#6
A Dressing Room Trauma
"Hey, tranny! How 'bout a nice sock in the fanny?"
But one of the girls
Grabs the churl by her curls
And purls, "Nobody's perfect... but Manny!"
Bandits kill one, abduct 10, rustle cattle in Zamfara community
By Zagazola Makama
A deadly bandit attack has left one person dead, 10 others abducted, and several cattle rustled in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The attack occurred at about 12:40 a.m. on Monday when a large number of armed men, shooting sporadically, stormed Gidan Yawa and Lamuntani villages via Gulubba District.
Bandits abduct police officer, three others on Gusau–Sokoto highway
By: Zagazola Makama
A police officer and three other persons have been abducted by suspected bandits along the Gusau–Sokoto highway in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
Bandits abduct police officer, three others on Gusau–Sokoto highway
By Zagazola Makama
A police officer and three other persons have been abducted by suspected bandits along the Gusau–Sokoto highway in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The incident occurred on Friday at about 1:10 p.m. when a group of armed men blocked the highway around Gidan Kano village and forcibly took four people away.
[FoxNews] Tensions with Iran continue to escalate as the regime cracks down on nationwide protests
Some U.S. military personnel have been told to leave bases in the Middle East, Fox News has learned.
The order comes amid widespread protests in Iran and threats to intervene from President Donald Trump. Qatar's government confirmed that some U.S. personnel had departed from the Al Udeid Air Base, America's largest military base in the Middle East.
Qatar's International Media Office said the steps were part of broader efforts to safeguard the security of citizens and residents and to protect critical infrastructure and military facilities, adding that any further developments would be announced through official channels.
Trump said on Tuesday that he cut off meetings with the Iranian regime, saying there would be no contact until the government stops killing protesters. He also urged the Iranian people to "take over" the country.
"Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price."
"I have canceled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY," he added.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that the U.S. may intervene against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's regime, but he has not offered details of any plans.
Reports say Iranian authorities have killed more than 2,500 people, though the actual total could be much higher.
The White House confirmed on Monday that Trump was weighing whether to bomb Iran in reaction to the crackdown.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that diplomacy remains Trump’s first option, but that the president "has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary."
"He certainly doesn’t want to see people being killed in the streets of Tehran. And unfortunately that’s something we are seeing right now," she added.
[FoxNews] Agitators gave been attempting to disrupt immigration enforcement amid a surge in federal agents to the Twin Cities
Anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agitators were seen surging and confronting federal agents during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis on Tuesday, as tensions continue to rise in the Twin Cities following the death of Renee Nicole Good last week.
Video from the hectic scene shows dozens of agitators stepping into the path of immigration agents’ vehicles, positioning themselves near and in front of them as officers attempted to push through the crowd.
Agents could be seen deploying tear gas and pepper spray in an effort to disperse the crowd and carve out an exit route.
As the scene unfolded, agitators could be heard chanting anti-fascist slogans, shouting profanities, blowing whistles and honking vehicle horns in what appeared to be an attempt to disrupt the operation and drown out commands from law enforcement.
"Day in and day out we will fight the fascists," one young man could be heard shouting while recording the scene on his cellphone.
"This is Minneapolis, and we will not lose," he added.
Others could be heard encouraging others over bullhorns and congratulating each other for disrupting law enforcement.
In one instance, a man was seen standing in the middle of the road with his hands in the air, verbally taunting agents to "do it now if you’re going to do it." He was later seen wiping pepper spray from his face with water.
In a separate local incident, agitators attempted to interfere with federal agents as they sought to arrest at least one suspect, closing in on the operation and forcing agents to work within a tight crowd. Agitators there too shouted obscenities at agents, blew whistles and honked vehicle horns.
On Monday night, federal agents fired tear gas and rubber bullets after agitators hurled fireworks at them outside a federal building in the city.
The Department of Homeland Security said that more than 2,000 arrests have been made in Minnesota since December as part of what ICE has described as its largest enforcement operation in the state.
ICE officials on Saturday released a shocking list of the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal immigrants arrested during their recent surge. ICE officials said those arrested during the surge included convicted murderers, child rapists, pedophiles, domestic abusers and other violent offenders.
The unrest comes as Minnesota, joined by the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to halt or limit a surge of federal immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities.
[FoxNews] One agitator was permanently blinded in his left eye by crowd control munitions, his family says
Multiple people were injured in a confrontation between anti-ICE agitators and law enforcement outside a federal building in California on Tuesday.
