted Hamas forces of Evil and the group’s infrastructure, including tunnels used for launching rockets, in the north and south of Gaza.
"The launch carried out from the Gaza Strip constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement," the statement said.
"The IDF and the Shin Bet view any breach of the agreement with the utmost severity and will continue to act against any attempt by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to carry out terrorist attacks against IDF forces or Israeli civilians."
Earlier on Thursday, the IDF said a projectile was launched "from the area of Gaza City toward the State of Israel" but that it fell within the Gaza Strip and that "shortly after, the IDF precisely struck the launch point."
Gaza civil defense agency front man Mahmud Bassal told AFP that four people, including three children, were killed when a drone struck a tent sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza. Another dronezap near Khan Younis killed a man, the Hamas-run agency added.
In the north of the Gaza Strip, an 11-year-old girl was killed near the Jabalia refugee camp and a strike on a school killed one person, according to the agency.
Two more Gazooks, including a child, were killed in other attacks, the agency reported.
Later on Thursday evening, four more people were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in an eastern area of Gaza City, Bassal said, adding that rescue work to search for several people who were missing had begun.
"The corpse count has risen to 13 as a result of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since this morning in a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement," Bassal said.
Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent ceasefire violations.
Hamas front man Hazem Qassem told AFP that the strikes in Gaza on Thursday "confirm the Israeli occupation’s renunciation of its commitment to the ceasefire."
Israeli forces have killed at least 425 Paleostinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in October, according to Gaza’s health ministry. This toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and button men.
Three IDF soldiers have been killed during the same period.
The flare-up in violence came even as Israel and other countries prepared on for the onset of the Gaza ceasefire’s second phase, which the US is planning to begin next week.
Phase two is meant to establish longer-term governance and security frameworks for the enclave.
On Wednesday, multiple sources told The Times of Israel that US President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... aims to begin the second phase of the ceasefire, even as the body of one slain Israeli hostage, Ran Gvili, remains held in Gaza. Trump is set to announce the Board of Peace, which will supervise Gaza’s on-the-ground government.
Trump’s move comes as other key pieces of the ceasefire have yet to occur, such as Hamas’s disarmament, which the terror group has rejected, and the opening of the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
#1
Children MAY have been killed, but I wouldn't take their word for it. In any case, if children were present at a site launching missiles, that's on Hamas - who sacrificed them for some agitprop. Human shields are still a war crime
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/09/2026 6:06 Comments ||
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#2
Better to get the successful ones. Darwin method.
[IsraelTimes] Hundreds of Palestinians participate in a protest in the northern West Bank city of Nablus against the Palestinian Authority’s reform of its prisoner payment system.
The protests are becoming a regular occurrence throughout the West Bank in recent weeks amid pushback over Ramallah’s decision to condition welfare payments strictly on recipients’ financial situation, rather than the length of their prison sentences.
The reform has seen several thousand people lose stipends that they had been receiving for years.
Israel claims that the reform is artificial but has yet to publicize information demonstrating as much.
The PA says an international audit of the reform is underway to prove that it is real, as the protests against it appear to suggest.
#7
I still remember the mob dropping Khomeini from his coffin.
Good Times. Good. Times.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/09/2026 13:10 Comments ||
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#8
If Putin is smart he will agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Posted by: Jack Huperese5210 ||
01/09/2026 16:42 Comments ||
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#9
Putin is 'all-in' Jack. With NATO floundering there's no motivation for him to do anything but continue to stir the pot. The recent RU General Officer die-off confirms his continue to march strategy. Dead RU army conscrips meaning nothing to him.
[Rudaw] The ongoing attacks by Syrian state forces on the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Aleppo have resulted in the destruction of at least 300 houses. The ongoing festivities have also caused several deaths and dozens of injuries, a local official said on Wednesday.
"More than 300 houses have been completely destroyed or partially destroyed" and the people are staying with families," Nouri Sheikho, the co-chair of the council administrating the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods in Aleppo, told Rudaw.
