[GaroweOnline] Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... and the United States have confirmed a counterterrorism operation targeting an al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... weapons and ammunition storage facility in Markad, in the al-Madow-Golis mountain range of northern Somalia.
The operation, conducted in coordination with Puntland authorities, struck a site used by al-Shabaab to store weapons and ammunition intended to support the group’s activities and threaten communities in Puntland and elsewhere in Somalia.
Puntland authorities and the United States described the operation as part of an expanding campaign against al-Shabaab in northern Somalia, aimed at disrupting the group’s logistical infrastructure and reducing its ability to plan and carry out attacks.
They said targeting weapons storage facilities would increase pressure on al-Shabaab by disrupting its operational capabilities and limiting its access to supplies.
The Puntland government and the United States said they would continue efforts to degrade al-Shabaab’s capabilities, prevent the group from establishing safe havens and support long-term peace and stability in northern Somalia.
No details were immediately provided on casualties or the extent of damage caused by the operation.
#2
Puntland and Somaliland were apparently previously English colonies, as opposed to Somalia proper, which was Italian. Former British colonies rule themselves better than other countries’ colonies do, for some reason.
[Rudaw] Ten Kurdish migrants colonists held hostage in Libya are being held by gangs rather than state authorities, an Iraqi politician said on Friday, citing communications from Libyan security services.
"There is no official evidence confirming the presence of Iraqi detainees in official prisons," Muthanna Amin, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament’s foreign relations committee, told Rudaw’s Malik Mohammed, noting that "Libyan security agencies have informed the Iraqi embassy that there are no Iraqi prisoners in those facilities."
"The Iraqi embassy maintains that these sites are not under the authority of the Libyan state, but are controlled by gangs," Amin added, noting that "legally and diplomatically, Iraqi diplomats cannot engage with gangs and must deal strictly through the government."
The case emerged days after 33 young Kurdish migrants colonists detained in Libya were repatriated to the Kurdistan Region.
A video circulating online shows 10 young men being held captive, with an Arabic-speaking narrator identifying them as Kurds.
Families of some of the captives told Rudaw that an individual operating under the name "Abu Ali" is demanding a ransom of $4,000 per person for their release.
The 10 youths, aged between 18 and 25, are from Hajiawa and Chwarqurna in Sulaimani province’s Raparin administration. They left the Kurdistan Region 45 days ago, hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to reach Europe.
Relatives, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... , said they had already paid smugglers in full to secure safe passage to Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... but were later contacted by captors demanding additional payments as the smuggler negotiated their handover for cash.
The families believe the youths are being held at informal detention sites, including Rahba, Bir al-Ghanam and Hufra.
Amin said a young man from Dukan managed to contact his family from Bir al-Ghanam and confirm that he was being held there, but the exact location and condition of the 10 captives believed to be in Hufra or Rahba remain unconfirmed.
Amin also expressed grave concern for six other young men from Sulaimani's Ranya and Pshdar who disappeared in Libya more than three months ago.
"It is unlikely that those young men are still alive," he said, noting that "their boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea, and they drowned."
Osman Mustafa, head of the local migration and crisis response directorate, told Rudaw on Friday that officials were coordinating with international agencies and Iraq’s interior ministry to address the situation and assist missing migrants colonists.
Driven by unemployment, economic hardship and the search for better opportunities, young people from the Kurdistan Region continue to undertake dangerous journeys to Europe through Libya and across the Mediterranean.
According to the Directorate of Migration, Displaced, and Crisis Response in the Raparin administration, more than 500 migrants colonists have been repatriated from Libya to the Kurdistan Region since 2015, the majority of them from Raparin.
War in #Yemen#SITREP | Yemeni government forces reported a series of drone strikes, artillery attacks and ground engagements against Houthi forces across Marib, Taiz and the Kahbub–Bab al-Mandab front.
War in #Yemen #SITREP | Yemeni government forces reported a series of drone strikes, artillery attacks and ground engagements against Houthi forces across Marib, Taiz and the Kahbub–Bab al-Mandab front.
