#18
Merry Christmas to all, except Gleng Whaick2262
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2025 13:36 Comments ||
Top||
#19
Merry Christmas. Die Hard is a Christmas movie, BTW.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/25/2025 14:03 Comments ||
Top||
#20
From the Big Guy himself:
Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly. We no longer have Open Borders, Men in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, or Weak Law Enforcement. What we do have is a Record Stock…
Al-Shabaab militants have reportedly seized the village of Ruun Sheekhow, located just a few kilometers from the Qorilow military base
Al-Shabaab militants have reportedly seized the village of Ruun Sheekhow, located just a few kilometers from the Qorilow military base, a key stronghold for Somalia’s elite Gorgor forces.
Local sources say the seizure of Ruun Sheekhow has intensified security concerns.
Security analysts warn that the situation in Middle Shabelle could deteriorate rapidly. The Somali government’s focus on conducting unilateral local elections in Mogadishu, coupled with the Somali Defense Minister’s active campaigning, may divert attention and resources away from pressing security threats. Analysts caution that this could have serious consequences for stability in the region.
#ALERT: Al-Shabaab Targets Government Convoy Outside Warsheikh District
Al-Shabaab militants ambushed a convoy of government forces today on the outskirts of Warsheikh District in the Middle Shabelle region. Casualties have been reported, though the exact number has not yet been…
Suspected JAS terrorists detonated an explosive device inside a mosque at the Gamborun market in Maiduguri, Borno state in northeast Nigeria, killing several worshippers and injuring others. pic.twitter.com/o5WSZCqExI
JAS terrorists refers to Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad, the full name of Boko Haram, for some reason also sometimes called Daular Musulunci.
At least seven people were killed in an explosion at a mosque in northeastern Nigeria.
Shiite? Liberal Sunni? Forgot to pay their zakat to the right (Boko Haram) people? So many possibilities, with the certainty that someone with IED capabilities is going to be seriously peeved no matter which choice is made.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported this on December 24, citing a security source.
The explosion occurred around 6:00 PM local time (8:00 PM Moscow time) during evening prayers at a mosque in the main Gamboru market in Maiduguri. A large number of worshippers were inside the building at the time of the incident.
According to preliminary data, at least seven people died.
It was previously reported that improvised explosive devices were allegedly planted in the mosque.
Extremist groups operate in Nigeria, including the Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram. They operate primarily in the northern and central states of the country.
The police further said early findings point to a suicide attack.
“Preliminary investigations further suggest that the incident may have been a suicide bombing, based on the recovery of fragments of a suspected suicide vest and witness statements recorded,” the command said, stressing that “investigations are ongoing to establish the exact cause and circumstances.”
[IsraelTimes] An Australian man has been charged and detained after allegedly posting a message on social media backing the mass shooting on Bondi Beach.
A court in Western Australia heard that police found six licensed firearms, 4,000 rounds of unsecured ammunition, and antisemitic material in his home, local media says.
Detectives raided the suspect’s home Tuesday, Western Australia Police says in a statement.
He was charged with intent to racially harass, carrying or possessing a prohibited weapon, and failing to properly store a firearm or related material.
The suspect, named in local media as 39-year-old Perth man Martin Thomas Glynn, appeared in Fremantle Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
In a social media post, he allegedly expressed “100 percent support” for the December 14 mass shooting at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, which killed 15 people, media reports says.
Glynn reportedly told the court he did not intend to harm anyone and was trying to contrast the Bondi attack with the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.
Uh huh. Suuuuure.
He was remanded in custody until his next court hearing in February, local media says.
Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the man was not believed to be part of a network.
“We think this is an individual who has made these comments online, and we are still yet to assess the threat of that individual,” he tells reporters.
[IsraelTimes] Australian police are investigating a “suspicious fire” after a car carrying a sign celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah was set ablaze in Melbourne.
The empty car, which had a “Happy Chanukah” sign fixed to the roof, was scorched by the fire while parked in a house driveway, images on national broadcaster ABC television show.
It was set alight in the early hours of Thursday morning in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East, Victoria police say in a statement, describing it as a “suspicious fire.”
Occupants of the house were evacuated as a precaution.
“Detectives have identified a person who may be able to assist with their investigation and they are actively searching for and making enquiries into their whereabouts,” police say.
