#Sudan 🇸🇩: Sudanese Forces (#SAF) carried out multiple attacks against Rapid Support Forces (#RSF) on #Kordofan and #Darfur axes.
SAF fighters are notably using a Truck-mounted 106mm M40A1 recoilless gun and “AZ-7,62” assault rifle made and supplied by #Azerbaijan 🇦🇿. pic.twitter.com/HPoRV8Pj1m
#ALERT: Al-Shabab Escalates Attacks in Cadale, Threatening Government Supply Lines
Reports indicate that al-Shabab militants have intensified attacks around Cadale district, launching near-daily operations over the past 48 hours.
Security sources say the group is attempting to cut off government supply lines by carrying out ambushes and planting roadside explosives along key routes leading into the district. Cadale lies approximately 135 kilometres north of Mogadishu and remains strategically important due to its coastal position and access corridors. More at the link
The Malian Air Force conducted two airstrikes yesterday against JNIM targets northeast of Sébété, Koulikoro region 170km northeast of Bamako, the first strike neutralized a group of militants on motorbikes and the second destroyed a pick-up vehicle. pic.twitter.com/n10v0v5NNs
Le 14 janvier 2026, le commissariat de Gnémasson a été attaqué par des individus armés : tirs nourris, poste incendié, motos brûlées. Pour rappel, le parc de la Pendjari est connu pour etre une zone refuge terroriste burkinabè 🇧🇫 Aucun mort signalé, mais un signal de… pic.twitter.com/HbZh4oGzpx
ALERT: Last night, bandits loyal to the notorious leader Bello Turji attacked Lugu village in Isa LGA of Sokoto State, killing and injuring several residents and abducting at least 15 people, including men and women.
ALERT: Last night, bandits loyal to the notorious leader Bello Turji attacked Lugu village in Isa LGA of Sokoto State, killing and injuring several residents and abducting at least 15 people, including men and women.
• For how long will Turji’s and his men continue to destabilise communities across the Sokoto East District?
• What concrete steps are being taken by security agencies to end these repeated attacks?
P-AM ground representatives report that multiple joint operations by kpk
…Khyber Pakhtunkhwa …
police and Pakistani security forces were conducted across Lower Wana today.
Checkpoints and controlled cordons were established in Wana Bazaar and surrounding neighbourhoods, partially restricting movement to ensure civilian safety.
These coordinated operations targeted high-risk areas, and preliminary reports indicate several TTP fighters were killed during the raids.
Kharan city faced a serious security incident today after a large group of Fitna Al Hindustan terrorists, estimated to be around 50–60 and moving on motorcycles, planned a coordinated assault on the city.
Kharan city faced a serious security incident today after a large group of Fitna Al Hindustan
…the Pakistan government’s term for the various Balochi liberation groups…
terrorists, estimated to be around 50–60 and moving on motorcycles, planned a coordinated assault on the city.
According to initial information, around 20–25 terrorists launched an attack on the Kharan Police Station with the intention of engaging security personnel. An intense exchange of fire began and continued for some time. Simultaneously, another group of terrorists targeted banks and other soft targets, continuing their usual pattern of looting civilian property and creating fear among the local population.
[IsraelTimes] The Shin Bet and Israel Police say they have arrested two Israeli citizens from Lod and a Palestinian from the West Bank over an alleged attempt to smuggle weapon parts to terror operatives.
In a joint statement, the agencies say the Israeli suspects, Hamdan Issam Hamdan Abu Labdeh and Mohammad Hassan Khalil Amsa’ed, both 25, were detained in recent weeks along with Ahmad Mohammad Saleh Awad, a 33-year-old Palestinian from the Nablus area, whom investigators believe was the intended recipient of the weapons components.
According to the security forces, the case came to light after Amsa’ed was caught attempting to enter the West Bank while carrying more than 500 M16 magazines. The agencies say the equipment was meant to be delivered to Awad, who is in contact with terror operatives in the West Bank and was helping them acquire weapons.
Security officials warn that smuggling weapons or weapon parts into the West Bank poses a direct threat, as they could end up in the hands of terrorist groups.
Prosecutors are expected to file indictments against the two Israeli suspects, while the Palestinian suspect’s case is being handled by the military prosecution.
Making a list and checking it twice — another one bites the dust.