According to the @Yem_army_media, the Seventh Military Region’s drone unit targeted Houthi personnel concentrations on Marib’s northern fronts, while artillery units on the western fronts reportedly destroyed nine Houthi combat vehicles, killing all personnel aboard. The Third Military Region Command (MRC) also reported a drone strike against Houthi vehicles, although it did not disclose the precise location, number of vehicles hit or resulting casualties.
[IsraelTimes] Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and an array of other forces currently the only obstacle standing in way of the Iran-backed rebels, as the US shows no interest in joining fight
It’s been a week since Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... ’s Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s stormed down the Red Sea coast, extending their reach to a key maritime chokepoint and threatening Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... ’s oil exports.
The Houthis’ biggest land grab in years reignited Yemen’s 12-year civil war and pushed up global fuel prices. It also gave 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... another potential source of leverage as the United States has started to loosen Tehran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.
The Houthis are also firing at Saudi oil facilities and tankers. An attack on Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipeline, blamed on Iran-backed militias in Iraq, added to an unfolding nightmare for the kingdom and rattled world markets.
The rebel blitz has forced some 125,000 Yemenis to flee their homes. The civil war has killed over 150,000 people and at times pushed the country to the brink of famine.
Now the Houthis appear to be eyeing Yemen’s oil-rich east. So far, the only thing standing in their way is Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and an array of forces that have fought one another as recently as January. Saudi Arabia’s most important ally, the US, appears to be sitting this one out.
THE HOUTHIS ARE FIGHTING ON SEVERAL FRONTS
The Houthis captured the important Red Sea port city of Mokha before taking several islands near the narrow Bab el-Mandeb strait, through which some 12% of world trade passes in peacetime. They are also just 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Djibouti, a small African nation hosting US and other military bases.
At least 112,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen during the fighting, while nearly 3,000 have fled by sea to Djibouti, the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... migration agency said on Friday, as reported by Rooters.
Nearly 3,000 people have crossed the Gulf of Aden to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa in less than a week as escalating violence have forced more families to flee, Sandrine Desamours, the representative for the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, told news hounds in Geneva via video link from Djibouti.
The government of Djibouti is preparing for the arrival of up to 10,000 refugees — which will add acute pressure on the country’s health care and education services, Desamours said.
The UN International Organization for Migration said people are fleeing on overcrowded boats and arriving with very limited food and water. Most fleeing are Yemeni families seeking refuge in Djibouti, but IOM is also beginning to see a small number of migrants colonists, mainly from Æthiopia, heading in the same direction.
The Houthis first swept down from their northern heartland in 2014, capturing the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen. Saudi Arabia intervened the following year, and fighting raged until a 2022 ceasefire.
In recent days, there has been heavy fighting in and around Marib, a central city in an oil-rich province of the same name. Previous Houthi offensives have failed to capture the city, which also serves as a military hub for Saudi-backed forces. The Houthis also threaten the western city of Taiz, a front line for much of the conflict.
TIGHTENING THE NOOSE ON THE WORLD’S LARGEST OIL EXPORTER
The Houthis want Saudi Arabia to lift a long-running blockade on the territory they control.
"It is Saudi Arabia that closed the Bab el-Mandeb strait to shipping traffic to and from Yemen and imposed an unjust blockade on the country," Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
The Saudis and their allies have long struggled to contain or deter the Houthis, and may be tempted to seek a diplomatic solution to halt the attacks. That might ultimately require US concessions to Iran, the only country with leverage over the Houthis.
The US, which bombed the Houthis under the Biden and Trump administrations, has shown no interest in getting involved this time around, and the Houthis appear keen to keep it that way. They say they are only attacking Saudi shipping.
TRAFFIC HAS RECOVERED IN THE RED SEA, FOR NOW
Windward, a shipping firm, reported a dip in traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb from 35 daily transits before the Houthi advance to 25 after, but traffic has already recovered and climbed to 45 transits on Sunday.