Australian authorities are stiffening laws and penalties for hate crimes after a December 14 mass shooting at a Hanukkah festival on Bondi Beach killed 15 people.
[IsrelTimes] Turkish authorities have detained 115 suspected Islamic State members they say were planning to carry out attacks on Christmas and New Year celebrations in the country, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office says.
Istanbul Police obtained information that Islamic State members had planned attacks in Turkey, against non-Muslims in particular, during Christmas and New Year celebrations, the prosecutor’s office posts on X.
The police raided 124 places in Istanbul, capturing 115 of the 137 suspects they were seeking, the statement said. Several pistols and ammunition were seized, it says.
The police’s counter-terrorism operation is still ongoing.
Turkey shares a 900-kilometer (559-mile) border with Syria, where jihadist groups are still active. Since the 2019 collapse of the self-proclaimed “caliphate,” some suspected ISIS members have settled in Turkey.
This week, Turkey’s intelligence agency also conducted an operation on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, capturing a Turkish national who it said held a senior role in the ISIS group.
At the time of his arrest, Mehmet Goren, since transferred to Turkey, was accused of organizing suicide attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Europe.
Prosecutors say Abdullah researched Delta flights and Atlanta’s tallest building while planning a 9/11-style aircraft attack.
Court records show he trained as a pilot for al-Shabaab to hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a U.S. building.
A federal jury convicted him on six terrorism-related counts, resulting in two consecutive life sentences.
A Kenyan man who federal prosecutors say researched Delta flights and Atlanta’s tallest skyscraper as part of a 9/11-style terror plot has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.
WHAT WE KNOW Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 34, was sentenced after a jury convicted him in November 2024 of conspiring to support the terrorist group al-Shabaab and plotting to hijack a commercial aircraft and crash it into a building in the United States. Court records show Abdullah specifically researched flights linked to Atlanta and focused on the Bank of America Plaza, a 55-story downtown tower, during his attack planning.
Federal authorities said Abdullah was training to become a commercial airline pilot so he could carry out a mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil.
According to court documents and trial evidence, Abdullah joined al-Shabaab in 2015 and spent about a year in Somalia receiving military-style training, including firearms and explosives instruction. Senior operatives later recruited him for a larger international plot that involved training as a pilot so he could hijack a plane and crash it into a U.S. building.
From October 2017 through July 2019, Abdullah attended a flight school in the Philippines, completing hundreds of hours of classroom instruction, simulator work and flight training toward commercial pilot certification. Prosecutors said his tuition was financed by al-Shabaab, which raises money through extortion in Somalia.
At the time of his arrest in the Philippines in July 2019, Abdullah had completed nearly all the requirements for a commercial pilot license and was close to finishing the instrument rating needed to fly for a major airline.
After his arrest, Abdullah admitted to FBI agents that he was training to become a pilot on behalf of al-Shabaab so he could hijack a plane. Investigators said he researched cockpit doors, airline security, transit visas, and the feasibility of bringing a knife onto an aircraft. He also admitted he expected others to be killed or injured and believed he would die in the attack.
In January 2019, prosecutors said Abdullah intensified his planning after being briefed by his al-Shabaab handler about a deadly attack on a hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya. Two days later, he searched online for "Delta flights" and the "Tallest building in Atlanta," focusing on the Bank of America Plaza as a potential target.
Throughout his flight training, Abdullah sent progress reports to his handler detailing his research, including observations from airline flights about cockpit door visibility and reviews of post-Sept. 11 hijacking attempts. In one report, he wrote that "for a very successful mission, we need a pilot in the cockpit (which means I should apply for the airlines)."
Abdullah was transferred to U.S. custody in December 2020. A federal jury convicted him of six counts, including providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to murder U.S. nationals, aircraft piracy and acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"Cholo Abdi Abdullah was a highly trained al-Shabaab operative who was dedicated to recreating the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks on behalf of a vicious terrorist organization," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "Abdullah pursued his commercial pilot license at a flight school in the Philippines while conducting extensive attack planning on how to hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a building in America. As he later admitted to the FBI, he was fully prepared to die in his terrorist attack."
"Today, justice has been served," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "Abdullah, an al-Shabaab terrorist, sought to replicate the most horrific terrorist attack in our history, as he prepared to hijack a commercial airliner to take down a building on U.S. soil. We thwarted this plot due to the relentless efforts of U.S. law enforcement and thereby likely saved many innocent lives. His life sentence is a powerful reminder that those who plot attacks against the United States will be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law."
"Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist and trained pilot Cholo Abdullah was justly punished today for his plotting to commit a 9/11-style terrorist attack," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. "This case serves as reminder individuals still wish to inflict violence upon our country in the name of the terrorism. The FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force remains steadfast in its relentless determination to protect the American people from terrorists and their heinous desires."
DIG DEEPER
The case was investigated by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force with assistance from international and U.S. law enforcement agencies and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office National Security and International Narcotics Unit.
WHAT'S NEXT
In addition to two life sentences, Abdullah was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.
THE SOURCE
The details in this article come from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with statements attributed to DOJ leadership, the U.S. attorney and the FBI. This story is being reported out of Atlanta.
Over 300 Drone Attacks Thwarted in Bannu in 2025 : Senior Police Official
Bannu police faced nearly 134 attacks in 2025, resulting in the deaths of 27 police personnel. In response, law-enforcement operations led to the killing of 53 militants during the same period.
Over 300 Drone Attacks Thwarted in Bannu in 2025 : Senior Police Official
Bannu police faced nearly 134 attacks in 2025, resulting in the deaths of 27 police personnel. In response, law-enforcement operations led to the killing of 53 militants during the same period.
He said Bannu police carried out 168 intelligence-based operations, arresting 105 terrorists and neutralizing 65. Successful joint operations were conducted in Huwed, Miryan, Bargantu, and Dawood Shah, underscoring close coordination among police and security agencies.
DIG Sajjad Khan emphasized that Bannu police hold a prominent position across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for bravery and resilience. He credited an effective strategy built on public participation, noting that collaboration with community elders led to the formation of Chugha committees, strengthening local intelligence and trust.
The DIG revealed that militants possess drone technology and have conducted around 20 drone strikes. However, following the deployment of anti-drone guns, over 300 attempted attacks were thwarted, and five militant drones were destroyed. He added that drones were operated from areas including Ghora Baka Khel and Sara Darga.
Addressing concerns about militants’ countermeasures, DIG Sajjad Khan stated that reports of terrorists possessing anti-drone guns are likely dummy devices.
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian Authority police say officers arrested three suspects in the arson attack that targeted a Christmas tree and nativity scene in Jenin’s Holy Redeemer Church early Monday.
Jenin police and PA intelligence succeeded in catching the suspects less than 48 hours after the attack, and also seized equipment allegedly used in the attack, police say.
“Any attempt to harm a place of worship or disturb the peace will be persecuted to the full extent of the law,” the statement says. “The long arm of justice will reach whoever tries to threaten the unity of Palestinian society.”
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says that soldiers arrested overnight a terrorist cell that was planning to carry out attacks against Israelis.
According to the IDF, troops with the Duvdevan unit arrested four terrorists in the area of Jayyus, near Qalqilya in the northern West Bank.
Separately, soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion arrested three Palestinians who were throwing rocks toward a main road near Kifl Haris, in the area of Ariel in the West Bank, the IDF says.
The suspects who were arrested were transferred to the Shin Bet for investigation, according to the IDF.
[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister’s Office warns military will take action; IDF says top Hamas money man killed alongside terror chief in strike earlier this month
Israel vowed on Wednesday to respond to an incident in southern 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... ’s Rafah in which a bomb went kaboom! against an Israeli armored personnel carrier, lightly injuring an IDF officer.
The officer, who serves in the Golani Brigade, was taken to a hospital, and his family was notified, the army said.
"The Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... terror organization continues to violate the ceasefire and President Trump’s 20-point plan," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement published in English.
"Their ongoing and continuing public refusal to disarm is an ongoing flagrant violation, and again today their violent mostly peaceful intentions and violations were confirmed by their detonation of an IED that maimed an IDF officer," the PMO continued.
It was unclear whether the bomb was recently planted in the area by terror operatives or it was an old bomb from before the ceasefire.
The incident came days before Netanyahu is set to fly to Florida to meet with US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... to discuss the next steps in the fragile Gaza ceasefire.
"Hamas must be held to the agreement that they signed on [sic], which includes removal from governance, demilitarization, and de-radicalization," concluded the PMO, adding that "Israel will respond accordingly."
The Israel Defense Forces said the Namer APC that was hit was involved in efforts to clear Rafah’s Jenina neighborhood — located on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line — of Hamas infrastructure.
