ALERT: Afghanistan Holds Talks with Tajikistan Over Border Security
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, has confirmed recent discussions with Tajik authorities regarding security incidents along their shared border.
ALERT: Afghanistan Holds Talks with Tajikistan Over Border Security
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, has confirmed recent discussions with Tajik authorities regarding security incidents along their shared border. More at the link
If the Mossad is getting bored, perhaps something amusing can be found for them to do over there — another seaside resort, perhaps…
[IsraelTimes] ‘We will not accept it,’ terror group says in statement; relations may benefit Jerusalem’s strategic interests in Africa, Red Sea
Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... vowed Saturday to fight any attempt by Israel "to claim or use parts of Somaliland ...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells.... " following Jerusalem’s recognition of the breakaway territory.
"We will not accept it, and we will fight against it," al-Shabaab said in a statement.
The group’s front man, Ali Dheere, said in the statement that Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state showed it "has decided to expand into parts of the Somali territories" to support "the apostate administration in the northwest regions."
Al-Shabaab has little presence in Somaliland. The group has been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government of Somalia for more than 17 years, and while security has significantly improved in the capital, Mogadishu, the war still rages 60 kilometers from the capital.
Last year, a jacket wallah and gunman from the group killed 32 people at a beach in Mogadishu; a boom-mobile detonated by the group killed five people in the capital; and the organization killed three people and maimed 27 in an hours-long siege of a hotel in Mogadishu.
Israel said Friday it was officially recognizing Somaliland, a first for the self-proclaimed republic that in 1991 declared it had unilaterally seceded from Somalia.
Mogadishu immediately denounced a "deliberate attack" on its illusory sovereignty, while Egypt, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... , the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation all condemned Israel’s move.
Regional analysts believe that a rapprochement with Somaliland could allow Israel to secure better access to the Red Sea, potentially making it easier for it to conduct strikes and surveil the 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... rebels in 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... Press reports a few months ago said Somaliland was among a handful of African territories willing to host Gazooks under a now largely abandoned plan to resettle some of the Strip’s population. But neither the Somaliland authorities nor the Israeli government has ever commented on those reports.
"It is humiliation of the highest level today, to see some Somali people celebrating a recognition by the Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu" when "Israel is the biggest enemy of the Islamic society," Dheere said.
The territory of Somaliland is roughly a third the size of La Belle France and corresponds more or less to the former British Somaliland protectorate.
It has its own currency, military and police, while enjoying relative stability compared to its neighbors.
While no other countries have formally recognized it, several states — including the UK, Æthiopia, Turkey, the UAE, Denmark, Kenya and Taiwan — maintain liaison offices, and the Trump administration has signaled in recent months that it could change its stance on the breakaway region.
Yet the lack of recognition has left Somaliland politically and economically isolated despite its location on one of the world’s busiest trade routes connecting the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal.
Following Israel’s recognition, the Somaliland government said it seeks to join the Abraham Accords. The 2020 accords were brokered by Trump’s first administration and included Israel formalizing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with other countries, including Morocco, joining later.
Channel 12 reported that Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohammed Abdullahi made a secret visit to Israel in October, meeting with Netanyahu, Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... chief David Barnea and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The network said that ties between the two governments emerged as Israel searched for countries willing to take in Gazooks it was looking to move out of the Strip during the war — an effort that seems to have failed due to overwhelming international backlash against the notion.
Israel, which has become increasingly isolated internationally during 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... war, has made it a priority to expand its ties in Africa. In August, Israel reopened its embassy in Zambia after more than 50 years.
[SudanTribune] A high-ranking government official said on Saturday that the Sudanese army is preparing to repel a planned attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allies on the towns of Kurmuk and Geissan in the Blue Nile region, launched from Ethiopian territory.
Last June, the army managed to push the RSF and its allies out of areas in the Blue Nile in southeastern Sudan. Following military strikes, those forces withdrew to areas bordering Ethiopia and South Sudan.
“We confirm the army’s readiness to confront hostile action in the coming weeks against the districts of Kurmuk and Geissan originating from Ethiopia,” the official told Sudan Tribune.
He asserted that Ethiopia has opened its territory to train RSF fighters and allied forces in four border areas within the Benishangul-Gumuz region, which borders the Blue Nile region.