The agitators could be seen burning an American flag and shouting expletives through a megaphone as they protested the death of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota. One person who rushed toward officers as they sought to detain another person was struck in the eye with a crowd-control weapon, and the Department of Homeland Security says two officers were injured.
The main confrontation occurred after most of the demonstrators had left the federal building. A smaller crowd, organized by the group Dare to Struggle, remained and confronted several agents in riot-control gear.
At one point, footage shows officials forcefully move a demonstrator back down onto the steps of the building, and the group continues to chant as the agents appear to urge them to move back. Later, an orange cone can be seen rolling up onto the plaza, and officers begin firing munitions as they walk toward the crowd.
The agitator holding the megaphone has since been identified by family as 21-year-old Kaden Rummler. He was struck in the eye by munitions as the agents tried to disperse the crowd.
Rummler could be seen collapsing to the ground before being grabbed by agents and dragged into the federal building, where he was ultimately arrested.
Rummler's aunt, Jeri Rees, says he was blinded in his left eye and spent six hours of surgery after the incident as doctors sought to remove fragments of the projectile.
Rees said Rummler was released from the hospital Tuesday while doctors work to determine what the fragments are made of to assess whether additional procedures are needed to remove them. She said he was hit in the left eye and suffered skull fractures.
"He's completely blind" in the left eye, she said. "There’s a hole in his eyeball."
Next time stay away from a black Bloc “protest.” Better yet, he should consider hunkering down in his mother’s basement and writing strongly worded letters to the editor of the local newspaper, carbon copying the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Federal law enforcement has shot another person in Minneapolis on Wednesday night, a week after Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials say the shooting happened just before 7 p.m. after federal law enforcement tried to conduct a traffic stop in Minneapolis.
A DHS spokesperson said the subject of the traffic stop tried to run away from law enforcement before agents caught up with him, and a struggle ensued.
During the struggle, two people came out of a nearby apartment and hit the law enforcement agent with a snow shovel and broom handle, according to DHS officials.
[FoxNews] Search warrant executed on Hannah Natanson's home, devices
The FBI executed a search warrant on Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's home on Wednesday as part of a probe into "a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials," the paper announced.
Natanson was at her Virginia home at the time of the search and a warrant stated "law enforcement was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top secret security clearance and has been accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and his basement," the Post reported, citing an FBI affidavit.
Natanson covers "the Trump administration's reshaping of the government and its effects," according to her X bio. Her home and devices were searched, and Natanson told her employer that a phone and Garmin watch were seized.
Perez-Lugones is an American citizen who was born in Miami and now resides in Laurel, Maryland, according to a criminal complaint. He has been a government contractor since 2002 and possesses top secret security clearance.
Perez-Lugones’ current role is "administrative," according to the complaint. He works as a systems engineer and information technology specialist for a government contracting company whose primary customer is a government agency. His workplace is in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, according to the complaint.
Perez-Lugones is accused of using databases and repositories to search for, access and view a classified intelligence report related to a foreign country. He is accused of taking a screenshot of the report and printing it.
The complaint states that at least one document marked "secret" that was found in Perez-Lugones’ basement was related to national defense.
The Washington Post reported Natanson has been part of its most sensitive coverage of the first year of the second Trump administration.
The Washington Post told Fox News Digital that it is "reviewing and monitoring the situation."
Attorney General Pamela Bondi addressed the search on social media.
"This past week, at the request of the Department of War, the Department of Justice and FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post journalist who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor. The leaker is currently behind bars. I am proud to work alongside Secretary Hegseth on this effort. The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country," Bondi wrote.
Natanson penned a story last month headlined, "I am The Post’s ‘federal government whisperer.’ It’s been brutal," that detailed her experiences talking to government employees and its effects on her personal and work life as she fielded thousands of messages.
Her recent work includes reporting headlined, "Inside the frantic global race to find an escape route for Maduro," "Maduro raid killed about 75 in Venezuela, U.S. officials assess" and "How Social Security has gotten worse under Trump."
FBI Director Kash Patel also confirmed the search.
"This morning the @FBI and partners executed a search warrant of an individual at the Washington Post who was found to allegedly be obtaining and reporting classified, sensitive military information from a government contractor - endangering our warfighters and compromising America’s national security. The alleged leaker was arrested this week and is in custody. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will have no further comment," Patel wrote on X.