The Kurdish internal security forces (Asayish), who control both quarters, and the Syrian army have traded blame for the deadly festivities which erupted on Tuesday. Footage shared by pro-government media showed the Syrian army entering the neighborhoods late Wednesday afternoon.
"All types of weapons have been used in this war, including bombs and tanks," Sheikho said, adding that civilians were targeted. As a result, eight people were killed and 48 others were maimed, including women and kiddies. Asayish reported that seven people had been killed and 54 injured.
He called on all Kurds in the world, including those in the Kurdistan Region, to support them.
"The intense fighting is ongoing in both neighborhoods... They have destroyed the properties of people," the official said.
Syrian state media has also reported casualties allegedly caused by fire from Asayish forces.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/09/2026 10:00 ||
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[1786 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria/HTS
[IsraelTimes] Beirut’s announcement marks potential milestone after 2024 truce; Jerusalem: Hezbollah ‘rearming faster than it is being disarmed’; Lebanon again calls for Israeli withdrawal
The Lebanese army announced Thursday that it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area in the country’s south between the Israeli border and the Litani River.
The announcement marked a potential milestone more than a year after a ceasefire ended a year-long war between the terror group and Israel. For decades, Hezbollah had been the most powerful force in Lebanon’s south.
But Israel, which maintains a troop presence in a number of key locations in southern Lebanon to defend the border, was skeptical about the Lebanese claim.
In a statement, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said it had “achieved the objectives of the first phase” of its plan in an “effective and tangible way.” But it added that there was more work to be done to clear unexploded ordnance and tunnels in the area, with an intention to extend its work to the rest of Lebanon.
The Lebanese army had set a year-end deadline to clear non-state weaponry — code for arms belonging to the Iran-backed terror group — from southern Lebanon. It says it has extended operational control over the south, except for the handful of areas still controlled by Israeli troops. Hezbollah, which has rejected efforts to disarm, did not immediately comment.
Israel sounded a cautious note on the announcement, saying the efforts from Beirut to disarm the terror group were “encouraging” but insufficient, and adding in a second statement that “Hezbollah is rearming faster than it is being disarmed.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hezbollah’s disarmament was “imperative for Israel’s security and Lebanon’s future.” It added that efforts by the Lebanese government and the LAF “are an encouraging beginning, but they are far from sufficient, as evidenced by Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm and rebuild its terror infrastructure with Iranian support.”
In a subsequent statement, the Foreign Ministry said “extensive Hezbollah military infrastructure still exists south of the Litani River,” and that the mission to disarm the terror group in that area “remains far from being achieved.” It alleged what it called “regrettable” cooperation between Hezbollah and some LAF units.
The ministry included a video pointing out alleged military sites that Hezbollah has reestablished in the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif.
A Lebanese security source told Reuters that Thursday’s announcement signaled that no group would be able to launch attacks from southern Lebanon. The announcement said that the LAF will take measures to “permanently prevent armed groups from rebuilding their capabilities.”
The announcement comes more than 13 months after a truce in the Israel-Hezbollah war, which began when the terror group began firing missiles across the border on October 8, 2023 — a day after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
In a move that highlighted the fragile state, the IDF said Thursday that it struck the Zaita area of southern Lebanon Thursday afternoon, citing “continued violations of the ceasefire understandings.” Lebanon’s health ministry said a person was killed in the strike on a vehicle on a road near Zaita. The military later said the strike succeeded in killing a Hezbollah drone operator, identified as Alaa Khourani, who was involved in rehabilitating the terror group’s military infrastructure, activating forces, and attempting to collect intelligence on IDF troops in the area. The IDF said Khourani’s activities constituted a violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, adding that it will continue to act to remove any threat and defend Israel.
Since the truce with Hezbollah took effect, the IDF says it has killed over 390 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups in strikes, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon has faced growing pressure from the US and Israel to disarm Hezbollah. Its leaders fear Israel could dramatically escalate strikes across the battered country to more quickly push Lebanon’s leaders to confiscate Hezbollah’s arsenal.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu told cabinet ministers that US President Donald Trump had given the green light for a fresh Israeli offensive against the group, Kan news reported, without citing sources. The report said both Jerusalem and Washington were unhappy with the Lebanese government’s efforts to tackle the Hezbollah threat, though it did not say whether a major assault on Hezbollah was imminent.