The official noted that training camps—housing the RSF, the SPLM-N (Joseph Touka faction), forces loyal to Obaid Abu Shotal, and mercenaries from Ethiopia and South Sudan—have been filled with military equipment in preparation for the assault.
Obaid Abu Shotal, a tribal leader, joined the RSF at the start of the conflict in April 2023 and participated in battles in Khartoum and the Blue Nile. Meanwhile, the SPLM-N fights alongside the RSF after the two formed the “Ta’asis” alliance. The SPLM-N deputy chairman, Joseph Touka, oversees the Blue Nile front.
The official stated that the Sudanese government has monitored the presence of Abu Shotal, Joseph Touka, and RSF commanders in Assosa, the capital of the Benishangul-Gumuz region.
He further reported that the government detected the delivery of massive military hardware from the UAE at two airbases in Benishangul, which is expected to be used in the attack on Kurmuk and Geissan.
On Thursday, activists circulated satellite imagery showing the completion of two new aircraft hangars at Assosa Airport, along with ongoing construction work, including ground improvements and facility upgrades.
#Breaking: A direct war between #UAE and #SaudiArabia over control of #Hadramout, #Yemen may be imminent. This evening, Royal Saudi Air Force fighter jets conducted aggressive overflights of positions held by UAE-backed forces, issuing clear warnings to withdraw or face immediate… pic.twitter.com/fR1A0ruWo3
— Babak Taghvaee - The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) December 27, 2025
Text:
#Breaking: A direct war between #UAE and #SaudiArabia over control of #Hadramout, #Yemen may be imminent. This evening, Royal Saudi Air Force fighter jets conducted aggressive overflights of positions held by UAE-backed forces, issuing clear warnings to withdraw or face immediate and deadly airstrikes.
The situation marks a dangerous escalation and signals that Riyadh is prepared to use force against its former ally. Any miscalculation could trigger a full-scale military confrontation between the two Persian Gulf powers on Yemeni soil.
[MunsifDaily] The ongoing investigations by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) into an Al-Qaeda case have revealed that servers and control centres in Afghanistan had been used extensively for spreading radical ideology.
The ongoing investigations by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) into an Al-Qaeda case have revealed that servers and control centres in Afghanistan had been used extensively for spreading radical ideology.
These details cropped up during the interrogation of Zubair Hangargekar, who was arrested for his alleged links with Al-Qaeda. The probe found that he was highly radicalised by the ideology of Al-Qaeda. The electronic devices seized from him revealed that he was using the ideology of the outfit with the larger plan of implementing the Sharia law in India and also establishing a Caliphate.
Al-Qaeda has been gradually building up massive infrastructure in Afghanistan, the probe found. Officials say that they have set up servers, cyber infrastructure, and appointed content distributors. The material that Al-Qaeda operatives in India post is done through the infrastructure that the outfit has set up in Afghanistan. This is, in fact, helping the operatives reach a wider audience without being tracked.
They are also able to operate across large jurisdictions owing to this technology, while staying out of the radar of the Indian agencies, an official also added. While scanning through the electronic devices of Zubair Hangargekar, the ATS found a Pakistani contact. Numbers of contact persons from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman were also found on him.
The ATS is currently ascertaining how he was linked to these persons and whether they had any role to play. The ATS says that Hangargekar was in possession of jihadi literature and was attempting to radicalise the youth.
He is also accused of being in touch with many members of the Al-Qaeda network. Intelligence Bureau officials say that there has been a sustained effort by Al-Qaeda to expand operations in India. This was the primary intent why the outfit launched Al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent (AQIS).
“Stabbing Jews brings dignity to the Palestinians. We have to stab the Jews. They teach us that Jews are terrorists. I am ready to stab a jew and drive a car over them. I am ready to join ISIS” pic.twitter.com/VM7OpR88p8
[IsraelTimes] Report says the other leading candidate is terror group’s former head Mashaal, who is said to favor diplomacy on Gaza whereas frontrunner backs ‘armed conflict’
Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... is expected to elect a new leader within days or a few weeks, Saudi outlet Asharq reported Saturday, citing sources close to the Paleostinian terror group’s leadership.
However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... the same sources also reportedly "ruled out holding general elections before the war comes to a complete end."
The two main candidates are reportedly former Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal and current 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... politburo chief Khalil al-Hayya.