[IsraelTimes] No comment from IDF as Palestinian media reports at least six killed in strike on Muhammad al-Hawli’s family home in Deir al-Balah, including his wife and daughter
A senior officer in Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... ’s armed wing was killed in an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah in 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... Strip on Thursday, Hamas said accusing Israel of violating the truce, with reports indicating that at least five other people were killed in the incident.
Israel has not commented on the alleged strike.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, who is based in 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.... , said that local al-Qassam Brigades commander Muhammad al-Hawli was killed in the strike, calling it a dangerous escalation and revealing Israel’s intention to undermine the ceasefire agreement."
He called on US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to hold Israel to account.
"The ball is now in Trump’s and Witkoff’s court, and Washington must demonstrate Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement," said Hamdan.
The incident comes a day after the US announced that the sides would be moving on to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
According to Paleostinian media, local al-Qassam Brigades commander al-Hawli’s wife and daughter, and at least three other people, were killed in the strike on the Hawli family home Thursday evening.
A 16-year-old was among those killed, health officials told Rooters.
Separately, the IDF in a statement said troops from the 7th Armored Brigade killed a suspect in the southern Gaza Strip earlier Thursday after he crossed into the Israeli-controlled side of the ceasefire line and approached troops in a manner that posed an "immediate threat."
The military did not specify what the suspect did to be identified as a threat.
More suspects were killed on Wednesday in both north and south Gaza after crossing the Yellow Line and moving toward troops, the IDF said, without specifying how many people were killed.
The IDF said its Southern Command forces remain deployed in Gaza in accordance with the October ceasefire agreement and will continue to act against any immediate threats.
[IsraelTimes] Army claims activity at sites hit violated November 2024 ceasefire; Lebanon charges 4 alleged Mossad spies accused of kidnapping official with ties to Ron Arad’s capture
The IDF said it carried out strikes on Hezbollah weapons depots and other military infrastructure in southern Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... and deeper within the country on Thursday, targeting sites allegedly used to support the terror group’s efforts to rebuild and prepare attacks against Israel.
According to the military, the strikes hit several weapons storage facilities and other infrastructure in southern Lebanon, as well as an underground arms depot deeper within Lebanese territory.
The IDF said Hezbollah’s activity at the targeted sites violated the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
Shortly before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings for the towns of Machghara in the Western Beqaa District and south Lebanon’s Sohmor.
The strikes come a week after the Lebanese military said it had completed disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River, the first phase of a nationwide plan, though Israel has called those efforts insufficient.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in response that the ceasefire "states clearly, Hezbollah must be fully disarmed."
Lebanon has faced growing pressure from the US and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, and its leaders fear that Israel could dramatically escalate strikes across the battered country to push Lebanon’s leaders to confiscate Hezbollah’s arsenal more quickly.
On Wednesday, senior Hezbollah political official Mahmoud Qmati warned Lebanon’s government that pressing on with efforts to disarm the group throughout the country would trigger chaos and possibly civil war.
In an interview with Russian state media outlet RT, Qmati said pursuing a state monopoly on arms further north would be "the biggest crime committed by the state."
While Hezbollah considers Israel’s frequent strikes in Lebanon to be a violation of the ceasefire, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji on Tuesday disputed this, saying that the agreement allows for Israeli strikes as long as Hezbollah continues to hold onto its arms.
Since the ceasefire, the IDF has killed around 400 operatives and struck hundreds of additional Hezbollah-linked targets. The IDF has repeatedly asserted that the activity at the targeted sites constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
LEBANON CHARGES 4 ALLEGED MOSSAD AGENTS ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING AN OFFICIAL WITH TIES TO RON ARAD’S CAPTURE
Separately on Thursday, a Lebanese judicial official said four people accused of an alleged kidnapping in Lebanon for Israel’s Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... spy agency last month have been charged, after a retired security officer whose brother was linked to an Israeli airman’s disappearance went missing.
Israel has apprehended suspects in Lebanon before, and Mossad is accused of regularly attempting to contact Lebanese people to facilitate its operations, while Lebanon has arrested dozens of people on suspicion of collaborating with Israel over the years.
Lebanese authorities believe the agency known for espionage operations outside of Israel’s borders is behind the disappearance of retired security officer Ahmad Shukr last month.