The Houthis could still expand their target bank beyond Saudi ships and tankers. During their self-styled blockade of Israel at the height of the war in 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... , the Houthis attacked ships in the Red Sea with no known connection to that conflict.
"At the moment, their focus is on Saudi-linked shipping," said Valentin d’Hauthuille, a Middle East analyst at ACLED, a conflict monitor. But they might "extend the criteria according to which vessels are assessed to be ’Saudi-linked’ to increase pressure on both Saudi and the global economy."
THERE ARE SIGNS OF DIPLOMACY, BUT THE COST COULD BE HIGH
Regional mediators have sprung into action, but a diplomatic agreement appears unlikely without some kind of breakthrough in the wider Iran war.
Iran wants the US to lift a blockade and sanctions that have devastated its economy, while the US seeks the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a deal to roll back Tehran’s nuclear program. Neither side has shown any sign of budging since a preliminary agreement quickly crumbled over the summer.
Last weekend, Oman hosted a meeting between US and Houthi representatives, a Houthi official and another individual familiar with the talks told the AP this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.
The US says it has been in "constant contact" with the Saudis, a close ally and the recipient of billions of dollars in American military assistance.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists... recently visited Egypt, which has served as a regional mediator. A government official in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... , another potential mediator, said this week that it was in talks with Iran and the United Arab Emirates to try and lower tensions.
The Houthi attacks are the first test of a new defense pact among Saudi Arabia, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure.... member Turkey and nuclear power Pakistain. But officials from Turkey and Pakistain say they have not received a Saudi request for support.
THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN YEMEN IS WORSENING
The latest fighting has killed eight civilians and maimed another 32, according to the UN humanitarian office, which says an estimated 125,000 people have fled their homes. The Health Ministry in the Saudi-backed government says the Houthis have killed around 150 civilians since Sept. 3.
Saudi Arabia said Thursday that debris from an intercepted Houthi drone killed one person and maimed two others in the kingdom.
Yemen was the poorest Arab country even before the civil war, and has experienced widespread hunger in recent years because of the conflict and the Saudi-led blockade.
The Houthis’ detention of UN and aid workers has hampered international assistance in the territories they control. Experts say the Houthis have struggled to pay civil servants, leading to some unrest, and have diverted much of their tax revenues to their military wing.
The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, says only 20% of its humanitarian appeal for Yemen has been funded, and that "millions risk losing access to food, healthcare, nutrition, water and protection services."
"The needs are extremely high right now," said Sara Ahmed, a supervisor with Doctors Without Borders in Mokha. Doctors are working under difficult conditions to keep essential services running despite hearing Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s, she said.
[BB] A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, followed by a police gun battle with terrorists at the local police station, killed 27 people and injured dozens more. Six civilians and 15 police officers were reportedly among the dead.
The suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives through the entrance of a mosque attached to police headquarters in the city of Kohat, about 45 miles from the border with Afghanistan. The mosque was packed with worshippers for Friday prayers at the time, many of them police officers and their relatives.
After the bomb detonated, a squad of terrorist gunmen attacked the police station and were met by gunfire from resisting police officers.
Local sources told Al Jazeera News that at least 75 people were injured by the attack, most of them worshippers inside the mosque. In addition to the six civilian and 15 police fatalities, at least six of the attacking terrorists were reportedly killed.
Responsibility for the attack was claimed by a group called Ittehadul Mujahideen, which is linked to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari both blamed TTP itself for the attack.
“The complete elimination of Fitna-al-Khawarij, and terrorists operating with foreign backing, is essential for national security,” said Zardari, using the Pakistani government’s preferred, and derogatory, name for TTP.
#3
Near as I can tell, Pakistan, has since 2010, been the 'suicide attack on mosques' capital of the world with several dozen.
All of which were carried out by various islamic groups. Most either by the Pak taliban or one of the ISIS off shouts. Total deaths more than 300, possibly as many as a thousand.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
09/19/2026 20:11 Comments ||
Top||
[Dawn] Security forces have killed seven Lions of Islam during two intelligence-based operations (IBO) in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , state broadcaster Radio Pakistain reported on Friday, citing sources.
