Breaking: Al Shabaab Claims Fresh Territorial Gains as Militants Push Toward Mogadishu
Al Shabaab has claimed it has captured the villages of Maxaa Siciid and Cadaan Lexey in #Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, signalling a renewed and dangerous push toward the capital… pic.twitter.com/7dTHOP2Q2z
Breaking: Al Shabaab Claims Fresh Territorial Gains as Militants Push Toward Mogadishu
Al Shabaab has claimed it has captured the villages of Maxaa Siciid and Cadaan Lexey in #Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, signalling a renewed and dangerous push toward the capital #Mogadishu.
The terrorist group released images it says show its fighters back in areas that were taken from them during a government offensive in 2022, raising serious questions about the collapse of recent security gains.
The latest claims suggest militants are steadily reclaiming territory and tightening pressure on routes leading toward Mogadishu, as fears grow that the capital is once again being encircled.
Security analysts warn that the developments point to a widening failure of the Somali government’s counterterrorism strategy, with previously cleared areas now falling back into militant hands.
The situation on the ground remains fluid, but the message from Al Shabaab is clear. They are advancing, regrouping and pushing closer to the heart of the capital.
Al-Shabaab militants have released images purportedly showing their fighters in full control of the villages of Maxaa Siciid and Cadaan-Laxey in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, near the coastal town of Warsheekh, approximately 80 kilometers north of Mogadishu. pic.twitter.com/PE06ctExY1
Al-Shabaab militants have released images purportedly showing their fighters in full control of the villages of Maxaa Siciid and Cadaan-Laxey in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, near the coastal town of Warsheekh, approximately 80 kilometers north of Mogadishu.
[SudanWarMonitor] Civilian Exodus from Besieged Cities of Kadugli and Dilling
Sudanese army defenses continue to break down around the cities of Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan, coinciding with an exodus of civilians amid famine and fears of imminent rebel attacks.
Army units in the area are outnumbered and facing shortages of critical supplies. Some soldiers are defecting or abandoning their positions. At present, there appears to be no ongoing army operation to relieve the imperiled cities. Past efforts to reinforce and resupply Dilling and Kadugli, launched from SAF-held territory in North Kordofan, were repulsed.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have dispatched their prominent field commander, Colonel Saleh Al-Futi, who oversaw the successful assaults on the army’s 22nd Division (Babanusa) and 16th Division (Nyala), to lead operations in the Kadugli theater.
In the latest developments, on Tuesday morning, 30 December 2025, a joint operation by the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (North) overran Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) positions along the Kadugli-Dilling road, including at Keiga Junction, Balif, and Hajar Daleib. This puts them within easy striking distance of Al-Kweik, Kadugli Airport, and Kadugli itself.
Open source information, including videos filmed by combatants, indicates that intense clashes took place at several hilltop and roadside positions. These videos show exchanges of heavy weapons fire, advancing RSF and SPLM-N units, abandoned SAF earthworks, and prisoners of war.
◉ The Sudanese Armed Forces have secured control over the city of Al-Hamadi, as the RSF militia withdrew toward the city of Al-Dibaybat.
◉ With this advance, the Sudanese Armed Forces have crossed the borders of North Kordofan State and entered South Kordofan State.
Sudanese army advances in Kordofan as RSF nears Kadugli
[SudanTribune] The Sudanese army made rapid territorial gains on Wednesday, seizing several areas in North and South Kordofan states. At the same time, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reported capturing a town near the strategic city of Kadugli.
The large-scale operation marks the military’s first major ground push in the Kordofan region in months. For much of the past year, the army had scaled back land manoeuvres in favour of intensive drone strikes, which officials say caused significant casualties for the RSF and its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu.
Military sources told Sudan Tribune that an army unit, supported by the Joint Force, moved south of El Obeid to take control of Al-Rayash, Kazgail, Al-Hammadi, and Al-Dibeibat following heavy fighting.