Dozens of Hamas operatives are believed to have been holed up in tunnels in Jenina, though the army has reported killing or capturing many of them.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the US-brokered ceasefire plan that halted two years of war triggered by the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The first phase of the truce stopped the fighting, but occasional deadly festivities have continued, mostly along the so-called Yellow Line that divides Hamas and Israeli-held territory.
Washington is keen to move on to the second phase, which deals with the governance of post-war Gaza and the demilitarization of Hamas. The US is struggling to find international partners to take on those tasks, while Hamas has said it will not give up its weapons.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF denies a Hamas official’s claim that the explosion in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier today, which wounded an officer, was caused by an undetonated ordnance left behind by the Israeli military.
The army had said earlier that the blast was caused by an explosive device. The IDF was investigating whether the bomb was recently planted in the area by terror operatives or if it was an old explosive device from before the ceasefire.
Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi claimed on X that the blast was caused by an Israeli unexploded ordnance, without providing any evidence.
Military officials deny this and say that the blast was not caused by an Israeli bomb, but rather an explosive device planted there by terror operatives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will respond, saying the explosion was a Hamas violation of the ceasefire.
[IsraelTimes] House in village of Bazariya belonged to one of two assailants who fatally stabbed security guard Shalev Zvuluny outside a supermarket at Gush Etzion Junction, before being killed
IDF troops on Wednesday demolished the home of a Paleostinian terrorist who carried out a deadly stabbing and shooting attack in the West Bank in July, the military said.
In the attack on July 10, Mahmoud Abed and Malik Salem fatally stabbed a security guard, Shalev Zvuluny, 22, outside a supermarket at the Gush Etzion Junction.
The assailants then snatched the guard’s handgun and exchanged fire with a soldier and an armed civilian before being killed.
The perpetrators, both 23, were Paleostinian cops who served in the Paleostinian Authority’s police force. Neither had been previously detained by Israel, a defense official said at the time.
The army said it operated in the West Bank village of Bazariya on Wednesday morning and demolished Salem’s home.
Abed’s home is also expected to be demolished by the army.
Hazem Yassine, head of the Bazariya municipal council, denounced what he called a "heinous crime," presumably referring to the demolition.
He told AFP that Israeli forces had sealed off the village’s entrances since dawn in preparation for the house’s destruction.
"Schools were closed as a precaution," he said, adding that the assailant’s family had moved out around a month ago after being notified of the decision to demolish the house.
An AFP photographer saw children climbing on piles of rubble after the demolition, waving the Paleostinian flag.
As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Paleostinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.
Israeli officials have said the policy is intended to dissuade Paleostinians from planning terror attacks, as doing so will harm their extended families’ livelihood. Critics have called it collective punishment.
[Rudaw] Syrian security forces on Wednesday arrested a bigwig of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) in the southern province of Rif Dimashq in a joint operation with the global coalition against the group, according to the interior ministry.
The ministry cited the head of the local security forces in Rif Dimashq, Ahmed al-Dalati, in an overnight statement as saying that his forces, Syrian intelligence and the US-led global coalition "carried out a precise security operation targeting a hideout of the ISIS terrorist organization in the town of Moadamiya in Rif Dimashq province, following thorough surveillance and intense intelligence monitoring."
Dalati added that the operation resulted in the arrest of the head of ISIS leader in Damascus Taha al-Zoubi - also known as Abu Omar Tabea - and several of his aides.
"A suicide belt and military weapon were found in his possession. This operation represents a major blow to the organization and confirms the high readiness of our security agencies in confronting any threat to the security of the governorate and its surroundings," he added.
The coalition has yet to comment on the raid.
Syria officially joined the multi-nation coalition in November following a landmark meeting between US President Doland Trump and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, the first such encounter with a Syrian president in more than eight decades.
Since joining the coalition, Damascus has carried out several joint anti-ISIS operations with the military alliance. Three Americans were killed in Syria’s central Homs province in mid-December when the US army was carrying out a joint anti-ISIS operation with the Syrian forces in the area. Washington carried out a large-scale aerial campaign days later targeting ISIS positions across Syria.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who act as the de facto military force in the Kurdish region in northeast Syria (Rojava), have also intensified attacks on ISIS cells. The SDF said on Tuesday that they killed three ISIS members and captured five others in an operation in eastern Deir ez-Zor province.
