[GaroweOnline] A drone struck the residence of General Mahad Abdirahman Aden, known as "Shub," in Doolow on the night of September 3—4. His family said the general survived the attack. "Bring me....a Shubbery!"
Information emerging about the incident links the strike to Ottoman Turkish-operated drones supporting Somalia’s federal government. Neither Villa Somalia nor Ankara has said who ordered or carried out the operation.
Turkiye maintains a military base in Somalia and trains and equips forces closely aligned with the federal government. Ottoman Turkish drones are also actively involved in security operations inside the country.
The strike targeted a senior officer who politically opposes Villa Somalia and is associated with supporters of former South West president Abdiaziz Laftagareen. It followed fighting in Baidoa between federal forces and fighters aligned with Laftagareen.
The incident suggests that Somalia’s political confrontation may be entering a more dangerous phase—one in which air power and foreign military support could be used in internal disputes.
If weapons intended to fight al-Shabaab ... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them... are turned against political opponents, relations between the federal government and regional states could deteriorate further. The result could be armed retaliation, wider conflict and deeper foreign involvement in Somalia’s domestic power struggle.
[ShabelleMedia] Authorities in Somalia’s South West State said Thursday that government and regional forces had repelled an attack by al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... on the strategic city of Baidoa, although rival forces grabbed credit for the assault.
South West State front man Mohammed Sheikh Abdullahi, also known as Xaayow, said the krazed killer group launched what he described as a failed attack on the city early in the morning.
"Early this morning, the enemies of peace from al-Shabaab launched a foolish attack on the city of Baidoa, with the aim of disrupting the security and stability of the population," Abdullahi said.
He said Somali national forces, other security personnel and South West State forces, supported by local residents, had confronted and brought the attack to an end.
Abdullahi warned al-Shabaab against attempting further attacks on Baidoa, a key political and commercial centre in southwestern Somalia.
"Abandon any hope of destabilising Baidoa or attacking its people," he said, adding that the military response should serve as a lesson to those behind the attack.
The front man urged residents to remain calm, reopen their businesses and continue their daily activities, saying authorities remained committed to maintaining security and stability in the city.
"People should remain calm, open their businesses and continue with their daily lives," he said.
The statement came after festivities erupted in Baidoa on Thursday morning, with federal and South West State authorities saying their forces had responded to an al-Shabaab attack.
However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... forces loyal to a former president of South West State separately grabbed credit for the assault, highlighting conflicting accounts over the identity of those involved in the fighting.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the claims or details on possible casualties.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Vladimir Dobrynin
[REGNUM] The migrant crisis in Ceuta is gaining momentum: crime statistics are growing not arithmetically, but exponentially, despite assurances from the Spanish government that everything is under control.
Ordinary Spaniards are in disbelief—on September 2, thousands of people rallied across the country, including the capital, demanding the government address the growing migrant problem. In keeping with the glorious European tradition, the 50,000-strong demonstration in Madrid ended in clashes with police and a violent dispersal of the protesters.
Meanwhile, in Ceuta, on September 1 alone, security forces officially arrested 87 people for "disturbing public order." This seemingly innocuous phrase conceals robberies, stabbings, fights, and rapes.
Crime rates have increased by 800% in the month since the crisis began. Moreover, this trend is already going both ways: local residents, according to anonymous sources in El Confidencial, having observed the police's inability (and perhaps even unwillingness) to protect the local population, have resorted to active measures based on the principle of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
The understanding that a migrant has a priori legal advantage in a conflict with a local, regardless of who actually initiated the clash, long kept ordinary Spanish citizens on a tight leash. However, the fear of prosecution began to be perceived by Spanish citizens as the lesser of two evils compared to the prospect of being killed or at least maimed on their own soil at the hands of a newcomer.
Recently, a group of Ceuta residents once again destroyed a tent camp of illegal immigrants on El Trampolin beach.
The owner of a restaurant near the scene commented on the situation: "The beach used to be crowded with tourists, but now they can't because of the aliens." The restaurateur made it clear that he supports the local residents' efforts to "clean up the area" through less-than-legal means, since official law enforcement agencies are unable to do so.
Tensions are rising, including among the migrants themselves, who recently clashed over space in a refugee center. Police are forced to intervene and fire warning shots.