Last week, Lebanese officials said Hezbollah had received “last-chance advice” from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey to hand over its weapons to Lebanon’s government, according to UK-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. According to the sources, the countries warned Hezbollah that failing to do so could isolate Lebanon politically and economically, and lead to a war with Israel that would deepen anti-Hezbollah sentiment within Lebanon.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was en route to Beirut for a visit on Thursday, Channel 12 reported.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that the army deployment in the south aimed to affirm the principle that “decisions of war and peace” belonged to the state alone, and “to prevent the use of Lebanese territory as a starting point for any hostile acts.”
But he added that lasting stability remained contingent upon addressing key issues, chief among them “the continued Israeli occupation of parts of Lebanese territory and the establishment of buffer zones within it.”
In a statement, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, affirmed support for the army and “its achievements which would have been nearly complete were it not for Israel’s occupation of numerous locations and its daily violations.”
The Foreign Ministry argued in its statement that ongoing IDF attacks against Hezbollah do not get in the way of Lebanon’s campaign to disarm the terror group, and that they actually support that effort.
“Israel expects LAF efforts to disarm Hezbollah to continue south of the Litani and throughout all other parts of Lebanon, in full accordance with the ceasefire agreement,” said the ministry.
Aoun and the Lebanese army said that international support must be expedited so that the army could continue making progress in establishing a state monopoly on arms.
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said it was “great to see” the army had “assumed operational control south of the Litani.” “This is undeniable progress. Hard work lies ahead,” she wrote on X.
According to the IDF, the pair were involved in efforts to rehabilitate Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, with one of the operatives identified as an engineering specialist leading the group’s reconstruction activities. The IDF says that its actions were a violation of the established understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
The military adds that it will continue to act to remove any threat and protect the State of Israel.
Earlier, Lebanese media reported that two individuals were killed, and one seriously injured in an IDF strike in the village of Kfardounin, located about two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the village of Khirbet Selm.
The IDF says the sites were in civilian areas and were an example of the terror groups using the population as human shields. Israel issued evacuation warnings prior to the strikes.
The military says it hit Hezbollah weapons depots and military sites, both above and below ground, and Hamas weapons production sites in southern Lebanon.
The IDF notes that the activities of the terror groups are in violation of the ceasefire.
Israel has been ramping up its military operations in Lebanon in recent weeks, amid reports of a possible wide-scale offensive targeting Hezbollah.
US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... reiterated his threat on Thursday of retribution against Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... should the Islamic Theocratic Republic target protesters who have been taking to the streets in large numbers to demonstrate against the regime over the past two weeks.
His comments coincided with the biggest protests yet of nearly two weeks of rallies across Iran, as authorities cut internet access and the corpse count from a crackdown mounted.
"I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots... we’re going to hit them very hard," Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
When the radio host noted that dozens have indeed been killed in the protests, Trump countered that some of those deaths were caused by stampedes, and not necessarily caused by law enforcement.
"I’m not sure I can necessarily hold somebody responsible for that, but... they’ve been told very strongly — even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now — that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell," the president said.
Trump first issued a similar threat last Friday, when he warned that if Iran "violent mostly peacefully kills peaceful protesters," then the US would "come to their rescue."
At least 45 protesters, including eight minors, have been killed since the rallies began on December 28, rights groups said Thursday.
Asked on Hewitt’s radio show to offer a message of support to the anti-regime protesters in Iran, Trump said: "You should feel strongly about freedom... You’re brave people. It’s a shame what’s happened to your country. Your country was a great country."
The already riled-up protesters in Iran were further fueled on Thursday by a call from the country’s exiled crown prince for the public to take to the streets.