A group of armed men, supposedly JNIM members, entered the Mauritanian village of Afrikika, near the Malian border north of Nara, the armed men gathered the village elders and ordered them to pay the zakat and to make their women wear the Islamic veil.
A group of armed men, supposedly JNIM members, entered the Mauritanian village of Afrikika, near the Malian border north of Nara, the armed men gathered the village elders and ordered them to pay the zakat and to make their women wear the Islamic veil.
The elders refused stating that they're Mauritanian and not under the rule of either the Malian army or JNIM, the group then withdrew.
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have arrested four suspected ISWAP informants during clearance operations in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa.
Zagazola Makama report that the arrests were carried out at about 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 30 in Garaha and Kakara general areas of Hong LGA.
The report stated that the suspects were apprehended by troops in conjunction with local hunters, following a tip-off.
Read the rest at the link
ISWAP attacked a third Christian village in Adamawa State in the span of a few days, seemingly retaliation to the US airstrikes against IS-Sahel in Sokoto State, this time no Christians were killed but the village of "Higa" was set ablaze yesterday, with over 50 houses burnt. https://t.co/i4esnvk0S6
Following several days of consecutive US Air Force ISR operations over the Sambisa forest, the Nigerian army has commenced a ground offensive against ISWAP in the infamous stronghold.
During the operations which started on December 29, multiple positions were destroyed, weapons captured and at least one terrorist was killed, ISWAP militants seemingly withdrew deeper in the forest to evade troop advancements.
The offensive started on two distinct axes, from the east of Sambisa starting from Bula Bulin and south of Sambisa from the Bitta base.
Troops destroy three terrorist camps, recover weapons in Sambisa forest
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have destroyed several terrorist enclaves and recovered arms during an offensive operation under Operation Desert Sanity V in the Sambisa Forest area of… pic.twitter.com/ozzExLu1Ze
Troops destroy three terrorist camps, recover weapons in Sambisa forest
By Zagazola Makama
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have destroyed several terrorist enclaves and recovered arms during an offensive operation under Operation Desert Sanity V in the Sambisa Forest area of Borno.
Sources told Zagazola that the operation was conducted at about 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 30.
The control map of Wadi Hadramawt remains highly contested, with multiple armed actors consolidating positions along key transportation corridors.
The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) maintains a frontline extending west of Al-Khasha’a along the N5 Highway. This sector is under the command of Brigadier Mukhtar Al-Noubi, Commander of the Southern Forces First Division, a battle-hardened veteran with extensive experience leading Southern forces in multiple major engagements.
To the east, the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces (NSF) are led by Sheikh Salem Bamoumen, a Salafi cleric with limited direct combat experience, who currently serves as Commander of the Second Division. Under his leadership, NSF units have expanded their checkpoint network east of Khashm Al-Ayn. These positions lie within the tribal territory of the Nahd tribe, which has historically aligned with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
[FoxNews] Happy New Year!
Five individuals were killed during a Dec. 31 U.S. military kinetic strike against two vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations involved in narcotics trafficking, U.S. Southern Command said Wednesday.
Videos at the link.
Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narcotics trafficking routes and were engaged in drug trafficking activities at the time of the operation, officials said.
A total of five individuals described as narco-terrorists were killed during the actions, officials said, with three killed aboard the first vessel and two killed aboard the second.
The Department of War identified the operation as part of Operation Southern Spear.
Video released of the operation shows a strike on a vessel at sea. Military officials did not clarify whether additional engagements occurred beyond those shown in the unclassified video.
Another strike was announced earlier in the day, but it is unclear if the two are linked at this time.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] A Tajik citizen, who was on the international wanted list for allegedly participating in a terrorist organization, has been remanded in custody in St. Petersburg. This was reported on December 31 by Daria Lebedeva, head of the city's unified press service for courts.