Incidentally, according to Spanish Ministry of the Interior data circulated in the media, there are no longer any illegal immigrants who arrived in Ceuta on July 31. However, the press is highly doubtful of this information—sources on the ground claim that between five and ten thousand Moroccans are still roaming the city streets, smashing restaurants and destroying shops.
Spanish law enforcement officials record an average of one rape per day, according to European newspapers. However, the details of this report vary widely across media outlets.
The Spanish press notes that migrants are coercing local women into sexual intercourse, while European media outlets, particularly Politico, claim that, conversely, it is the Spaniards who are raping migrant women and girls. This publication's claim, it must be said, is highly dubious, as up until now, for the past month, the entire EU press has been reporting that the invasion of Ceuta was entirely men.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who had long avoided commenting on the Ceuta crisis, citing his legal leave, has finally deigned to take action.
Recently, he announced the government's allocation of €399 million in financial aid to the Ceuta mayor's office. This money is earmarked for strengthening and developing security forces and protecting the state border. Madrid is convinced that it must strengthen the border not only with its own money, but also with funds from the European Union, as the border with Morocco is the external boundary of the entire European community.
Whether Brussels will agree to this (that is, whether it will provide the money) is a big question. The EU capital is very unhappy with Spain's stance on Israel and, until it changes, is in no hurry to open the money spigot.
Sánchez has repeatedly expressed his disapproval of Israel's actions in Gaza. And in the case of Ceuta, he was quick to point out that the Moroccan invasion was not without Mossad's information and sabotage operations, allegedly seeking revenge against the Spanish.
The Spanish Prime Minister added Russia to the list of those responsible for the July 31 attack on Ceuta. Naturally, he provided no evidence. But that's not necessary: Europeans a priori assume the Kremlin is always and everywhere to blame.
However, there are also voices that claim that the reasons for the invasion are not actually obvious, from where the bulk of the European press gets its information.
El Confidencial is pushing the theory that Moroccan intelligence is taking revenge on its colleagues from Spain's National Intelligence Center (CNI), who shared intriguing information with a group of 14 European media outlets. They were conducting a journalistic investigation into the identity of Moroccan intelligence agents and residents stationed in Spain.
In addition to the number of "planted Cossacks" (around 80 people on the Iberian Peninsula and in France alone), investigators have uncovered evidence of Moroccan agents using the Pegasus spyware, which enables wiretapping of the mobile phones of important government officials.
On September 3, Sánchez will answer to the Spanish parliament about the government's actions and inactions. The information about Pegasus gives him additional ammunition to accuse Israel of involvement in organizing and preparing the " beach march "—the program was created by the Israeli company NSO Group, headed by Haifa native Julio Shalev.
Sánchez's report to parliament is unlikely to settle the migrant crisis, as in order to answer the question "what to do?", the Spanish authorities must first determine the answer to the question "who is to blame?"
And the government has problems with this.
The fact is that Margarita Robles, the head of the Ministry of Defense (which includes the CNI), claims that the intelligence agency notified the Ministry of the Interior that "Morocco was preparing an invasion" two days before the events. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska insists that no one informed him of anything. "Nobody tells me nuthin'!"
The ministerial confrontation only complicates the current cabinet's position and significantly distracts from the search for solutions to the migration crisis, strengthening the opposition ahead of the 2027 parliamentary elections.
The elite continues to squabble, while ordinary people in Ceuta continue to face major problems. Ribs are cracking, blood is spilling, and businesses are collapsing.
An intelligence report prepared by the National Police’s Centre for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) and submitted to Spain’s Audiencia Nacional (High Court) found no evidence of Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... involvement or machinations by Elon Musk. Instead, the intelligence points to the Kingdom of Morocco. The European Conservative reports:
According to the details that have emerged, CENIF analysed photographs, videos, and the operational behavior of Moroccan forces. Its officers identified gendarmes guiding groups from Castillejos towards specific border points and individuals believed to be plainclothes members of the Moroccan security services giving instructions on how to reach the El Tarajal breakwater.
The police’s conclusion therefore goes considerably further than Moroccan passivity. It describes coordination on the ground and an operation intended to overwhelm Spain’s border-control capacity within the framework of hybrid operations that are taking place not only on Europe’s eastern flank, but also along its immediate southern border. The report even examines the sequence of the crossings and the rapid subsequent return of many of those involved as factors incompatible with a conventional migration crisis.