The response to his call, with thousands of people shouting from their homes and rallying outside, represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Demonstrations have included cries in support of the Shah, something that could bring a death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy.
Trump, pressed on whether he would meet with Pahlavi, indicated that he wouldn’t do so at this time.
"I’ve watched him, and he seems like a nice person, but I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that," Trump said. "I think that we should let everybody go out there and we see who emerges."
Separately on Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent underscored Washington’s concerns about Tehran’s violent mostly peaceful crackdown on anti-regime protests.
"The Iranian economy is on the ropes," Bessent told the Economic Club of Minnesota, highlighting the high inflation and other challenges in the Islamic Theocratic Republic, partly due to US sanctions.
"It’s a very precarious moment," Bessent said, referring to Trump’s threat to retaliate if Tehran kills protesters. He does not want them to harm more of the protesters. This is a tense moment."
He said it was clear that "what had been an affluent society that still maintained a high standard of living is really crumbling, and a lot of that is through the sanctions."
The current protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations.
Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after its 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran’s theocracy.
Before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the rial was broadly stable, trading at around 70 to $1. At the time of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, $1 traded for 32,000 rials. Shops in markets across the country have shut down as part of the protests.
Thousands of people in Iran’s capital shouted from their homes and rallied in the street Thursday night after a call by the country’s exiled crown prince for a mass demonstration, witnesses said, a new escalation in the protests that have spread nationwide across the Islamic Republic. Internet access and telephone lines in Iran cut out immediately after the protests began.
The protest represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrations have included cries in support of the Shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy.
Thursday saw a continuation of the demonstrations that popped up in cities and rural towns across Iran on Wednesday. More markets and bazaars shut down in support of the protesters. So far, Iranian security forces have killed at least 45 protesters, including eight minors, according to the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.
The NGO said Wednesday was the bloodiest day since the demonstrations began, with 13 protesters confirmed to have been killed.
“The evidence shows that the scope of the crackdown is becoming more violent and more extensive every day,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, adding that hundreds more have been wounded and over 2,000 arrested.
The growth of the protests increases the pressure on Iran’s civilian government and its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. CloudFlare, an internet firm, and the advocacy group NetBlocks reported the internet outage, both attributing it to Iranian government interference. Attempts to dial landlines and mobile phones from Dubai to Iran were connected. Such outages have in the past been followed by intense government crackdowns.
Meanwhile, the protests themselves have remained broadly leaderless. It remains unclear how Pahlavi’s call will affect the demonstrations moving forward.
“The lack of a viable alternative has undermined past protests in Iran,” wrote Nate Swanson of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, who studies Iran.
“There may be a thousand Iranian dissident activists who, given a chance, could emerge as respected statesmen, as labor leader Lech Walesa did in Poland at the end of the Cold War. But so far, the Iranian security apparatus has arrested, persecuted and exiled all of the country’s potential transformational leaders.”
THURSDAY’S DEMONSTRATION RALLIES AT HOME AND IN THE STREET
Pahlavi had called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. local time on Thursday and Friday. When the clock struck, neighborhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to the Islamic Republic!” Others praised the shah, shouting: “This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!” Thousands could be seen on the streets.
“Great nation of Iran, the eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets and, as a united front, shout your demands,” Pahlavi said in a statement. “I warn the Islamic Republic, its leader and the [Revolutionary Guard] that the world and [President Donald Trump] are closely watching you. Suppression of the people will not go unanswered.”
Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian officials appeared to be taking the planned protests seriously. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper published a video online claiming security forces would use drones to identify those taking part.
Iranian officials have offered no acknowledgment of the scale of the overall protests, which raged across many locations Thursday, even before the 8 p.m. demonstration. However, there have been reporting regarding security officials being hurt or killed.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported a police colonel suffered fatal stab wounds in a town outside of Tehran, while the semiofficial Fars news agency said gunmen killed two security force members and wounded 30 others in a shooting in the city of Lordegan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.
A deputy governor in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province told Iranian state television that an attack at a police station killed five people Wednesday night in Chenaran, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) northeast of Tehran.