"The Petrograd District Court of our city has remanded Nagora Samiev into custody for organizing a criminal organization and organizing extremist activities in the Republic of Tajikistan," Lebedeva wrote on her Telegram channel.
The court chose this measure of restraint for 40 days for extradition.
The woman was detained on December 29 near her home on Bolshaya Monetnaya Street during an identity check. Her name was on the international wanted list of the National Central Bureau of Interpol of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan. Samieva is accused of promoting the ideas of the extremist organization Hizbut Tahrir ...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate... (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) with the aim of establishing an Islamic caliphate in Tajikistan. The suspect used an online account to distribute articles and materials from the extremist organization.
[IsraelTimes] Turkey has detained scores of people suspected of affiliation with the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group during nationwide raids, the interior minister announces on X.
“We captured 125 Daesh suspects in simultaneous operations carried out in 25 provinces this morning,” Ali Yerlikaya says, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Turkey has staged a number of raids targeting suspects after three police officers were killed Monday during an operation against the extremist group in Yalova in the northwest.
The hours-long clash also left six ISIS members dead, all Turkish nationals.
Yesterday, the security forces arrested 357 people during another operation targeting ISIS.
Today’s raids took place in Istanbul and 24 other provinces including Ankara and Yalova, the minister says.
Yerlikaya shares a video excerpt in which the security forces raided several suspects’ homes, some of whom could be seen with their hands cuffed behind their backs.
“Those who seek to harm our brotherhood, our unity, our togetherness… will only face the might of our state and the unity of our nation,” he writes.
“25 ilde bu sabah eş zamanlı olarak Jandarmamız ve Polisimiz tarafından düzenlenen operasyonlarımızda; 125 DEAŞ şüphelisini yakaladık.”
Afyonkarahisar, Ankara, Aydın, Bursa, Eskişehir, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Mardin, Mersin, Uşak, İstanbul, Niğde, Sakarya, Kastamonu, Kocaeli,… pic.twitter.com/9rw4jRleWW
Translated from Turkish
“This morning, in 25 provinces, we captured 125 Daesh suspects in operations conducted simultaneously by our Gendarmerie and Police.”
In Afyonkarahisar, Ankara, Aydın, Bursa, Eskişehir, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Mardin, Mersin, Uşak, İstanbul, Niğde, Sakarya, Kastamonu, Kocaeli, Hakkari, Osmaniye, İzmir, Iğdır, Nevşehir, Erzurum, Denizli, Kırklareli, Şanlıurfa, and Yalova, simultaneous operations were carried out coordinated by the Gendarmerie General Command and the General Directorate of Security, with Provincial Gendarmerie Commands and Provincial Security Directorates. 125 suspected Daesh terrorist organization members were apprehended.
Those who seek to harm our brotherhood, our unity, our togetherness; those who try to exploit our faith, those who attack our values; will only face the might of our state and the unity of our nation!
#TürkiyeninHuzuru🇹🇷
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/01/2026 2026-01-01 03:41 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[IsraelTimes] IDF troops shot and killed a Palestinian assailant overnight after coming under a stone-throwing attack near the West Bank village of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, the military says.
According to the IDF, troops from the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit were carrying out an operation along a main route in the northern West Bank when several suspects began hurling stones at them.
The soldiers opened fire, killing one of the attackers and injuring two others, the IDF says, adding that no Israeli troops were injured in the incident.
The Palestinian Authority identified the fatality killed by the IDF as Khitab Daraghmeh, 26, of the village of Luban a-Sharqiya near Nablus.
Israeli authorities are holding his remains, according to Wafa, the PA’s official news agency.
One of the injured suspects was taken by soldiers to an Israeli hospital, while Palestinian ambulances were permitted to take the other to a West Bank hospital, the Maan news agency reported.