Five of the bad boyz were potted in the Fateh Ali area of Panjgur district, the report said, adding thon the lam quantities of weapons and ammunition were found in their possession.
Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie was cracking himself up, but nobody else seemed to be getting the non-stop jokes... an IBO was conducted in the Dhadar area of Kachhi district, during which two terrorists, were killed, it added.
Several other Lions of Islam were also reportedly injured during the operation, according to the report.
Balochistan has witnessed an increase in terrorist attacks in recent weeks, prompting security forces to intensify counter-terrorism operations.
Last month, the number of terrorist attacks in the province increased by seven per cent from 83 in July to 89 in August, according to a monthly assessment by the Pakistain Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.
On the night of Aug 31-Sept 1, Lions of Islam of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... Pakistain (TTP) launched a coordinated attack on the Customs House, located at Ziarat Cross on the N-50 National Highway, in the Pishin district.
In retaliatory action, security forces killed 10 Lions of Islam while two officers were among six martyred in the fire exchange, according to the military’s media affairs wing.
Also on August 31, 11 Lions of Islam belonging to Fitna-al-Hindustan, who had blocked the N-40 Quetta-Taftan highway by establishing an illegal checkpoint for extortion in Chagai’s Nokcha area, were killed following an intense exchange of fire.
On September 2, security forces killed 12 Lions of Islam in the Kalat district during an IBO. Days later, the troops killed 11 Lions of Islam and recovered 2.9 tonnes of explosives during separate IBOs in Kharan and Washuk districts.
Another 36 Lions of Islam were eliminated during multiple "high-tempo" operations conducted in Mastung, Quetta, Kalat and Sibi districts, the Inter-Services Public Relations said on September 4. These also included thwarting an attack on a cop shoppe in Sibi’s Bhag area.
On Thursday, seven bad boyz were potted by security forces in an IBO in the Badrang area of Balochistan’s Awaran district.
[IsraelTimes] Separately, Majd al-Krum man nabbed for contact with Lebanese foreign agent; Palestinian-American correspondent for Iranian state TV has detention extended after West Bank arrest
A resident of the Arab city of Tamra, in northern Israel, was set to be indicted Friday on suspicion of repeatedly contacting the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... terror group to offer his help with operations against Israel, police said.
A police statement alleged that he was also in touch with Iranian intelligence operatives, but that his arrest on August 28 came before he could carry out any missions on their behalf.
Additionally, the police arrested a man from the northern Arab town of Majd al-Krum for alleged contact with a foreign agent from Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... . And the police extended the arrest of a Paleostinian-American journalist from the West Bank who worked for Iranian state TV.
Tamra’s Sultan Abu al-Haija, 31, is suspected of contacting Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, to offer his help.
His arrest was a joint operation of the Israel Police and Shin Bet security service, which shared footage of the raid.
The indictment was set to be filed in the Haifa District Court on Friday by prosecutor Shir Moshiav.
Security forces carry out an operation to arrest Sultan Abu al-Haija, 31, of Tamra, who is accused of contacting Hamas and Iranian agents to help them operate against Israel. August 28, 2026 (Israel Police)
Separately, a Majd al-Krum resident, 32, was arrested following a joint investigation by the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit and the Shin Bet, the police said.
He is suspected of being in contact with a foreign agent from Lebanon and carrying out security-related tasks on her behalf, with full knowledge of who he was dealing with. The statement did not state any connection to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.
The police statement added that the Lebanese agent attempted to financially compensate him for his work by purchasing products in Israel and having them sent to him.
An indictment is expected to be filed on Sunday at the Haifa District Court.
SMOTRICH: GALILEE IS EXPERIENCING AN ’OCTOBER 6 CLIMATE’
Responding to that case, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X: "I reiterate: In the Galilee, we have an October 6 climate," comparing the security situation in the north to that of the 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... border area on the eve of Hamas’s 2023 invasion and massacre, the worst attack in Israel’s history.