IRAN WEIGHS TRUMP THREAT
It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. Trump warned last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” America “will come to their rescue.”
Trump’s comments drew a new rebuke from Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
“Recalling the long history of criminal interventions by successive US administrations in Iran’s internal affairs, the Foreign Ministry considers claims of concern for the great Iranian nation to be hypocritical, aimed at deceiving public opinion and covering up the numerous crimes committed against Iranians,” it said.
But those comments haven’t stopped the US State Department on the social platform X from highlighting online footage purporting to show demonstrators putting up stickers naming roads after Trump or throwing away government-subsidized rice.
“When prices are set so high that neither consumers can afford to buy nor farmers can afford to sell, everyone loses,” the State Department said in one message. “It makes no difference if this rice is thrown away.”
Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remains imprisoned by authorities after her arrest in December.
“Since December 28, 2025, the people of Iran have taken to the streets, just as they did in 2009, 2019,” her son Ali Rahmani said. “Each time, the same demands came up: an end to the Islamic Republic, an end to this patriarchal, dictatorial and religious regime, the end of the clerics, the end of the mullahs’ regime.”
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/09/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1830 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Iran has basically closed it's airspace:
https://www.timesnownews.com/world/iran-notam-map-tehran-protests-airspace-shut-oiix-airport-article-153418426
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/09/2026 9:48 Comments ||
Top||
#2
so the Basenji's weren't up to the job? Bad boys! No spare ribs for you!
In a late Friday interview, John Hurley, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Iran has managed to funnel about $1 billion to Hezbollah this year despite a raft of Western sanctions that have battered its economy.
And
..."Since protests dating back to 2009, there were always allegations of Arabic being heard on the street," Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital. "As the contest between the state and the street continues to heat up, all eyes will be on Iran’s security forces to see if they defect or disobey orders to crack down. The problem is, so is the regime. And to that end, the Islamic Republic may have devised a failsafe for itself against popular anger. Foreign proxies. Whether Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, or the Afghan Fatemiyoun, their function would be the same: to fire on Iranians when other Iranians won’t."
Earlier reporting from Iran International also indicated that Iraqi Shiite militia reinforcements were deployed to Iran in early January to assist in suppressing protests. Estimates placed the number of fighters at roughly 800, with militants reportedly crossing the border under the pretense of religious pilgrimages before gathering at a base in Ahvaz and being dispatched to various regions.
#5
Tousi TV reports that the IRGC lost a battle with the protestors in Tehran about 4 hours ago or so. The main formation of IRGC retreated but about a half dozen were essentially captured by the protestors and are being detained in a makeshift detention.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/09/2026 16:11 Comments ||
Top||
#6
......"detained" until the construction crane arrives.
#Syria 🇸🇾: Syrian Army have reportedly captured the Ashrafiyah neighborhood and preparing to attack Sheikh Maqsoud in #Aleppo.
The Syrian Army members are using ex-SAA Soviet T-72 MBT Main Battle Tanks, #Turkey-made 🇹🇷 HAR-66 LAW anti-tank weapons and AKS-74 assault rifles. pic.twitter.com/BOj0AZmONU
[IsraelTimes] Syria’s defense ministry announces a ceasefire in several neighborhoods of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes with Kurdish fighters.
“To prevent any slide towards a new military escalation within residential neighborhoods, the Ministry of Defense announces … a ceasefire in the vicinity of the Sheikh Maqsoud, Alashrafieh, and Bani Zeid neighbourhoods of Aleppo, effective from 3 a.m.,” the ministry writes in a statement.
Syrian government forces have been fighting the Kurdish-led SDF force in Aleppo, where at least 21 people have been killed in several days of clashes.
Both sides have traded blame over who started the clashes on Tuesday, which comes as implementation stalls on a deal to merge the Kurds’ administration and military into the government.
The worst violence in Aleppo since Syria’s Islamist authorities took power has also highlighted regional tensions between Damascus ally Turkey and Israel, which condemned what it described as attacks against the Kurds.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