Immediately after the Tren de Aragua suspects in Portland were shot and wounded by Border Patrol during a truck ramming attack, selective internal, sensitive information about the shooting was leaked by a first responder to extremist group PDX ICE Watch, which mobilized people on…
… which mobilized people on scene. A Portland spokesperson told me an investigation revealed it was a first responder from a contracted agency. That suggests it was an ambulance staffer with
@AMR_Social
. Read:
Interesting. I interviewed this EMT named "Remi" outside the Portland ICE facility a couple months ago.
Not saying it's her, but here is more evidence that some EMTs are heavily involved with Antifa pic.twitter.com/VLKlIfTlbx
Note that Remi’s necklace is shaped like Israel plus the West Bank and Gaza — probably referring to the Palestinians’ preferred One-State Solution from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea..
🚨 JUST IN: Literal BUSLOADS of illegals were just FLOWN OUT of Minneapolis by DHS on a chartered Boeing 737, finally being SENT BACK to where they come from
This is despite the rioting and obstruction done by the left.
[Rudaw] A woman kidnapped by 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) during the group’s 2014 Yazidi genocide said on Tuesday that she was held by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and one of his wives after her family members were killed.
Sipan Khalil, now 26, recounted her story of brutal, repeated assaults, including against maiden of tender yearss. She spoke to Rudaw from Berlin, where she has lived for the past four years after escaping ISIS captivity and relocating to Germany.
"In 2014, I fell into the hands of ISIS along with my family in the village of Kocho," Sipan said. "They killed my father, they killed my brother, they killed many of my uncles, and they killed my cousins."
During ISIS’s assault on the Yezidi town of Shingal (Sinjar) in Nineveh province, gunnies kidnapped over 6,400 Yazidi women and kiddies, subjecting many to sexual slavery and physical abuse.
Nearly 3,600 survivors have since been rescued, according to the Kurdistan Region’s Office of Rescuing Abducted Yazidis. Germany has convicted several former ISIS fighters of genocide and other crimes against humanity.
Khalil said she was held by senior ISIS fighters including the group’s leader for seven years.
"At first, I was in the house of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s deputy," she said. "After they were bombed and he was killed, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s wife took me to her house. I used to help her in the house, and I looked after her children."
Regarding her encounters with Baghdadi, Khalil described him as a "terrorist."
"I will say one thing: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was a terrorist. And ’terrorist’ is a very big word," she said. "We know that when we say someone is a terrorist, it means they have no religion, no conscience and no mercy in their heart."
She added, "He committed many assaults against Yazidi girls - not only against me, and it wasn't just me who was afraid of his assaults. There were some very maiden of tender yearss, aged 8 or 9. He assaulted them. He was a very bad person, and his wife was even worse than him."
Khalil said she was held in Baghdadi’s home for six months because ISIS leaders feared she had documented kidnapping victims and perpetrators.
DOCUMENTING ISIS CRIMES IN CAPTIVITY
"They found a notebook on me where I had written things down - which person brought Yazidis, their names... During that time, his wife found that notebook on me and they committed many assaults against me."
She said she was then kept in solitary confinement.
"They hid me in a cell for a full week. There was no food, I didn't see any light, it was dark," she said.
She later survived attempted trafficking from a women’s refugee camp after ISIS was defeated by Kurdish-led forces and a US-led global military coalition.
"They tried to sell me to 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.... , to another country," Khalil said. "And you could say God willed that a bomb went kaboom! near our car." The bombing killed her captor and maimed Khalil.
She said a local family helped her return to Iraq.
Khalil said her life has improved significantly in Germany, where she cares for her surviving siblings.
Khalil is studying and working at the Farida Organization, a human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... non-profit founded by Yazidi survivors.
"I take care of my brothers and sisters because my parents are gone - we lost our parents," she said.
WARNINGS OF ’A RECURRING GENOCIDE’
Khalil said the images of recent violence against Kurdish residents in Aleppo triggered painful memories of the ISIS assault on Yazidis. Gruesome footage of human rights violations emerged after Damascus-allied gangs and the Syrian Arab Army seized control of two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods last week, raising fears of ethnic cleansing and persecution of Yazidi communities in northern Syria.
"It reminded me of those days in 2014 when they attacked us Yazidis and killed all of us," she said. "I say this is a recurring genocide."
She warned that without international support, similar crimes could be repeated.