Shukr, whose brother Hassan is suspected of involvement in the 1986 capture of Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad, disappeared in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon.
Authorities have arrested and charged one Lebanese man and charged three more who remain on the lam.
The four are charged with "communicating with and working for Mossad within Lebanon in exchange for money, and carrying out the kidnapping of Ahmad Shukr," a judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The three are "a Lebanese woman, a Lebanese-French man, and a Syrian-Swedish man," the official said.
The Israeli airman Ron Arad, whose plane went down in southern Lebanon during the country’s civil war between 1975 and 1990, is now presumed dead and his remains were never returned.
Hassan Shukr was killed in 1988 in a battle between Israeli forces and local fighters, including from the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, a source close to the family told AFP last month, requesting anonymity.
[IsraelTimes] Four Arab countries reportedly convinced president to walk back plans to strike Iran, as envoy for Islamic Republic says Trump informed Tehran he’s not interested in war and urged restraint
US President Donald Trump reportedly informed Iran that he won’t be ordering a strike on the country over its deadly crackdown on protesters after the leaders of four Arab countries convinced him to hold off.
Trump had threatened to hit Iran in recent days if the regime killed protesters who have been pouring into the streets across the country in demonstrations against the Islamic Republic. Several thousand are reportedly dead as part of the crackdown, but Trump declared Wednesday that he had been told, apparently by Tehran, that the killing in Iran had stopped and that the regime would not be executing any protesters.
Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam said in remarks during a Thursday visit to a Pakistani ministry that Trump had informed Tehran that he does not want a war and urged the regime to exercise restraint and not target US assets in the region.
The US did, however, offer similarly de-escalatory messaging last June before Trump ordered a major strike on three of Iran’s nuclear sites.
But a senior Saudi official and a second Gulf official indicated that the same strategy is not being applied this time, as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Egypt led efforts to talk Trump out of an attack on Iran.
The four countries “led a long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good intentions,” the Saudi official said on condition of anonymity.
The US moved some personnel out of the Al Udeid air base in Qatar on Wednesday, and staff at US missions in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were warned to exercise caution as fears mounted of a US attack over Iran’s crackdown on protesters.
But by Thursday, the security warning level at the base in Qatar was lowered back down, three sources briefed on the situation told Reuters. US aircraft that were moved out of Al Udeid are gradually returning to the base, one of the sources added.
Iran launched missiles at Al Udeid last year in response to US airstrikes on its nuclear installations during the 12-day war between Tehran and Israel.
The Gulf efforts aimed to “avoid an uncontrollable situation in the region,” the Saudi official said.
“We told Washington that an attack on Iran would open the way for a series of grave blowbacks in the region,” the official added.
“It was a sleepless night to defuse more bombs in the region… the communication is still underway to consolidate the gained trust and the current good spirit.”
The second Gulf official said, “The message conveyed to Iran has been that an attack on US facilities in the Gulf would have consequences on relations with countries in the region.”
The four Arab countries had conveyed to Washington that any attack would have consequences for the wider region in terms of both security and economics that would ultimately impact the United States itself, another Gulf official said.
The countries told Iran that any retaliatory attack it launched on US facilities in the Gulf would have consequences for Tehran’s relations with other countries in the region, the second Gulf official added.
Saudi Arabia’s international media office, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, Oman’s Information Ministry and Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates, which was not involved in the diplomacy described by the official, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it had engaged in any diplomacy on the issue.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman had lobbied Washington against an attack.
The Gulf official said that the diplomatic efforts had focused on toning down the rhetoric and avoiding any military action that could spark wider regional instability and that this diplomacy could ultimately lead to talks on the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
While Oman and Qatar had mediated in disputes between Iran and the West, US allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt have had far more fraught relations with the revolutionary Shi’ite Muslim power.
However, after decades of Iranian-Saudi rivalry that fueled conflict and political disputes across the region, the two countries agreed on a detente in 2023, with Riyadh keen to focus on its economic priorities.