The SDF was the primary on-the-ground partner of the global coalition against ISIS in Syria before Damascus joined the coalition. The multi-ethnic SDF remains a key ally of the military alliance and continues to conduct joint operations with it.
[IsraelTimes] As Beirut moves to confiscate Iran-backed group’s weapons, Youssef Rajji calls Hezbollah’s refusal to give up arms ‘unacceptable,’ says Lebanon has ‘deep problems’ with Tehran
Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... ’s foreign minister on Wednesday criticized Hezbollah and demanded its entire military system be dismantled and disarmed, saying that it was "unacceptable" that a non-state armed organization continues to operate within the country.
In comments published Wednesday by the Iranian WANA news agency, Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji railed against both the Iran-backed terror group and 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... itself, as the Lebanese government has sharpened its tone against Tehran and Hezbollah in recent months.
Hezbollah’s entire military structure needs to be dismantled in order for Lebanon’s security to be guaranteed, Rajji said, calling for full disarmament and demilitarization beyond just the confiscation of small arms or the removal of Hezbollah forces and infrastructure from southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Kinnison began his slow infiltration of the sewer system... the Israeli military carried out a wave of attacks in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, saying it targeted several Hezbollah rocket-launching sites.
Several buildings and other infrastructure recently used by the terror group’s operatives were also destroyed in the strikes, the military announced, saying the presence of the rocket-launching sites was a violation of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon.
According to Lebanese media, the IDF struck targets in the southern towns of Tebna and Nmairiyeh.
Last week, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that the country was close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River, and that the government was now moving towards confiscating weapons north of Litani, "based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army pursuant to a mandate from the government."
Accusing Hezbollah of using Israeli attacks as an excuse to hold onto its arms, Rajji said that the group was trying to buy time in hope of political shifts and was refusing to seriously discuss full disarmament.
Rajji also claimed that Hezbollah was threatening Beirut with potential civil war if the government acts on its demands to fully disarm, a threat Rajji called unacceptable.
Turning his sights on Iran, the foreign minister said that the country was destabilizing Lebanon with its continued "direct" financial and military backing of Hezbollah.
"Iran is not our enemy, but we have deep problems with it," Rajji said, stressing that Beirut seeks peaceful ties with Tehran, provided it respects Lebanese illusory sovereignty and does not interfere in its politics or society.
Rajji, who is a member of the Christian-led Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... party, has led the rhetorical charge against Iran and Hezbollah over the course of this year, recently calling Tehran’s influence in the region "very negative," and "a source of instability."
Earlier this month, Rajji refused an invitation to Tehran from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, saying: "I could not accept his invitation to visit Tehran under the current circumstances," instead inviting Araghchi to come to Beirut or a "neutral" country.
Responding to his Lebanese counterpart’s comments, Araghchi said he would "gladly accept the invitation to come to Beirut," although he said he found Rajji’s position "bemusing." He said foreign ministers of countries with "full diplomatic relations" did not need a neutral venue to meet.
A year of intense conflict between the Lebanese Iran-backed terror group and Israel came to a halt just over a year ago with a US-brokered ceasefire. Under the terms of the truce, Hezbollah was to be disarmed and allow the Lebanese Armed Forces to deploy fully across the country as the IDF withdrew. That disarmament has not yet happened, however, despite Lebanon having drawn up a plan to do so.
Lebanon is now under pressure to speed up the process or risk intensifying Israeli action.
Israel has retained troops in Lebanon at five strategic points near the border, and regularly conducts strikes that it says are against Hezbollah attempts to rebuild its strength.
[IsraelTimes] Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seize an oil tanker in the Gulf carrying more than a dozen foreign crew members, state media report.
The vessel “was carrying 4 million liters of smuggled fuel with 16 non-Iranian crew members on board,” state television quotes navy commander General Abbas Gholamshahi as saying.
Forces from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “boarded the ship … as it was leaving Iranian territorial waters,” he adds.
It was not immediately clear which flag the ship was flying.
Iranian forces regularly announce the interception of ships it says are illegally transporting fuel in the Gulf.
They regularly target tankers that Tehran accuses of being part of illicit trade in the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Wednesday’s seizure is the latest in a series of similar incidents in recent weeks.
Earlier in December, authorities seized a tanker in the Gulf of Oman with 18 crew members from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on board.