"Days ago, it became clear that what could set the Galilee aflame is not some shepherds’ farm, but rather radical Islamic forces that are establishing themselves in a place where there aren’t enough Jews," he continued, a seeming reference to the many illegal farming outposts settlers have established in the West Bank in recent years, which critics say escalate tensions in the territory and fuel settler violence.
He also referenced a social media post of his from earlier this week, which he said included footage from northern Israel of people chanting "Long live Paleostine."
"That wasn’t a mistake," he wrote. "There are forces there that view the State of Israel as an enemy that must be fought."
"The time has come to carry over the revolution in Judea and Samaria to the Galilee and the Negev," he added, presumably referring to the dramatic expansion of settlements and illegal outposts in the West Bank during the current government’s term.
Doing so could "save the State of Israel from the next October 7," he said.
PALESTINIAN CORRESPONDENT FOR IRAN STATE MEDIA ARRESTED
In addition, on Thursday, a court extended the remand of Naqaa Hamed, a Paleostinian journalist in her 30s who lives in the West Bank, until September 23.
Hamed, a US citizen, is suspected of incitement, support for a hostile organization, and commerce with an enemy, apparently over her work for Press TV, an Iranian state-owned news outlet.
"Together with the security bodies, we will continue to operate with determination against crimes of incitement and support for terrorism, until we bring to justice anyone who has taken part in those acts," the police said.
Her arrest was reported on Tuesday, with the Committee to Protect Journalists saying she was detained at a temporary Israeli checkpoint near Bethlehem.
US Senator Chris Van Hollen ...senior United States senator-for-life from the bluest county in Maryland, a seat he has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, natch, he was congressman for Maryland's 8th congressional district from 2003 to 2017 and as a Maryland state senator from 1995 to 2003, a total of NaN years. That was after ten years as an apprentice to aanother politician. In April of '25 he showboated off to El Salvador in an attempt to rescue an MS-13 gangster from durance vile. Other than that he's been mostly a party line voter and non-entity.... , sharing the CPJ report, called for Hamed’s release on Thursday, posting to X, "Another American citizen wrongfully detained by the Israeli [government]."
"Naqaa Hamed, an American journalist, was stopped by the IDF, interrogated about her work, & now faces bogus espionage allegations. The Israeli govt should immediately release Naqaa, NOW," he wrote.
According to the CPJ, Hamed was returning from an assignment in Masaffer Yatta, near Hebron, along with two cameramen who were also detained but were later released. Masafer Yatta has been the site of Israeli demolitions and is a flashpoint of conflict.
In recent weeks, calls for her arrest had circulated on social media, citing her work for Press TV. The popular Abu Ali Express account on social media took issue last month with Hamed’s coverage of events in Qusra, where settlers besieged Paleostinians’ homes.
[IsraelTimes] Alexander Granovsky found guily of setting 9 cars on fire, stalking Benny Gantz’s neighborhood; as part of plea deal, four young men from East Jerusalem admit to taking part in separate plot.
The Lod District Court on Wednesday sentenced Petah Tikva resident Alexander Granovsky to 13.5 years in prison for spying, vandalism and arson in late 2024 on behalf of Iran.
Separately, the Jerusalem District Court convicted four Palestinians from East Jerusalem who admitted, as part of a plea deal, to participating in another late 2024 Iranian espionage scheme in exchange for money. Their punishments will be determined later.
Granovsky, in his 30s, was found guilty of spray-painting antigovernment slogans, setting nine cars on fire and stalking the neighborhood of lawmaker Benny Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff and defense minister, in exchange for money from an Iranian agent. His prison term is the harshest sentence yet against a person convicted of acting on behalf of Iran, the Central District Attorney’s Office said.
Meanwhile, the Jerusalem court convicted brothers Mahmoud and Mamdouh Hader, 23 and 21, respectively; Omari Abu Hamida, 21; and Muhammad Taha, 21. All but Taha are Israeli citizens. They and three other Israeli citizens from Beit Safafa were arrested for suspected spying for Iran in September 2024.