With this report, reducing what happened to the work of criminal networks and messages spread online looks more like a government disinformation campaign than an accurate account of events.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of Spain's center-right People's Party, said that "while the police protect the nation, the government is more worried about saving itself and protecting Morocco." A woman could be heard shouting that Sánchez is a traitor as Feijóo spoke, a charge repeated by the leader of the conservative Vox party, Santiago Abascal. He hammered that theme home in his response to the CENIF report, saying: "That’s why we talk about hybrid warfare, and that’s why we also talk about treason, because the government knew about it and did nothing to stop it and is doing absolutely nothing to reverse it." He also declared that Morocco "threatens our national illusory sovereignty, our national security and our territorial integrity."
Sánchez's government is, of course, doing damage control in the wake of the reporting about the intelligence report. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska wrote in a letter to Francisco Pardo, director-general of the Spanish police, "Any such information should have immediately been made available to the National Security Council... and to other bodies with powers in this field." The Financial Times reports that the Interior Ministry said Pardo insisted that "there is no police report attributing to the Moroccan security forces the planning or execution of what occurred in Ceuta on July 30 and 31."
But there is an important caveat: Pardo had no prior knowledge of the report. As the Financial Times explains, "The ministry said a judge had ordered police Sherlocks not to provide their superiors with any information about the probe reported by El Español, meaning the police chief had no prior knowledge of it. The ministry did not provide any information about the contents of the investigation report or seek to rebut any specific details."
As it happens, September 2 is Ceuta Day, an annual celebration commemorating the city's history. In a video published Wednesday, Sánchez promised "dignified care for those who have arrived" and said Ceuta's residents have shown "serenity, solidarity, coexistence, and responsibility" (emphasis mine).
Contrast that message with that of Ceuta's regional leader, Juan Jesús Vivas of the PP, who said on Wednesday: "What happened to us was not a migratory crisis. What happened was the violation of Spain's territorial integrity."
#2
It's a semantics thing I think, under control = Natives getting gassed and rounded up.
In the meanwhile at Ceuta, members of the Afrika Korp club a baby dolphin to death and the left swoons. It's just starving brown people fishing to survive, you bigot.
H/T Not The Bee.
#4
When I read The Camp of the Saints, I thought it was a great story. But the premise that European countries would just sit there and do nothing while vast waves Third World immigrants stormed their border? Preposterous! No way civilized countries would allow all that chaos.
#Yemen 🇾🇪: Ansar Allah (#Houthis) struck Main Battle Tank and numerous vehicles belonging to Saudi-backed PLC Forces with Drones.
Fighters used Hexacopter “Rajum” Drones; seemingly armed with various mortar bombs —appear to be mostly Iranian M48 HE Bombs and Improvised HE Bombs. pic.twitter.com/He7L97lGlP
Pro-Houthi military commentator Mujeeb Shamsan @shmsanarmy, speaking to @TvAlmasirah, said recent strikes were intended to demonstrate their intelligence reach and ability to hit both frontline and rear military positions.
Pro-Houthi military commentator Mujeeb Shamsan @shmsanarmy, speaking to
@TvAlmasirah, said recent strikes were intended to demonstrate their intelligence reach and ability to hit both frontline and rear military positions.
“The [Saudi-led coalition] enemy feels reassured when positioned in the rear, believing that these capabilities may not reach it, while Sana’a has proven that it can reach even the most closely guarded secrets.”
Shamsan claimed they had intelligence on sensitive command-and-control meetings involving Saudi officers and could strike during those meetings. “We are present even at the moment of meetings and during the final moments that may be the most secret.”
Shamsan claimed one such strike killed 11 Saudi officers. “In the first strike, 11 Saudi officers were killed, and Saudi Arabia maintained a very significant blackout about them.”
In line with @BashReport’s 14 August 2026 forecast, Houthi forces appear to be pushing west toward Yemen’s Red Sea coastline. The latest reports claim Houthi forces have seized the strategic Noman Mountain. The pictures in the @googlemaps link below show the commanding view from… https://t.co/69nMEpzDexpic.twitter.com/H2JZVnejlW
Houthi forces appear to be pushing west toward Yemen’s Red Sea coastline. The latest reports claim Houthi forces have seized the strategic Noman Mountain. The pictures in the @googlemaps link below show the commanding view from the mountain.