Their main immediate policy difference relates to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to the sources. Hayya, who is seen as close to Iran, is said to support the continuation of "armed conflict with Israel in the Gaza Strip until the war ends and the Israeli army withdraws from the Strip entirely," while Mashaal, who is seen as closer to Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... , is said to seek "negotiated compromises to end the occupation of Gaza."
Mashaal also reportedly supports "trying to move Hamas away from Iran" and "closer to the moderate Arab states," the sources told Asharq.
The sources cited by Asharq said Hayya will likely win, as he enjoys the support of Hamas leaders in both Gaza and the West Bank, including West Bank politburo chief Zaher Jabarin.
According to Asharq, the electing body is Hamas’s general Shura council, which comprises some 50 members representing Hamas’s three regional politburos — Gaza, the West Bank and the Paleostinian diaspora.
Hamas elects a new leader every four years, the report noted. The last elections took place in March 2021, and the current ones were scheduled to take place in early 2025, but were pushed off due to the war in Gaza.
The leader elected in 2021, Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continued as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintained a separate PM in the West Bank. Zapped during the 2023-24 war, to eveyone's satisfaction... , was assassinated by Israel in Tehran in July 2024. His successor, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli troops in Rafah in October that year.
Since then, according to Asharq, Hamas has been led by a provisional leadership council that is headed by the general Shura council chief Muhammad Ismail Darwish and also includes Hayya, Mashaal, Jabarin and Gaza politburo member Nizar Awadallah.
Asharq cited observers close to Hamas as saying its resolve to hold elections now is a result of both the ceasefire with Israel and disagreement within the provisional leadership council about issues including "the fate of the movement’s rule in Gaza and regional alliances."
Under US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... ’s Gaza ceasefire plan, Hamas is required to cede control of Gaza to international forces. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Hamas leaders, including Hayya and Mashaal, have called for the international forces to serve only as a buffer between Israel and Gaza.
[PJMedia] Indonesia has a reputation for being a "moderate" Moslem nation, but the wind in the Islamic world as a whole is blowing in the opposite direction, as a group of Christians has just discovered.
Morning Star News, which tracks the persecution of Christians worldwide, reported Tuesday that "as police looked on, Moslems in West Java Province, Indonesia on Dec. 14 formed a human wall to block Christians from attending a Christmas service, according to local media."
Notice that it has now been nearly a quarter-century since 9/11, and while we have seen heroic individual Moslems such as Ahmed al-Ahmed, who tackled one of the Bondi Beach jihadis, we have never seen any large-scale Moslem action against terrorism. We have never seen Moslems form a human wall to block an Islamic jihad attack, or to stop a woman from being abused in accord with the direction to "beat" disobedient women in the Qur’an (4:34). But forming a human wall to prevent Christians from celebrating Christmas? No problem.
Morning Star News noted that Moslems "from outside Jayasampurna village, Serang Baru Sub-District, Bekasi Regency near Jakarta blocked the congregation of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestant Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestant, HKBP) from celebrating Christmas at a prayer post near the Green Cikarang housing complex."
Local cops and a goggle-eyed crowd watched as "dozens of Moslem men and women holding hands to form the human chain, making anti-Christian comments and shouting the jihadist slogan ’Allahu Akbar [God is Greatest).’" One of the most mistranslated phrases in the entire world, "holy shit! Allahu akbar" does not actually mean "God is greatest," or the difficult-to-contest alternative "God is great," which is the establishment media’s favorite way of misrepresenting what is actually being said.
"holy shit! Allahu akbar" really means "Allah is greater," that is, the deity of Islam is superior to, and has won a victory over, whatever God the infidels may be worshiping at any particular time or place. In Jayasampurna village, the Moslems were proclaiming that Allah had defeated Christianity, and thus they were in the right to prevent the Christians from engaging in their false worship.
The Qur’an tells Moslems that they are the instruments of Allah’s wrath, through whom he punishes the unbelievers: "Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, and he will lay them low and give you victory over them, and he will heal the hearts of people who are believers. And he will remove the anger of their hearts." (Qur’an 9:14-5)
Consequently, the Moslems who were blocking the door to the church likely thought of themselves as committing a righteous act, allowing Allah to use them to punish the wayward Christians. And punish they did: "The Moslems held back and pushed members of the church as they struggled to make their way to prayer post for Christmas services."