The 26-year-old Khattab Mohammad Ismail Al-Sarhan Daraghmeh succumbed to gunshot wounds inflicted by Israeli forces today in Nablus. pic.twitter.com/HUg9RObV3V
— WAFA News Agency - English (@WAFANewsEnglish) January 1, 2026
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy organization claimed that 50 Palestinians had been arrested by Israeli forces across the West Bank since Wednesday night, chiefly in the Ramallah area.
The organization said that most of the arrested Palestinians were people who had been previously jailed by Israel, including one woman.
The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment, including on what precipitated the relatively large wave of arrests.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023. According to the Palestinian Authority, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since then. The IDF has said that most of those killed were gunmen, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, over 65 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
Attacks by settler extremists have also risen sharply. The IDF recorded more than 750 incidents of settler violence in the West Bank since the start of 2025, surpassing the 675 incidents recorded in 2024.
[IsraelTimes] IDF says buildings torn down as part of counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank; Palestinians say thousands forced out of their homes in past year have yet to return
Israeli bulldozers began demolishing 25 buildings housing Paleostinians in a refugee camp on Wednesday, in what the military said was an effort to root out terror groups in northern areas of the West Bank.
The buildings, home to some 100 families, are in the Nur Shams camp, a frequent site of festivities between Paleostinian button men and Israeli forces.
Israeli military bulldozers and cranes tore through the structures early Wednesday, sending thick plumes of dust into the air, an AFP journalist reported. Many residents watched from a distance.
"Being torn away from our homes, our neighbourhoods and our memories is deeply painful," said Mutaz Mahr, whose building was being demolished.
"The occupation tries by every means to wear us down and pressure us," he told AFP, referring to Israel.
"Our home is dear to us, the memories are dear to us, the family, the neighbors, and the good people are dear to us," he said, as he watched the bulldozers. "The first time our grandparents were displaced, and this is the second time."
Mahr said he was sheltering with roughly 25 of his relatives in a 100-square-meter (1,070-square-foot) apartment after being displaced from the camp.
The military said the demolitions were part of an ongoing operation against Paleostinian terror groups.
"Following ongoing counterterrorism activity by Israeli security forces in the area of Nur Shams in northern Samaria, the commander of the Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, ordered the demolition of several structures due to a clear and necessary operational need," the military told AFP in a statement.
"Areas in northern Samaria have become a significant centre of terrorist activity, operating from within densely populated civilian areas."
Nihaya al-Jendi, a member of Nur Shams’s popular committee, said hundreds of families had been forced out of their homes even before a military operation began earlier this year.
"Today, more than 1,500 families from the camp are still unable to return," Jendi said.
"This is a major catastrophe — a real humanitarian disaster for Paleostinian refugees — unfolding before the eyes of the world."
’CLEAR BUFFER’
Earlier this year, the military launched an operation it said was aimed at dismantling Paleostinian gangs from camps in the northern West Bank — including Nur Shams, Tulkarem and Jenin.
During that time, the military has demolished or heavily damaged at least 850 structures across the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Jenin and Tulkarem, according to an analysis of satellite imagery by Human Rights Watch.
"Even a year after the beginning of IDF operations in the area, forces continue to locate ammunition, weapons, and bombs used by terrorist organizations, which endanger IDF soldiers and impair operational freedom of action," the military said on Wednesday.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said that operations in Nur Shams, Tulkarem and Jenin had been "effective," claiming they had reduced what he described as terrorist activity in the West Bank by 80 percent.
He added in a statement that troops would remain on the ground and act as a "clear buffer between the (Israeli) population and terrorist element," with the stated aim of preventing their regrouping and thwarting attacks.
Earlier in December, AFP reported residents of the targeted buildings retrieving their belongings, with many saying they had nowhere to go.
The demolitions form part of a broader Israeli strategy aimed at easing access for military vehicles within the densely built refugee camps of the West Bank.
Israel captured the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Nur Shams, along with other refugee camps in the West Bank, was established after the creation of Israel in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Paleostinians were displaced from their homes in what is now Israel.