Proceedings are ongoing against the three other suspects, who include the alleged lead intermediary with the Iranian agent.
According to the text of the plea deal, Abu Hamida and the younger Hader traveled with some of the other suspects to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, where the group filmed one of the entrances to the institute.
When Abu Hamida asked the others why they were filming the entrance, he was informed it was in service of an Iranian plot to assassinate a scientist. Despite learning of the plot, neither Abu Hamida nor Hader did anything to stop it. Due to their inaction, they were convicted of failure to prevent a terrorist act.
The elder Hamida was convicted of aiding and abetting contact with a foreign agent for offenses including procuring a fake police license plate in order to produce a video of a purported attack on an Israeli police car.
Taha was also convicted of aiding and abetting contact with a foreign agent after he sent the Iranian agent, via the alleged intermediary, a video purporting to show a grenade being thrown at a Jewish home. The home was actually an empty house in the West Bank Palestinian village of Qatanna, near Jerusalem.
⭕️خلال الأسابيع الثلاثة الأخيرة، تم القضاء في قطاع غزة على 29 مخربًا من حركتيْ حماس والجهاد الإسلامي الإرهابيتين. ثمانية منهم تم القضاء عليهم خلال الأسبوع الأخير، من بينهم قائد كتيبة جباليا، وقائد لواء رفح، وقائد لواء خانيونس في حركة حماس الإرهابية.
— Lieutenant Colonel Ella Waweya | إيلا واوية (@CaptainElla1) September 18, 2026
Translated Text:
⭕️During the past three weeks, 29 terrorists from the terrorist organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been eliminated in the Gaza Strip. Eight of them were eliminated during the past week, including the commander of the Jabaliya Battalion, the commander of the Rafah Brigade, and the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade in the terrorist organization Hamas.
⭕️Among the terrorists who were eliminated, there were terrorists who infiltrated the territory of the State of Israel during the October 7 massacre, as well as terrorists who advanced terrorist plots against the citizens of the State of Israel and the forces of the Israel Defense Forces.
⭕️The Israel Defense Forces will continue to act against the terrorist organization Hamas's attempts to rebuild its capabilities, in systematic violation of the ceasefire agreement, and will continue to close the circle on the terrorists who infiltrated the territory of the State of Israel during the October 7 massacre.
🚨 SHIN BET CHIEF TO HAMAS: “THERE IS NO EXPIRATION DATE”
Shin Bet chief David Zini issued a direct warning to Hamas leaders in Gaza and abroad:
“There is no place in the world that is too far, there is no forgiveness, and there is no expiration date.”
“We have pursued, we are pursuing, and we will continue to pursue you until the last of you.”
Zini said Israel’s security services will reach those responsible for the October 7 massacre “in the depths of the tunnels, in hidden command centers, and in every corner of the globe.”
[Rudaw] Clashes erupted on Friday in the northern part of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, a rights monitor reported, pointing to casualties among "security personnel." The fighting comes days after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed to retaliate for the killing of an affiliated holy man in the predominantly Baluch and Sunni Moslem southeastern province.
"Heavy automatic gunfire broke out" in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan, on Friday, "with festivities reported in the Daneshgah street area and the vicinity of Daneshjou street" in the city's south and southwest, independent human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... organization Haalvsh reported. Individuals in a passenger vehicle were also "targeted," the monitor said, adding that "multiple ambulances" have been dispatched to Daneshgah and Daneshjou streets.
Haalvsh, which focuses on Baluch affairs and draws on a network of sources in the southeastern province, cited sources saying that "security forces, plainclothes officers, and personnel from various security agencies have been dispatched to the clash locations, with a large number of security forces deployed across various streets throughout the city."
"Checkpoints have also been established at several points, and the entry and exit routes of Zahedan have been blocked," the rights organization said, citing "unconfirmed reports" that "several security personnel were killed and injured during these festivities, though precise numbers are not yet available."