Tonight, Houthi-aligned accounts are jubilant amid reports that a wider ground operation has begun in western Ta'izz, with several posts pointing toward Al-Mukha and the Red Sea coast. This marks the first serious battlefield test for the Yemeni National Army on the Ta'izz axis as it faces a sustained Houthi ground push toward the western coast. Some Houthi-aligned accounts are also urging followers not to publish details of military movements until official statements are released.
@Moh_Alhouthi said Houthi forces were conducting "new rehearsals" in the Red Sea amid confrontation with the Saudi-American coalition, describing them as preparation for another round against Israel and the United States and as part of efforts to break the blockade on Yemen.
[IsraelTimes] 19-year-old suspect is from a settlement in the northern West Bank; Herzog tells CNN authorities working hard to curb extremist violence
An Israeli settler has been arrested on suspicion of participating in a violent mostly peaceful attack on the West Bank Paleostinian village of Qusra over the weekend, police announced Thursday.
He was the first to be arrested over Saturday’s attack, which saw dozens of Israeli settlers raid the village, take over a home with a family inside, and attack residents, including throwing stones at Paleostinians and others.
The suspect, 19, from a settlement in the northern West Bank, was detained by officers following a joint investigation by the Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service, a statement said.
He was taken for questioning and was set to later be brought for a court hearing on extending his custody. His name was not immediately released for publication
No arrests were previously made, even though footage showed the faces of a number of those involved during the attack.
"The joint investigative team from the police and Shin Bet continues its efforts to collect evidence and gather testimony to locate and arrest everyone who took part in the serious incident," the statement said.
The attack, which saw dozens of settlers descended on Qusra from a nearby hillside and occupy a Paleostinian home there, was the latest in a string of assaults there. The village was besieged by settlers in recent weeks, amid a months-long surge in settler violence. Saturday’s attack, in addition to an attack on a crew of journalists in the nearby Paleostinian town of Jalud, drew international condemnation.
President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the attack, though Netanyahu attributed it to a "handful of rioters" who don’t represent the settler community.
Herzog insisted that Israeli authorities are taking rampant settler violence seriously, after he was pushed on the topic during a CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... interview on Wednesday.
He called the perpetrators "juvenile delinquents" and claimed that "there is a major effort by our authorities to undermine these activities and bring people to justice." He noted that a series of arrests was carried out earlier this week, though most of the near-daily settler attacks do not lead to arrests or prosecutions.
Herzog likened the phenomenon to "inner-city violence," though the perpetrators in the West Bank often profess to be acting out of ideological nationalist motives and seek to expel Paleostinians from the West Bank.
Still, Herzog called the Jewish Lions of Islam behind the daily attacks on Paleostinians a "shame on the face of Israel," repeating a sentiment he has expressed previously.
The weeks-long siege on a number of Paleostinian homes in Qusra, located southeast of Nablus, has drawn international attention to the village and has caused a prolonged military deployment in the area, which itself has led to the forced displacement of several Paleostinian families from their homes.
The army says its forces have maintained a presence in the area to prevent settlers from rebuilding makeshift structures and again blocking access to the residents’ homes.
Footage from Saturday’s settler raid on the village showed that IDF soldiers were in the area when it occurred but stood by and allowed the rampaging Lions of Islam to attack a home on the outskirts of the town.
In recent months, the West Bank has seen near-daily settler harassment and attacks on Paleostinians and their property. Arrests in such incidents are rare, and prosecution is rarer still.
Critics of the government have accused the IDF and Netanyahu’s coalition of condoning or even encouraging the settler attacks. Troops are regularly filmed not taking action in the face of settler violence, and IDF brass has warned that the attacks could spark an escalation of violence in the West Bank.
’VIOLENT RIOT’ LED TO DEADLY IDF FIRE
Separately, the IDF said Thursday that a deadly incident the night before in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir took place while troops were securing the return of livestock belonging to Israeli civilians.
Two 19-year-old Paleostinians were killed by gunfire, according to the Paleostinian Authority Health Ministry, after troops and settlers were seen in video clips entering the village in the Ramallah area.