With time, the camps they established inside the West Bank became dense neighbourhoods not under their adjacent cities’ authority. Residents pass on their refugee status from one generation to the next.
Many residents believe Israel is seeking to destroy the idea of the camps themselves, turning them into regular neighborhoods of the cities they flank, in order to eliminate the refugee issue.
#2
Smart, smart, smart move.
The bulldozers of peace will bring tranquillity to a land that has only ever known conflict since its rightful owners returned. Can't go back "home" when you don't have a home, the entire neighborhood has been flattened and debris removed, lots replatted and new property titles issued by the new local nafot
#5
Can't go back "home" when you don't have a home
*shru** Unfortunately,Jairong, EU funds will rebuild the thing within days. But at least the money they waste on that isn’t available for more nefarious projects.
[IsraelTimes] Iran state media reports ‘leader of rioters’ arrested, as video from Fasa shows security forces firing toward protesters; Netanyahu said keeping mum so Tehran won’t have excuse to target Israel
Iranian protesters tried to break into a local government building in the southern Fars Province on Wednesday, state media said, on a fourth day of mounting demonstrations over the cost of living.
Protests over high inflation and a slump in the value of the local rial currency began among shopkeepers in Tehran on Sunday, and have since drawn in students across the country.
“A few hours ago, an organized group tried to get into the governorate building in the city of Fasa; their attack failed with the intervention of security forces,” state media said. “The leader of these rioters, a 28-year-old woman, was arrested.”
Iran’s Tasnim news agency cited a local official as saying four “attackers” were detained and three members of the security forces had been wounded during the incident.
A video carried by state media showed a group of people trying to break open the gate of the building. Reuters verified the location of the footage but was not able to independently verify the timing.
Additional footage from Fasa, said to have been filmed Wednesday, showed security forces firing toward demonstrators.
Fourth day of anti-establishment protests in Iran.
Video shows shots being fired at protesters in Fasa, Fars Province.
The governor of Fasa told state media that “the protests were caused by inflation and economic conditions. Individuals influenced by hostile channels and media participated in them… the situation is back to normal.”
Iranian authorities have responded to previous protests over issues ranging from prices, drought, women’s rights and political freedoms with forceful security measures and extensive arrests.
Fourth day of anti-establishment protests in Iran.
Protesters gathered outside the Special Governorate of Fasa in Fars province and broke down the gate.
This time, however, the government said it would also set up a “dialogue mechanism” with leaders of the demonstrations, the first major protests since Israeli and US strikes on Iran in June, which prompted widespread expressions of patriotic solidarity. It has not said how the mechanism would work.
While voicing support for previous anti-government protests in Iran and the toppling of the Islamic Republic, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided not to publicly weigh in on the ongoing demonstrations due to concern that this will offer Tehran an excuse to target Israel in order to distract from the country’s economic woes, according to a Channel 12 news report Wednesday.
The network said the decision came following a briefing Netanyahu held on the matter at his hotel in West Palm Beach, where he met this week with US President Donald Trump to discuss, among other topics, the possibility of renewed military action against Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
“We’re watching dramatic domestic events in Iran, but it’s too early to tell what the ramifications will be,” a senior Israeli official told Channel 12.
Iran’s economy has faced significant challenges for years following the reimposition of US sanctions in 2018, when Trump withdrew from an international agreement concerning Iran’s nuclear program during his first term.
Iran’s rial currency has lost nearly half its value against the dollar in 2025, with inflation reaching 42.5% in December in a country where unrest has repeatedly flared in recent years.
In September, United Nations sanctions were reinstated, and Reuters reported in October that Iranian authorities held multiple high-level meetings to address economic instability, find ways to bypass sanctions, and handle public discontent.
In 2022, Iran faced protests across the country over price hikes, including for bread, a major staple.
Over the same period and into 2023, the country’s clerical rulers faced the boldest unrest in years, triggered by the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police, who enforce a strict female dress code.
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.