Iranian state media has yet to confirm the reports, but Saberin News, a prominent Telegram-based outlet affiliated with the IRGC, circulated images of individuals it described as "forces of Evil from the Jaish ul-Adl group who were killed early this morning in Zahedan," as a source in the city reported that "three armed bad boyz were potted."
Sistan and Baluchestan is a large, impoverished, and underdeveloped frontier province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistain, primarily populated by Baloch and Sunni Moslem communities. The province has long been mired in deep security challenges between Iranian security forces and Baloch gangs, including Jaish ul-Adl.
While localized anti-state and tribal unrest predates it, 2003 marked the beginning of an organized, modern murderous Moslem campaign against Iranian security forces in the region. The province is also a frequent focal point for anti-establishment sentiment and periodic protests - particularly following Friday prayers led by prominent Sunni holy man Molana Abdolhamid - alongside persistent reports of heavy-handed state crackdowns against local populations.
The Friday festivities come days after a Sunni holy man closely linked to Iran's security establishment was rubbed out in Sistan and Baluchestan province on Monday.
"The treasonous terrorist groups assassinated Molavi Yusef Gorgij, a prominent Sunni holy man known as an influential figure in promoting Shia-Sunni unity in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan," the IRGC then said in a statement carried by semi-official Mehr News Agency ...And if you can't believe Mehr News Agency who can you believe?... "He was martyred this afternoon in a terrorist act carried out by enemies of unity and Baloch-killing factions, at the door of his home," the statement added.
Haalvsh on Monday reported that Gorgij "was shot and killed by unknown armed individuals" in Zahedan, noting that "the identity of the perpetrators and their motive remain unknown" and that "no individual or group has grabbed credit for the killing."
The killing of Gorgij came days after another Sunni figure linked to the IRGC, Abdolraouf Eshaghi, from Sistan and Balushitan’s Saravan county, was killed last week.
"The self-serving forces of Evil must know that assassinating Baloch security guardians will not compensate for their consecutive defeats," the IRGC said in a previous statement, warning that "the pure blood of this martyr will not go unavenged, and other terrorist cells will soon be struck."
[Rudaw] Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said Friday it struck a Togo-flagged oil tanker over what it called an "illegal passage" through the Strait of Hormuz, restating Tehran's claim to the strategic chokepoint. The announcement coincided with a report of a "security incident" in the Strait by a British navy monitor.
"The offending oil tanker Trend, sailing under a Togolese flag, attempted illegal passage through the Strait of Hormuz," said Brigadier General Ali Azmaei, IRGC navy commander, adding that "it was struck, caught fire and came to a halt."
"The IRGC Navy warns once again that illegal passage through the Strait of Hormuz will bring nothing but the destruction of the offending vessel," he said, adding that "the mariners of the IRGC Navy continue to hold firm control over the vital waterway of the Strait of Hormuz and will let no aggressor pass through it."
The statement coincided with a report from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) of a "security incident in the Strait of Hormuz," 16 nautical miles northeast of Khasab in Oman's northern Musandam province.
"The crew have been reported as safe," the monitor said, noting that "no environmental impact has been confirmed at the time of this report" and that "authorities are investigating" the incident.
In Hormuz, a US naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect since mid-July with the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reporting late Thursday that as of that day its forces "have redirected 104 commercial vessels to ensure strict compliance."
Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising. And then he smelled the smoke... Tehran last week said it expanded its maritime control zone beyond the Strait of Hormuz to include waters off its southeastern port city of Chabahar, extending across the Sea of Oman and into the Arabian Sea.
The developments also come as US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... on Wednesday anticipated that the war with 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... may be nearing its end.
"Hopefully we're toward the end of the war," Trump told news hounds in North Carolina. "Iran is very much wanting to make a deal. We'll see how that works out."
Asked whether he had recently heard from senior Iranian officials, and whether contacts were direct or through intermediaries, the US commander-in-chief replied, "No, directly."