Responding to a Times of Israel inquiry, the IDF said that troops "secured the entry of Judea and Samaria District Police officers and a civilian into the village. The entry was secured for the purpose of retrieving livestock belonging to Israeli civilians that had been located in the area of the village. The animals were identified based on distinguishing marks indicating that they belonged to Israeli civilians."
While that was happening, the IDF said, "a violent mostly peaceful riot developed in the area, during which Death Eaters hurled concrete blocks and stones at the troops. The troops responded by firing at key instigators in order to remove the threat. Hits were identified."
The military added that "the events leading up to the incident and the handling of the incident are being reviewed."
A post to the official X account of the office for the Paleostinian Authority prime minister claimed that setters, protected by the IDF, were "stealing dozens of sheep."
WAFA, the PA’s official news agency, described the incident as an attack by settlers and Israeli forces.
🚨 A major Islamic Republic red line has just been crossed as Israel cleared and began destroying Hezbollah’s strategic Ali al-Taher stronghold despite the threat of a large-scale attack by the regime.
…Hezbollah infrastructure built over two decades with Iranian funding and planning, containing command centers, weapons stores and living quarters.
Israel says its 36th Division established operational control above and below ground and cleared two underground complexes, with Hezbollah fighters either killed or forced to flee.
The stakes are particularly high because Reuters sources said more than a dozen IRGC personnel, including at least two senior officers, had been inside. Israeli military sources dispute that claim.
Iran had reportedly warned through Oman that a full Israeli assault would trigger a large-scale Iranian response. Israel went ahead anyway
[presumably because the IDF felt the IRGC was too scared].
A fortress Iran helped fund and build for 20 years has fallen.
Now the question is whether the Islamic Republic will enforce the red line it publicly drew around it.
The IDF officially lifts the ambiguity surrounding the Ali Taher ridge and announces: "We have completed the purification of Hezbollah's underground infrastructure in the Ali Taher ridge and are working to neutralize it.
Forces of the 36th Division recently operated to purify two underground routes in the area of the Ali Taher ridge within the security zone. The forces achieved operational control in the ridge area above and below ground and purified the area of terrorists, with some eliminated and others fleeing the area.
The operation to neutralize the underground infrastructure that was purified of terrorists is still ongoing. Upon completion of the operation, the IDF will prepare for renewed defense in accordance with the situation assessment.
The terrorists who were in the infrastructure carried out terror plots against the State of Israel and IDF forces. As a result of the operation in the routes in recent weeks, the ability to execute terror plots against civilians of the State of Israel and IDF forces from within the routes has been neutralized.
In the underground infrastructure were found command centers, ammunition storage rooms, generator rooms, living quarters, showers, and a kitchen that enabled the terrorists to conduct the fighting and stay there for extended periods. This is a strategic infrastructure that was built over two decades, funded and planned by the Iranian terror regime.
IDF forces continue to operate to purify the security zone in southern Lebanon and will not allow the Hezbollah terror organization to advance terror plots against them.
Any attempt at action by the Hezbollah terror organization against IDF forces will be met with force. The IDF continues to be committed to the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.
הכיבוש של בסיס יחידת בדר החפור בתוך רכס עלי א-טאהר הוא מכה ליכולות הצבאיות של חזבאללה בדרום המדינה, אבל גם פגיעה מוראלית קשה לחזבאללה. הניסיונות הרבים של ישראל לכבוש את הבסיס שלא צלחו הפכו את הלוחמים בתוך הבסיס לאגדה בקרב הציבור שתומך בחזבאללה, ולמעשה הנקודה היחידה שחזבאללה הצליח… pic.twitter.com/p8CvQ0mhv4
The capture of the dugout base of the Badar unit within the Ali al-Tahir ridge is a blow to Hezbollah's military capabilities in the south of the country, but also a severe morale injury to Hezbollah. Israel's many attempts to capture the base that failed turned the fighters inside the base into a legend among the public that supports Hezbollah, and in fact the only point that Hezbollah succeeded in defending. Many memes of Hezbollah supporters used the name of the Ali al-Tahir ridge (the pure one) to assertively declare that it would remain pure (without Israeli presence).