For their part, however, the Christians reiterated that they meant no one any harm: "We only want to worship peacefully — we have no intention of disturbing anyone." This is unlikely to impress any of the local authorities, for among those who blocked the Christians from holding their Christmas celebration was one person who was holding a sign that read: "We, the Moslem residents of Jayasempurna village, firmly reject the construction of illegal houses in our neighborhood forever."
Illegal houses? Yes. Islamic law forbids Christians in Moslem lands from constructing new churches, so even the existence of the church was an insult in itself. That may be why "Moslems from outside the area also blocked the Christians from worship on the two prior Sundays, Dec. 7 and Nov. 30." The church has been in its present location for seven years, but that doesn’t mean that the area Moslems have accepted it.
Private meeting. Quote: "Russia and Israel are friends."
That's not the smoking gun. That's the opening shot.
Here’s why this matters. Iran didn’t lead with the most damaging material. They led with something embarrassing but not catastrophic. The message is: "We have the phone. We have the files. This is what we're willing to show you first."
Classic kompromat strategy. Release something that proves access, then hold the devastating stuff as leverage.
What the Russian ambassador video reveals:
Israel and Russia maintain coordination despite Ukraine. That’s known publicly, but seeing it documented privately is different. Netanyahu has been walking a tightrope - supporting Ukraine rhetorically while maintaining an operational relationship with Moscow over Syria.
Video of a Russian ambassador saying "we're friends" in a private meeting undermines Israel’s Western alignment posturing. It’s not catastrophic, but it’s embarrassing.
And if they have that - what else do they have?
Iran is claiming:
Full contact lists, including every foreign diplomat, intelligence contact, and political ally.
Internal security information.
Classified communications.
Videos of foreign ambassadors.
If real, that’s the entire diplomatic and intelligence apparatus of the Israeli government exposed. Every back channel. Every secret arrangement. Every private assurance given to allies.
Why release the Russia video first?
Proof of access. This can no longer be dismissed as bluff.
Strategic messaging. Showing Israel-Russia cooperation complicates Israel’s relationships with Ukraine backers in the U.S. and EU.
Escalation ladder. Start with embarrassing but not devastating material. Create pressure. "Want us to stop? Start negotiating."
If Iran starts dropping Israeli intelligence operations, agent networks, or classified military planning from that phone, this becomes the biggest intelligence breach of the decade.
If they stop here, it was a sophisticated psychological operation with limited actual compromise.
Iran picked the perfect target. A chief of staff’s phone contains everything sensitive without being classified at the highest levels that would trigger immediate lockdown protocols.
The Russia angle is the twist.
Why embarrass Israel’s relationship with Russia? Iran and Russia are allies. Exposing "Russia and Israel are friends" should hurt both.
Unless Iran is also sending a message to Moscow: "We can expose your secret arrangements. Remember that next time you coordinate with Israel over Syria."
This is beyond just Israel versus Iran.
Iran is showing everyone: "We can penetrate, we can expose, and we choose what gets released."
That’s intelligence warfare. And Iran just demonstrated capability.
Source: Iranian hacker group Hanẓala,
@Megatron_ron
Posted by: 3dc ||
12/28/2025 13:51 ||
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Link ||
[1791 views]
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#1
They are getting better.
Posted by: Penguin of the best desert ||
12/28/2025 17:23 Comments ||
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[NYPost] Iran’s president declared they were in a “total war” with the US, Israel and Europe, just as Tehran looks to rebuild its nuclear capabilities and strengthen ties with Hamas.
Masoud Pezeshkian made the bold statement in an interview published in state media Saturday, Barron’s reported.
Posted by: Mercutio ||
12/28/2025 08:57 ||
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[1794 views]
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#4
Eliminate a couple of their naval bases, all the ships and all the equipment, machine shops and fuel needed to support those ships so they understand what a "total" war is really like.
Your terms are acceptable. Hey lookit that — someone left a pager where anyone could pick it up… You want a free pager? I’ve aleady got one.
[IsraelTimes] In interview, Masoud Pezeshkian outlines 20-point economic plan to improve Islamic Republic’s ailing economy
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview published Saturday that his country was in the midst of a "total war" against the United States, Israel and Europe.
"In my opinion, we are at total war with the United States, Israel and Europe. They want to bring our country to its knees," Pezeshkian told Iranian state media.