"If there is no international support, they will commit many assaults against those Kurds," she said. "They will commit similar assaults against their women, and they will kill their men - just like what happened to us in 2014."
Khalil now speaks publicly across Germany to ensure the world does not forget what happened to Yazidis and Kurds under ISIS.
"That is why, at every event that happens in Germany, every conference that happens, we try to show people what happened to us Kurds and Yazidis in Syria and Iraq," she said. The goal is to ensure "that genocide doesn't happen to us again."
[IsraelTimes] Senior government official says Islamic Jihad knows where last slain hostage Ran Gvili is located
The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that forces had killed at least two armed suspects in western Rafah, located on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line in the 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... Strip.
The clash started after soldiers identified six armed individuals close to troops deployed in the area.
According to the military, tanks deployed to the scene and opened fire, prompting the button men to return fire at one of the tanks, and triggering a firefight that also included Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in the area.
So far, two of the suspects have been killed, the IDF said, adding that forces are continuing to search the area for the remaining button men and that the incident is still ongoing.
The military said the incident constitutes a blatant violation of the October ceasefire agreement.
Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... , but both sides have alleged frequent ceasefire violations.
Three IDF soldiers have been killed during the same period.
The flare-up in violence came even as Israel and other countries prepared for the onset of the Gaza ceasefire’s second phase, which the US is set to launch in the coming days.
Phase two is meant to establish longer-term governance and security frameworks for the enclave. But Israel is insisting that Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the final deceased hostage held in Gaza, is returned before the deal advances and on Tuesday reiterated that it rejects claims by the Gaza terror groups that they can’t locate his body.
Israel is "working every day, all day and night," to return Gvili’s body to Israel, a senior government official said on Tuesday.
"The efforts are being done through the negotiating team, and contacts with the mediators, also through connections with the Americans, as well as intelligence actions," the official said.
"There are those in the Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... who know where Ran Gvili is," the official continued, referring to the last slain hostage held in Gaza.
"We are not going to give up on this. Information we have given to the mediators multiple times, including recently, must be translated into effective actions to bring him back," said the official. "That message has been communicated."
[IsraelTimes] Hamas-controlled interior ministry says Lt. Col. Mahmoud al-Astal was slain by ‘agents of the Israeli occupation’ near Khan Younis
An anti-Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... militia grabbed credit on Monday for killing a senior Hamas police officer in southern Gazoo.
Hussam al-Astal, the leader of an anti-Hamas group based in an area under Israeli control east of Khan Younis, grabbed credit for the killing of Lt. Col. Mahmoud al-Astal in a video he posted on his Facebook page. The last name he shares with the dead man, al-Astal, is common in that part of Gaza.
"We announce today the liquidation of the head of investigations in Khan Younis," the head of the group said in a video message posted to his Facebook page. He threatened to keep targeting Hamas officials and pointed to guns and ammunition that he said are spoils of his militia’s battles.
Pointing to a faint red stain on a semi-automatic rifle, he says, "This is blood of the Hamas dogs and pigs."
"To those who work with Hamas, your destiny is to be killed. Death is coming to you," he adds, dressed in a black military-style uniform and clutching an assault rifle.
The video claim came just a few hours after Hamas’s interior ministry announced that the police officer in question had been killed in a drive-by shooting in Mawasi, near Khan Younis, with shots fired from a car occupied by "agents of the Israeli occupation."
Hamas said that Mahmoud al-Astal, 40, was the Khan Younis police investigations chief. The interior ministry claimed, without providing evidence, that an initial investigation indicated that his killers, who had not been caught, worked for Israel.
"The security apparatus has launched an investigation into the incident and is working to apprehend the perpetrators," the ministry said.
An IDF official told Rooters that the army was not aware of any operations in the area.
The killing comes a month after Hamas claimed that Israeli-backed assassins rubbed out Lt. Col. Ahmed Zamzam in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
The emergence of armed anti-Hamas groups, though still small and localized, has added pressure on the Islamists and could complicate efforts to stabilize and unify a divided Gaza, shattered by two years of war.
These groups remain unpopular among the local population as they operate in areas under Israeli control, although they publicly deny they take Israeli orders. Hamas has publicly executed people it accuses of collaboration.
Under a ceasefire in place since October, Israel has withdrawn from nearly half of the Gaza Strip, but its troops remain in control of the other half, largely a wasteland where virtually all buildings have been leveled.