Earlier, the IRGC reported that the El Gaia oil supertanker struck mines while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz. A fire broke out on the vessel, and efforts to contain the blaze were unsuccessful. The IRGC emphasized that the vessels had received warnings about the danger of illegal passage through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the strait remains closed and under full Iranian control.
On September 12, Iran submitted seven conditions to US authorities for opening the Strait of Hormuz. Prior to the US and Israeli attacks on Iran in February 2026, approximately 20% of global energy exports passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Both US and Iranian officials claim to be in control of the waters. However, after a series of incidents involving tankers and other vessels that were struck by mines or struck by nuclear weapons,
…nuclear weapons?? Regnum is getting a kittle overexcited, i think. The whole point of this exercise is to ensure Iran does not ever get nuclear weapons.
shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has been reduced to a minimum.
On September 17, Mohammad Bagher Zolqadr, Iran's political adviser, said the Strait of Hormuz would not open to shipping as long as US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were in power.
[North Press] An Israeli military force entered Wadi al-Raqad in western Daraa countryside on Friday, while Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of Beit Jinn in western Damascus countryside, according to local sources.
The sources told North Press that the Israeli force, consisting of nine military vehicles, carried out a search operation in Wadi al-Raqad before detaining a shepherd
…he was a simple but astonishingly well-armed shepherd, with a decidedly military carriage under his ragged garb that made his drill sergeant beam with pride…
who was in the area and taking him to an unknown location.
“Shalom, Yossi! Was it your turn to be the simple shepherd today? Ayzeh yofi — I’d lost track! So what do we know?”
“Yalla, Avi — get me the map. Have I got things to tell you!”
Syrian state media reported separately that Israeli forces shelled Tal Bat al-Warda near Beit Jinn with several artillery rounds on Friday. No casualties were reported.
The developments come amid continued Israeli military incursions in southern Syria. On September 16, Israeli forces entered Abedin in western Daraa countryside, while on September 15, Israeli forces entered Jabatha al-Khashab in northern Quneitra countryside.
Surely Hezbollah isn’t so stupid as to take on Hayat Tahrir al Sham/Al Nusra when they’re already losing war against the IDF.
[North Press] Lebanon’s Military Court has charged 14 people, including a Hezbollah member and a former Syrian intelligence officer who served under former President Bashar al-Assad, over alleged plans to carry out attacks in Syria, a judicial source told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Lebanese authorities arrested five people in early September, including three Syrians, on suspicion of planning attacks against Syrian government forces in the coastal region, according to the judicial source. Weapons, including machine guns, hand grenades, sniper rifles and explosives, were reportedly seized from the detainees.
The charges against the 14 include forming a criminal group, training in the use of weapons and explosives, sniper rifles and drones, with the alleged aim of carrying out attacks in Syria’s coastal region, the source said.
According to preliminary investigations cited by the source, more than 40 former Syrian government officers and personnel were allegedly smuggled from the Syrian coast into northern Lebanon through unauthorized crossings, in groups of about five people at a time.
The source also said that a Hezbollah official identified as Yasser Alaa al-Din, known as “Hajj Alaa,” who is reportedly at large, supervised the alleged smuggling of members of the network and their training at Hezbollah camps in eastern Lebanon.
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.
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...senior United States senator-for-life from the bluest county in Maryland, a seat he has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, natch, he was congressman for Maryland's 8th congressional district from 2003 to 2017 and as a Maryland state senator from 1995 to 2003, a total of NaN years. That was after ten years as an apprentice to aanother politician. In April of '25 he showboated off to El Salvador in an attempt to rescue an MS-13 gangster from durance vile. Other than that he's been mostly a party line voter and non-entity....
...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 
Earlier, the IRGC reported that the El Gaia oil supertanker struck mines while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz. A fire broke out on the vessel, and efforts to contain the blaze were unsuccessful. The IRGC emphasized that the vessels had received warnings about the danger of illegal passage through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the strait remains closed and under full Iranian control.