He added that Iran’s conflict with the West was, in his view, worse than the war against Iraq that 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... fought in the 1980s.
"During the war with Iraq, the situation was clear: they fired missiles, and we knew exactly where we were responding. But now, we are being surrounded from every angle," he said.
Nevertheless, Pezeshkian maintained that following the June war with Israel, Iran’s armed forces were now stronger and better equipped.
He argued that the war had actually strengthened internal unity rather than weakening the country, claiming that government services continued uninterrupted throughout the fighting.
He also called on Iranians to remain united and to avoid public disagreements, asserting that Iran’s adversaries seek to exploit internal divisions.
The 12-day war between Israel and Iran broke out in June following a surprise Israeli strike on strategic Iranian targets. Israel said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Theocratic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
According to Iranian reports, Pezeshkian himself was nearly killed and had his leg injured by an Israeli strike during the war.
Touching on Iran’s struggling economy, Pezeshkian said the nation was facing serious economic pressure due to sanctions, lower oil revenue, and the impact of conflict, but emphasized that his government’s top priority is protecting people’s livelihoods.
He outlined a 20-point economic plan to stabilize prices for essential goods and support lower-income households, including wider use of vouchers.
The Iranian president also stressed that the government must cut spending, draft an austere budget, and improve efficiency. A major theme was reducing waste, especially in water, electricity, and fuel consumption. Pezeshkian noted that he uses a desk lamp instead of lighting up an entire room to cut electricity costs.
According to The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , Pezeshkian has described the government’s spending practices as "what crazy people do."
In recent comments made in speeches and while speaking to university students in Iran, Pezeshkian said that, despite being president, he could not do anything to aid Iran’s ailing economy.
"If someone can do something, by all means go for it," he told students, according to The New York Times. "I can’t do anything; don’t curse me."
"Why should I solve [the economic problems]?" he reportedly told provincial governors and local officials. "You shouldn’t think that the president can make miracles happen."
The reported comments drew criticism from Iranian media and politicians.
Asked about his statements, Pezeshkian said Saturday: "Of course, I have said many times that I cannot do it, but that we can. The country’s problems are not something I can solve alone... but we will overcome these problems."
[Rudaw] Survivors on Saturday described scenes of fear and grief after a kaboom on Friday struck a mosque in Syria’s Homs province, killing at least eight people and wounding around 20 others.
"The sound of the earth-shattering kaboom was very loud. At first, we were shocked until I realized a kaboom had occurred in the center of the mosque, and people fled out of fear," Mihyaddin Saloum, the mosque’s preacher, told Rudaw.
The blast hit the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of southeastern Homs.
Saloum said the mosque serves worshippers from different sects. "The mosque is Alawite, but some of our Sunni brothers come [and pray] with us. This is very normal," he said, adding, "This is not a new situation. I have been the preacher of this mosque since 2009, and my fellow sheikhs and I get along well."
Among the injured was Ahmed Ibrahim, who was discharged from the hospital after sustaining head wounds. A regular attendee of Friday prayers at the mosque, Ibrahim recalled the moment of the blast. "I was hit on the head, and a shrapnel hit me. When the earth-shattering kaboom happened, I threw myself to the side," he said.
"I lowered myself, and I felt something hit my head, and I got up. I got outside close to the door, and people were getting out," he added.
Five of the victims were buried at a cemetery in Homs, where families continued to mourn the loss of their loved ones.
Saraya Ansar al-Sunna,
…an offshoot of Syria’s conquerors, Hayat Tahrir al Sham/Al Nusra…
a radical Sunni Islamist krazed killer group, grabbed credit for the attack on Friday, saying it was carried out "in cooperation with mujahideen [jihadists] from another group."
So was that other group HTS, Turkey’s catspaw, the so-called Syrian National Army, ISIS, or something else?
The group said the earth-shattering kaboom involved "a number of bombs" and claimed around 40 people were killed or injured. It added that "our attacks will continue to increase and will target infidels and apostates."
The group had also grabbed credit for a deadly suicide kaboom attack at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus’s Christian-majority Dweila neighborhood in June. The attack left at least 22 dead and 63 injured, according to state media.
Homs, once dubbed the “capital of the revolution,” has been a focal point of Syria’s conflict since 2011 and has witnessed repeated waves of violence, sectarian tension and displacement, according to the Associated Press.