Nearly all of the territory’s two million people now live in Hamas-held areas, mostly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, where the group has been reasserting its grip. Four Hamas sources said it continues to command thousands of fighters despite suffering heavy losses during the war.
Israel has been allowing rivals of Hamas to operate in areas it controls. In later phases, US President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... ’s plan for Gaza calls for Israel to withdraw further and for Hamas to yield power to an internationally backed administration, but there has so far been no progress towards those steps.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Israeli backing for anti-Hamas groups in June of last year, saying that Israel had "activated" clans, but has given few details since then.
[FoxNews] While the Trump administration has not confirmed what weapon, if any, may have been used, defense experts point to a well-known acoustic device that has been in use for years.
Known as a long-range acoustic device (LRAD), it’s been described as the "voice of God," according to Mark Cancian, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
[IsraelTimes] Tehran ups pace of notorious broadcasts amid unrest, with regular references to Israel and US as supposed proof of foreign plots; activists report that confessions follow torture
They are shown handcuffed, their faces blurred. The confession videos, broadcast on Iranian state media, feature dramatic background music interspersed with clips appearing to show protesters attacking security forces. Some showcase gruesome homemade weapons that authorities claim were used in the attacks. Others highlight suspects in grainy security footage, appearing to set fires or destroy property.
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... alleges these confessions, which often include references to Israel or America, are proof of foreign plots behind Iran’s nationwide protests. Activists say they are coerced confessions, long a staple of Iran’s hard-line state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, the only broadcaster in the country. And these videos are coming at an unprecedented clip.
Iranian state media has aired at least 97 confessions from protesters, many expressing remorse for their actions, since the protests began on December 28, according to a rights group that is tracking the videos.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says that based on testimony from prior detainees, the confessions often come after psychological or physical torture — and can have serious consequences, including the death penalty "These rights violations compound on top of each other and lead to horrible outcomes. This is a pattern that’s been implemented by the regime time and time again," said Skylar Thompson, the group’s deputy director.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... did not return a request for comment from The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. Iranian officials have described the protests as "riots" orchestrated by the United States and Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the violence must be foreign-influenced because Iranians would never set mosques on fire.
AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF CONFESSIONS OVER TWO WEEKS
The nearly 100 confessions broadcast over just two weeks is unprecedented for Iran, Thompson said.
By comparison, from 2010 to 2020, there were around 350 forced confessions broadcast on state media, according to the activist groups Justice for Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights, the last major study compiled by activists. The rights group Together Against the Death Penalty said there were 40 to 60 confessions aired in 2025.
Additionally, Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty reported at least 37 televised confessions of people facing the death penalty in the weeks following the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab to the liking of authorities. More than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 detained during the month-long protests and security crackdown, the last major protests in Iran.
A 2014 UN Special Rapporteur human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... report on Iran found that among interviews with previously detained individuals, 70 percent said coerced information or confessions were used in their hearings. In nearly half the cases, the trial lasted just a few minutes.
After the Amini protests, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in January 2023 strongly condemning "the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s policy of forcing confessions using torture, intimidation, threats against family members or other forms of duress, and the use of these forced confessions to convict and sentence protesters."
An Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that about 2,000 people have been killed amid mass demonstrations, blaming “terrorists” for the deaths of civilians and security personnel.
The figure came as Western nations and the UN responded to emerging reports of protesters being killed en masse, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz went so far as predicting the Islamic Republic’s demise.
The demonstrations across Iran began in late December over an economic crisis, but have come to include mass calls for the fall of the regime.
As of Tuesday, estimates of the death toll varied dramatically. The Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates, more than 6,000.”
The Iran International news site, which is based in the UK and is critical of the Islamic Republic, claimed at least 12,000 people have been killed in recent days — far beyond any other report. The site claimed this is the estimate used internally by Iran’s own security authorities.
In its report, the opposition website said the killings were “fully organized,” and mostly carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Basij militia, on the direct order of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran International said it compiled and cross-referenced the information from multiple sources, including a source close to the Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian presidential office, as well as sources in the IRGC, witness accounts, and information from medical officials.
“This data was examined and verified through multiple stages and in accordance with strict professional standards before being announced,” it said.
IRAN’S FM: INTERNET CUT AMID ANTI-REGIME ‘TERRORIST OPERATIONS’
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi defended the regime’s move to cut off internet access across the country last week, a blackout that is ongoing.