Here is a song by one of Hezbollah's singers, Yusuf Saad al-Aamili, that was published during the period of the siege on the dugout base in the ridge. The song is interesting in my opinion because it demonstrates how Hezbollah interpreted the steadfast stand inside this base as proof that the militia is strong enough to succeed in causing Israel to withdraw from other points it captured.
More at the link
Published before the action, making it now background:
[IsraelTimes] Officials say over a dozen Revolutionary Guard members are holed up with Hezbollah men in besieged Ali Taher Ridge, where IDF says Lebanese terror group has key underground command center
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... has warned the United States that it would respond forcefully to any Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... where Iranian military personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters, three officials briefed on the message told Rooters.
The message, delivered last month, highlights Iran’s continued direct involvement in the ground fighting in southern Lebanon and its readiness to retaliate against Israeli attacks there as the regional war enters its seventh month.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said an Iranian attack on Israel would "free [the IDF] from all constraints," and that in such a scenario, the military would "strike all infrastructure — including energy infrastructure — and return Iran to the Stone Age and darkness."
Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, is believed to have built an underground command center and weapons stores within the Ali Taher ridge, which has a commanding view of southeastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese security sources, and has become one of the most contested pieces of ground in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
According to the IDF, Hezbollah has a "strategic" underground facility beneath the hill, and that underground site is the "nerve center" of the terror group’s Badr regional division.
Hezbollah has said in public statements that it controls the hill and will confront any Israeli advances. Its officials have referred to a "facility" there, but have declined to provide details.
The Israeli military has taken swaths of territory to Ali Taher’s south and has identified the ridge as one of its "primary operational focuses" in public statements.
In its message to Washington, Tehran threatened that any full-fledged Israeli offensive on the ridge would be met with a large-scale Iranian attack, said the three officials in the region, who spoke to Rooters on condition of anonymity.
Hezbollah declined to comment on whether Iranian forces were present in Ali Taher. In response to Rooters questions about the message, or whether the US had put pressure on Israel not to attack Ali Taher, a White House official said, "This is not accurate."
IRGC FORCES HOLED UP, OFFICIALS SAY
Two of the officials said the message was delivered via Oman, which has played a mediating role. Those two regional officials, briefed by Tehran, said over a dozen members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, including at least two senior officers, were with Hezbollah fighters.
The third source, a foreign official with direct knowledge of the message, said it was delivered around mid-August and that as a result of US pressure, Israel had put off storming Ali Taher.
There was no immediate comment from Iran’s permanent mission in Geneva, the US Defense Department, or Oman’s foreign ministry. The Israeli military declined to comment.
Contacted by Rooters, Hezbollah’s media office neither confirmed nor denied Iran’s message but said it was a "natural conclusion" that such a warning would have been sent about the ridge.
"Iran considers any Israeli move on the ground in southern Lebanon, especially territorial expansion, a major violation of the Islamabad Agreement," Hezbollah’s media office said, referring to the June US-Iran memorandum of understanding that included a Lebanon ceasefire.
Iran fired missiles at Israel in early June in retaliation for attacks on Hezbollah on the Lebanese capital’s outskirts, after having previously warned of such a response.
On Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that if Iran were to attack Israel, the IDF would target all of the regime’s infrastructure, "including energy infrastructure."
"There are signs we are seeing that indicate that the heavy economic pressure Iran is under and the fear of an uprising and the fall of the regime could push them to desperate measures," Katz said at a Jewish New Year toast with Defense Ministry employees.
"An Iranian attack on Israel will free us from all constraints. We will strike all infrastructure — including energy infrastructure — and return Iran to the Stone Age and darkness," he said.
Katz added that "Israel is well prepared, defensively and offensively, for every possibility — and the IDF is ready to carry out the mission."
ISRAEL SEEKS TO BESIEGE HEZBOLLAH FIGHTERS
Despite a ceasefire announced in June, the Israeli military has said Hezbollah is still operating around the ridge and has twice, over the last week, launched explosive drones at Israeli troops nearby.
In July, it said it had launched an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... on a Hezbollah fighter near an access shaft to the underground site at Ali Taher and vowed not to allow the terror group to operate in the area or pose a threat to Israeli soldiers.
An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Rooters in June that Hezbollah fighters were stuck underground without food or water. Israeli newspaper Maariv, citing a military source, reported Thursday that the Israeli military assessed there were no IRGC forces in Ali Taher and that some Hezbollah fighters had died without food and water.