Syria’s Alawite minority, from which the ruling Assad family hails, has often been targeted by extremist groups during the war, as sectarian divisions deepened amid years of fighting and political fragmentation.
Syria’s prominent Alawite leader calls for mass protests
[Rudaw] The leader of Syria’s Alawite community on Saturday called on the members of the sect to stage mass demonstrations on Sunday to demand “political federalism” and protest violence targeting the minority group. The call comes a day after an explosion killed eight people at an Alawite mosque in Homs.
“Tomorrow will be a peaceful human flood filling the squares, and we call on every free and honorable person from the other components to stand with us and support us in our demands,” Ghazal Ghazal, head of the Supreme Islamic Alawite Council in Syria and Abroad, said in a video message.
“We do not want a civil war. We want political federalism. We do not want your terrorism. We want our right to self-determination,” he said in an apparent message to the transitional government in Damascus, led by Islamist figures.
But your Hayat Tahrir al Sham conquerers want you to accept being conquered, instead of foolishly demanding an equality they will never give you. And you can’t shame them in front of the world, because they believe their god demands that, too.
“Our appointment is tomorrow from twelve o'clock until five o'clock in the afternoon, Sunday.”
Ghazal’s call follows Friday’s explosion at the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of southeastern Homs, which killed at least eight people and wounded around 20 others, according to Syrian state media. A radical Sunni Islamist militant group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, claimed responsibility, saying the attack was carried out “in cooperation with mujahideen [jihadists] from another group.”
No one has been arrested over the blast.
Violence has persisted in parts of Syria since the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad by the now-dissolved jihadist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Its former leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, now serves as interim president.
That’s “dissolved” and “interim”, where each is defined as being its opposite. In case anyone wondered.
The interim authorities have faced mounting criticism over their centralized style of governance. In March, Sharaa signed a constitutional declaration emphasizing Islamic jurisprudence, drawing backlash from Alawite, Christian, Druze, and Kurdish communities, who viewed it as exclusionary.
Ues. Your point?
Calls for decentralization or federalism have grown among Alawites, Druze, and Kurds following waves of violence, especially after clashes left nearly 800 dead in the Druze-majority Suwayda province in mid-July and in Alawite-majority coastal regions in March, which war monitors say left nearly 2,000 people dead. Damascus and its affiliated forces have been held responsible for killing many civilians.
“What we are experiencing today is not a passing incident or blind chaos, but a systematic war of extermination practiced against us in full view and hearing of the world,” Ghazal said. “This [Damascus] authority has not left any form of crime without committing it against us. We are killed in places of worship. We are slaughtered in our homes.”
Ghazal also appealed to “the international community and decision-makers,” warning that “silence about these crimes means nothing but more killing and more collapse,” and called for “radical, genuine, and swift solutions,” including “international protection.”
In November, Ghazal similarly called for demonstrations, which were held in several areas across Latakia and Tartus provinces along the Syrian coast, as well as parts of Hama and Homs. Protesters at the time demanded federalism, political decentralization, the release of detainees, and an end to violence against minorities.
Syria’s interior ministry then warned against what it described as “schemes” to sow discord, cautioned against sectarian slogans, and said security forces had been deployed to protect demonstrations.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] A little over a year has passed since the change of power in Syria. Since then, the country has seen a relative stabilization of its international relations, while domestic politics have continued to stagnate in the same place they were after the armed opposition's victory.
Damascus is aware of the problem, but is in no rush to take any serious steps to avoid further unbalancing the system.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
Syria's position on the international stage has significantly strengthened over the past year. Following the formation of a transitional government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, Damascus quickly emerged from the sanctions trap and achieved a formal reset in relations with the United States and the European Union.
Türkiye and the Arabian monarchies played a significant role in whitewashing the reputation of the new authorities, attempting, among other things, to elevate their own mediating role in the Middle East.
Relations with Russia have also seen a clear warming, although the opposition that initially came to power tried to raise the price, threatening to “completely reconsider” Moscow’s place in the Middle East.
Now, the transitional cabinet is taking every opportunity to emphasize that the “victorious revolution” has no grievances against Russia and that Damascus remains interested in deepening the Russian-Syrian partnership, including in the area of security.