“The government was in dialogue with the protesters. The internet was cut only after we confronted terrorist operations and realized orders were coming from outside the country,” he said.
Iran has blamed “America and the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel, for the protests. The US has threatened military intervention, but has also backed the demonstrations as an organic opposition movement and said it favors diplomacy. Israel has similarly endorsed the protests, but otherwise kept a low profile amid the unrest while warning of a possible attack by Iran.
On Tuesday, Iranian security forces claimed to have arrested what a state television report described as terrorist groups linked to Israel in the southeastern city of Zahedan.
The report, without providing additional details, said the group entered through Iran’s eastern borders and carried US-made guns and explosives that the group had planned to use in assassinations and acts of sabotage.
Iranians could call abroad on cellphones Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a crackdown on nationwide protests in which government sources said at least 2,000 people have been killed.
Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press and speak to a journalist. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The witnesses said SMS text messaging still was down and that internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.
The witnesses gave a brief glimpse into life on the streets of the Iranian capital over the four and a half days of being cut off from the world. They described a heavy security presence in central Tehran.
Anti-riot police officers wearing helmets and body armor and carrying batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers stood watch at major intersections. Nearby, the witnesses saw members of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, who similarly carried firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in public spaces as well.
Several banks and government offices were burned during the unrest, they said. ATMs had been smashed and banks struggled to complete transactions without the internet, the witnesses added.
Shops were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital. Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began December 28, was to open Tuesday. A witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers who said the security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what. Iranian state media had not acknowledged that order.
The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Many remain concerned about a possible military strike by the US, even as President Donald Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington.
“My customers talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military strike against the Islamic Republic,” said shopkeeper Mahmoud, who gave just his first name out of concerns for his safety. “I don’t expect Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of Iranians.”
Reza, a taxi driver who also gave just his first name, said protests also remain front of mind for many.
“People — particularly young ones — are hopeless but they talk about continuing the protests,” he said.
Meanwhile, it appeared that security service personnel were searching for Starlink terminals as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in their homes and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.
On the streets, people also could be seen challenging plainclothes security officials, who were stopping passersby at random.
State television also read a statement about mortuary and morgue services being free — a signal some likely charged high fees for the release of bodies amid the crackdown.
Meanwhile, pro-government demonstrators flooded the streets Monday in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, which appeared to number in the tens of thousands, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Others cried out, “Death to the enemies of God!”
Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in anti-regime protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.
TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IRAN TRADING PARTNERS
Trump announced Monday that countries doing business with Iran will face 25 percent tariffs from the United States. Trump announced the tariffs in a social media posting, saying they would be “effective immediately.”
It was action against Iran for the protest crackdown from Trump, who believes exacting tariffs can be a useful tool in prodding friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.
Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among economies that do business with Tehran.
More than 10,700 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the latest death toll early Tuesday. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information.
Iranian opposition website Iran International says the information is based on multiple sources, with the killings carried out mostly by the Revolutionary Guards and Basij forces on the orders of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, mainly on the nights of January 8-9. It says the killings were organized and not “unplanned” or the result of “scattered clashes.” It says the death toll is the estimate held by Iran’s own security authorities.
It says it compiled and cross-referenced the information from multiple sources, including a source close to the Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian presidential office, as well as sources in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, witness accounts and information from medical officials.
“This data was examined and verified through multiple stages and in accordance with strict professional standards before being announced,” it says, adding that most victims were under 30.
#1
And half the world is pushing the protesters to keep it up while providing no assistance other than "thought and prayers". How much cost and trouble would it be to airdrop a few planeloads of AKs and/or M4s to the "troublespots"?
#3
iirc EC said what does the regime have to lose? Well, given that they have starved, bankrupted, taken all the liberties and even the water of the population, the protestors also have nothing to lose. Those who give no quarter will get none in return.
[Rudaw] The Syrian Arab Army on Tuesday stepped up attacks on Aleppo’s areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following deadly festivities in Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of the city. The army has also targeted the vicinity of the strategic Tishreen dam, said the SDF.
"Factions affiliated with the Damascus government attacked the vicinity of Tishreen Dam twice using suicide drones and artillery shelling, coinciding with rocket strikes on the village of ’Umm al-Marra’ south of Deir Hafer, amid ongoing military escalation in the area," said the SDF in a statement.
It also reported more attacks by the army in Deir Hafer earlier in the day.