Retail fuel prices in Iran are among the lowest in the world, making smuggling fuel to other countries particularly profitable.
Last month, Iran seized an oil tanker in Gulf waters “for carrying an unauthorized cargo.
Also in November, the IRGC confirmed it had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf.
[IsraelTimes] Syrian state media says three people were killed today in clashes with security forces in the coastal Latakia province, the heartland of the country’s Alawite minority community.
“Three members of remnants of the former regime were killed after clashes with internal security forces” outside the city of Jableh, state television says.
State news agency SANA had earlier reported “clashes with a group of wanted outlaws” in the area, and said an unspecified number of security personnel were wounded.
Since last December’s ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, himself an Alawite, Syria’s new authorities have frequently reported security operations against what they describe as remnants of his government.
Syria’s coastal areas saw the massacre of Alawite civilians in March, with authorities accusing armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.
A national commission of inquiry said at least 1,426 members of the minority community were killed at the time, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor put the toll at more than 1,700.
Last month, thousands of people demonstrated on the Alawite coast in protest of fresh attacks targeting their community.
NGOs and social media reports indicate that Jihadi forces linked to regime security have shelled Alawi civilian areas in Dweire Baabda, near Jableh on Syria’s coast. The incident follows recent clashes involving Druze local defense… pic.twitter.com/WWXXRzAoeq
NGOs and social media reports indicate that Jihadi forces linked to regime security have shelled Alawi civilian areas in Dweire Baabda, near Jableh on Syria’s coast. The incident follows recent clashes involving Druze local defense forces in Suwayda and predominantly Kurdish SDF police units in Aleppo over the past several days.
Government sources claim the confrontations were initiated by “minorities and Assad-aligned factions,” including Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Kurds. Alawi sources dispute this, alleging the attacks are part of a broader campaign of ethnic cleansing against Alawi and Christian communities that began in March.
🚨Damascus and Ankara continue to play with fire!
Currently, heavily armed convoys continue to be sent from Damascus towards the Deir Ezzor region, to the front line under the control of Abu Hatim Shakra, affiliated with MIT. The convoy is currently passing through Al-Sukhnah.… https://t.co/y1eAG2rhyqpic.twitter.com/GlL0Nt1okO
Currently, heavily armed convoys continue to be sent from Damascus towards the Deir Ezzor region, to the front line under the control of Abu Hatim Shakra, affiliated with MIT. The convoy is currently passing through Al-Sukhnah.
Syrian government forces sent large reinforcements to Dier ezzor consisting of 15 tanks (mostly T-55 tanks) and multiple 122mm 2S1 artillery vehicles, a number of BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles.
Simultaneously, the activity and attacks of ISIS cells increased.
Ibrahim El Hifil was also given the leading role in the gangs formed under the name of the tribal army.
i
Posted by: badanov ||
12/25/2025 00:00 ||
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Why should Israel maintain its presence at the peak of Mount Hermon? For years, Hezbollah exploited the harsh and unforgiving terrain of Mount Hermon for cross-border smuggling of weapons, narcotics, people, and other illicit cargo between Lebanon and Syria—and in the opposite… pic.twitter.com/Se6EoEUsiQ
Why should Israel maintain its presence at the peak of Mount Hermon?
It’s in the Golan Heights. Israel needs the high ground so that no one in Syria or Lebanon decides to get clever again and rain missiles down on the Jewish communities below, as they did until the IDF took a portion of the Golan Heights during the Six Day War in 1967. That’s why they annexed that portion acquired in 1967 during President Trump’s first term.
For years, Hezbollah exploited the harsh and unforgiving terrain of Mount Hermon for cross-border smuggling of weapons, narcotics, people, and other illicit cargo between Lebanon and Syria—and in the opposite direction as well.
Following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024, IDF forces took control of the Hermon peak, creating a new reality in a historically problematic area. This move is justified, vital, and essential to Israel’s security.
In a single step, the IDF expanded its strategic depth, thwarting current and future threats and attacks against Israeli territory. Israel’s presence in this area significantly hampers Hezbollah’s operational recovery and rebuilding efforts, particularly toward southern Syria, affects other fronts as well, and helps address the uncertainty and instability prevailing in Syria.
In any agreement, Israel must preserve its presence in this area.
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.
[MSN-Fox5Atlanta] THE BRIEF
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