Among other things, the Syrian authorities are hoping that Moscow could become one of the mediators and guarantors in the stalled "peace deal" with Israel—although this topic is being brought to the public very cautiously and with numerous reservations from al-Shara'a's cabinet.
In fact, by the end of 2025, Damascus had managed, for better or worse, to establish ties with almost all members of the “Security Five” – with the possible exception of China, with which dialogue remains markedly cold.
Despite the fact that Beijing has de facto recognized Syria's new political system and is willing to invest in local industry and the economy, it is demanding serious public concessions from Damascus, in particular the disarmament of the "Uyghur Guard," which is composed of former Asian radicals and is considered one of al-Sharaa's pillars of influence.
Unable to directly satisfy China's request, the Syrian leadership is trying to find a compromise or at least shift its focus to disarming other forces. This, too, is proving difficult.
NEW SYRIA
At home, the focus remains on finding a compromise with ethnoreligious minorities—primarily those capable of challenging Damascus's monopoly on power. This group includes the Kurds and the Druze.
Dialogue with the Kurds developed most intensively. At one point, the parties even managed to draw up a roadmap for integrating units into the national armed forces and preliminary agreed on constitutional amendments.
However, at the last minute, Damascus decided to pause reforms. The subsequent series of clashes between the Syrian army and the Kurds in November and December 2025 effectively set both sides back.
The situation with the Druze proved more complex: after Damascus's failed attempt to carry out ethnic cleansing in As-Suwayda under the guise of a counter-terrorism operation, the Druze Mountains region was lost to the central authorities. Local spiritual leaders are unwilling to negotiate with the transitional government until they are given ironclad security guarantees.
As for the remaining groups (Alawites, Shia Muslims from border areas, Armenians, and Assyrians), Damascus cannot fully ensure their security. Interaction with these communities, if it does occur, is sporadic.
Despite the al-Shara'a cabinet's attempts to attribute current problems to the "legacy of the old regime" and promise to quickly find innovative solutions, the number of sensitive issues on the agenda is not decreasing. In some cases, it's even increasing.
Minority issues remain a stumbling block. Damascus is not yet ready to make even symbolic concessions, such as granting full autonomy to the Kurds and Druze, for fear of the country's disintegration.
Moreover, in the case of the Druze, an additional deterrent for the central authorities was the rapprochement between local militias and the Israeli contingent, which arose, ironically, precisely because of Damascus's attempts to resolve everything quickly and by force.
Sporadic clashes with local militias continue today: Damascus lacks the resources to completely stop them.
This raises the problem of "local excesses." The revolution has brought to the fore a large number of different armed groups, some of which are only formally subordinate to Damascus and have their own views on what the "new Syria" should look like.
Finally, the problem of terrorism has not gone away. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the radical underground decided to take advantage of the confusion and intensified attacks against the new authorities and the civilian population.
Damascus's "new friends" were also challenged: one of the radicals' December attacks killed two American soldiers, sparking outrage in Washington and leading to an immediate, albeit short-lived, retaliatory operation.
The radicals are acting brazenly, including attacking buildings that are significant to Shiite Muslims (the latest such attack was the attack on a Shiite mosque in Homs on December 26), further fueling accusations of the al-Sharaa government's inability to protect its own population.
Neither Moscow, nor Washington, nor any other country is prepared to fight terrorists in Damascus' place—that's stated plainly. However, the new authorities, lacking a reliable rear and a well-led army, are hardly ready for a full-scale campaign.
As a result, operations against radicals are still targeted and aimed more at eliminating isolated cells in cities than at actually defeating terrorist units.
ADVANCE OF TRUST
The year 2026 will be a defining one in many ways for Syria.
The consolidating effect of the “victory of the revolution,” which was used by the transitional authorities to cement the various factions, is gradually ceasing to work.
Al-Shara's former allies are beginning to consider their own rise, peaceful and otherwise.
Moreover, Western partners, who recognized the new government in advance in exchange for promises to carry out democratic reforms and defeat terrorists, are looking expectantly at Damascus.
In the absence of visible results, the question of whether al-Sharaa is capable of justifying the trust placed in him is increasingly being raised in political circles.
Under these circumstances, the only way for the current Syrian authorities to remain in power is to resolve at least one of these long-standing problems. However, due to their interconnectedness, official Damascus has so far been unable to determine the best approach to renewing the country.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/28/2025 00:00 ||
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