The Syrian Arab Army declared several SDF-held areas in Aleppo, including Deir Hafer, as "closed military zones" before launching attacks on the force.
The army’s Operations Command attributed the move to what it said was the "continued mobilization by the SDF, together with the terrorist [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] PKK militias and remnants of the former [Ba’ath] regime," as well as claims that the area has become "a launch point for Iranian suicide drones that shelled the city of Aleppo."
The state-run al-Ikhbariyah cited a military source as confirming the attacks on the SDF-held areas.
The unnamed source said the Jihadist-led army "targeted positions of the SDF in the vicinity of the city of Deir Hafer with artillery shells, in response to the latter targeting the surroundings of the village of Humaima with drones."
The SDF has repeatedly warned that Damascus plans more attacks on them, blaming regional allies of the Islamist-led government for encouraging the army to carry out such actions.
In recent days, Damascus had reiterated claims that it "detected the arrival of additional gangs at positions held by the SDF" near Deir Hafer and Maskanah, alleging that the reinforcements include fighters from the PKK as well as members of the deposed Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... regime.
The SDF on Monday dismissed reports that it is expanding its presence in eastern Aleppo as "misleading," describing them as "an attempt to manufacture tension and create pretexts for escalation."
The exchange of accusations comes against the backdrop of deadly violence that struck Aleppo’s Kurdish neighborhoods of Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsood last week.
At least 82 people were killed, including 43 civilians, according to a Sunday report by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Approximately 150,000 others were displaced, the Erbil-based Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) told Rudaw on Saturday.
In an interview with the Hebrew outlet Ynet on Tuesday, a Syrian Druze spiritual leader accused the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, of committing “genocide” during deadly fighting last year in the heavily Druze area of Sweida, in which hundreds of civilians were killed. Hikmat al-Hijri called for Syrian Druze to gain autonomy under the protective umbrella of Israel, which intervened in the Sweida clashes in July, striking Syrian government targets.
“It’s no secret that Israel was the only country in the world that intervened militarily and saved us from a genocide as it was happening,” Hijri told Ynet. He called the current Syrian government “ISIS-esque” and “a direct successor of al-Qaeda.”
“We see ourselves as an inseparable part of Israel’s system of existence, as an arm that has forged an alliance with Israel. The ties are international and significant,” he said, adding that Israel could act as a “guarantor” for “future arrangements” and the “appropriate power” to oversee a transition to Druze self-rule in Syria, which Hijri hopes will be a stepping-stone to full independence. I suspect full independence for the Syrian Druze is more ambitious than Israel would be able to support, even if they end up replacing Iran as regional hegemon.
The past week (5–12 January 2026) was characterized by a high intensity of IDF strikes in Lebanon, during which 33 aerial strikes and seven ground operations were carried out. Most of the aerial strikes were conducted in the area north of the Litani River (17 strikes) and focused… pic.twitter.com/7SzbSG9CHC
The past week (5–12 January 2026) was characterized by a high intensity of IDF strikes in Lebanon, during which The past week (5–12 January 2026) was characterized by a high intensity of IDF strikes in Lebanon, during which 33 aerial strikes and seven ground operations were carried out.
Most of the aerial strikes were conducted in the area north of the Litani River (17 strikes) and focused on military infrastructure and targets. An additional 11 strikes were carried out south of the Litani, including the elimination of operatives and the disruption of attempts to rehabilitate terror infrastructure. Five further strikes were conducted in the Beqaa Valley, targeting weapons depots and military sites.
As part of the aerial campaign, Hezbollah targets were struck, including weapons storage facilities, military structures both above and below ground, a weapons production site, rocket launchers, and tunnel shafts used for storing weapons. In addition, engineering equipment involved in the rehabilitation of terror infrastructure was targeted..
Most of the aerial strikes were conducted in the area north of the Litani River (17 strikes) and focused on military infrastructure and targets. An additional 11 strikes were carried out south of the Litani, including the elimination of operatives and the disruption of attempts to rehabilitate terror infrastructure. Five further strikes were conducted in the Beqaa Valley, targeting weapons depots and military sites.
As part of the aerial campaign, Hezbollah targets were struck, including weapons storage facilities, military structures both above and below ground, a weapons production site, rocket launchers, and tunnel shafts used for storing weapons. In addition, engineering equipment involved in the rehabilitation of terror infrastructure was targeted.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...The 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....
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...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 
The Scourge of Hama...