The third official said Israel’s military was trying to smoke out Hezbollah and IRGC personnel by besieging them, and shooting down attempted drone deliveries of food and water to the ridge.
"What we have seen over the past month is Israeli pressure to besiege Ali al-Taher in order to impose a reality within this facility that renders it uninhabitable. This approach, and the absence of a large-scale attack, means that it is possible a message was conveyed through several countries — this is a natural conclusion," Hezbollah’s media office told Rooters.
HEZBOLLAH THREATENS RETALIATION
A Lebanese source briefed by Hezbollah said the group’s fighters can still access their positions through the ridge’s northern side.
Rooters could not independently confirm the military situation at Ali Taher, which Israel’s military has included in a self-declared security zone held by its troops and off-limits to Lebanese.
Despite Iran’s warning, the Lebanese source and a senior Lebanese security official said an Israeli military operation to capture the ridge was still possible in the coming weeks.
Hezbollah said any large-scale attack on Ali Taher would mean a return to full-blown war, and could see missiles landing on northern Israeli communities.
On Saturday, the Nidaa al-Watan outlet reported that Hezbollah has so far rejected overtures by the Lebanese government to pull its forces out of the contested Ali Taher Ridge, which would be handed over to the Lebanese Army, in accordance with an agreement with Israel.
The sources said the confrontation has stalled efforts to schedule a new round of US-backed negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut in Rome, which has hosted multiple rounds of talks in recent months, with the report suggesting that international support for Lebanon’s army could be undermined if Hezbollah still holds the Ali Taher Ridge the next time negotiators convene.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East conflict in March by launching rockets at Israel in support of its sponsor Iran, which had come under attack in a US-Israeli air campaign. Israel responded to the Hezbollah attacks with a heavy air campaign and ground invasion.
Despite the ceasefire declared in Lebanon in April, fighting has persisted to a lesser extent. Israeli forces continue to operate inside a self-declared "security zone," which runs around 10 kilometers (six miles) deep inside Lebanese territory along the border.
Israel has increased its attacks on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in recent days — particularly in the Nabatieh area where the Ali Taher Ridge is located — while the terror group has targeted troops operating in the area.
In June, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement committing Lebanon to restoring illusory sovereignty over its territory through the "verified disarmament of non-state gangs," which would in turn enable a progressive Israeli withdrawal. The State of Lebanon, along with Israel and the US, signed the agreement, but Hezbollah and its allies are opposed to it.
Israel has so far pulled forces out of three pilot zones into which the Lebanese army entered, but has said it will not carry out any further withdrawals before Hezbollah is disarmed.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
09/04/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[288 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[North Press] Aleppo’s Anti-Narcotics Branch arrested two people accused of trafficking and promoting drugs and seized quantities of narcotics in their possession, it said on Thursday.
On Aug. 13, the Anti-Narcotics Administration said it had seized large quantities of drugs and arrested two people accused of possessing them following a security operation in Aleppo’s al-Suryan neighborhood.
The administration said through its official accounts that the operation followed an ambush based on extensive monitoring and tracking of the suspects’ movements in al-Zahraa neighborhood.
The operation resulted in the seizure of 82 kilograms of Captagon pills, equivalent to about 482,000 pills, according to the administration.
It added that the two suspects confessed to the charges against them and were referred to the competent judiciary for legal proceedings.
🇺🇸🇮🇷 U.S. STRIKES KILLED IRANIAN PILOTS, NAVY AND IRGC PERSONNEL
Iranian losses from the U.S. strikes on southern Iran two nights ago reportedly include:
• 3 Iranian Air Force pilots
• 6 Artesh Navy personnel
• 4 IRGC members
Among the IRGC dead were two Aerospace Force personnel, including one officer reportedly holding the rank of general.
The four IRGC members were killed in Kermanshah — a major hub for Iran’s missile forces — raising the likelihood that they were connected to missile operations at the time of the strikes.
The U.S. didn’t just hit infrastructure. It appears to have hit personnel directly involved in Iran’s military capabilities.
Posted by: badanov ||
09/04/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[457 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
The pilots were useless at this point any!
Posted by: chris ||
09/04/2026 2:36 Comments ||
Top||
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.
... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them...
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