Gulf states are fearful that US military facilities in their countries could be caught in any Iranian retaliation to US attacks, and that the energy facilities underpinning the regional economy could also end up being targeted.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have enjoyed strong relationships with the Trump administration. Qatar and Egypt were both closely involved with the US in mediation over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
US slaps sanctions on Iranian security officials over protest crackdown
Despite the apparent de-escalatory approach by the US, the Trump administration announced Thursday that it had imposed sanctions on Iranian security officials and financial networks, accusing them of orchestrating a violent crackdown on peaceful protests and laundering billions in oil revenues.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the measures in the wake of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic Republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the last few days in the face of repression and an almost week-long internet blackout.
“The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice,” Bessent said in a statement, adding that the action was taken at President Donald Trump’s direction.
Among those sanctioned is Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, whom Washington accused of coordinating the crackdown and calling for force against protesters.
Four regional commanders of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces and Revolutionary Guard were also sanctioned for their roles in the crackdown in Lorestan and Fars provinces.
Security forces in Fars “have killed countless peaceful demonstrators” with hospitals “so inundated with gunshot wound patients that no other types of patients can be admitted,” the Treasury said.
The Treasury additionally designated 18 individuals and entities accused of operating “shadow banking” networks that launder proceeds from Iranian oil sales through front companies in the UAE, Singapore and Britain.
These networks funnel billions of dollars annually using cover companies and exchange houses, as Iranian citizens face economic hardship, according to the Treasury.
The sanctions freeze any US assets of those designated and prohibit Americans from doing business with them. Foreign financial institutions risk secondary sanctions for transactions with the designated entities.
The action builds on the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. In 2025, the Treasury sanctioned more than 875 persons, vessels and aircraft as part of this effort, it said.
[IsraelTimes] The nationwide protests challenging Iran’s theocracy appeared to be smothered Thursday, a week after the regime shut the country off from the world and escalated a bloody crackdown that activists say killed thousands.
In Tehran, witnesses say recent mornings saw no new signs of bonfires lit the night before or debris in the streets. The sound of gunfire, which had been intense for several nights, has faded.
Meanwhile, Iranian state media announced wave after wave of arrests by authorities, targeting those it calls “terrorists” and also apparently looking for Starlink satellite internet dishes, the only way to get videos and images out to the internet.
“Since January 8, we saw a full-fledged war and anybody who was in the gathering since then is a criminal,” said Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi, according to a report Wednesday from the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.
But there are multiple indications that the threat of mass executions after the protests is receding. Iranian state media on Thursday reported that Erfan Soltani, 26, a man who was due to be executed, would not be given the death sentence. US President Donald Trump said he had been told that killings in the regime’s crackdown were subsiding.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday there would not be any “hanging today or tomorrow,” despite earlier vows from Tehran to fast-track trials for protesters. He said that the regime was back in “full control.”
The activity followed days of speculation over whether Trump would follow through on threats to strike Iran in response to the killings of thousands of protesters. Trump’s comments about the easing of killings may have implied a hold-off on military action, even as the US evacuated some of its personnel from a military base in Qatar that Iran bombed last year. An NBC report, citing a US official, said Trump would want any strike to be “definitive.”
Amid the uncertainty, Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours on Wednesday night, but reopened it Thursday morning.
The apparent receding of chances for a strike prompted a fall in oil prices.
The UN Security Council was due to meet over the demonstrations later Thursday, as countries in the region urged stability.
#1
I'm sure that security council meeting will get a lot of things cleared up.
Posted by: chris ||
01/16/2026 2:39 Comments ||
Top||
#2
#1 I'm sure that security council meeting will get a lot of things cleared up.
I share your optimism! *snort* Especially since this month the prez of the Security Council is a Somali dude.
It is a long-established Principle of the Playground that everyone gets a turn. But that doesn't mean you get to sit at the table with the grownups. Maybe as head of the Council on Tribal and Inter-Ethnic Violence, but the Security Council is the main reason the UN exists. Or was, back before all the 'foreign aid' and grifting and shrimp cocktails.
#3
methinks the consequences of an Iran friendly with the US is literally a world affecting event ergo the effort to stop that thru US help probably involved a threatened potential and legit world changing event.
#4
US establishment of a new regime in Iran would not work - most likely result would be effective unification of whichever two of the three major groups (Islamists, Communists, Royalists?) we did not support and civil war chaos like Lebanon has suffered for decades. Pragmatic path forward is back-channel deals with Islamists to tone down their activities, internal and external. Is it possible? Probably not. But on the other hand, the recent feints, combined with the attacks last year, are exposing virtually all of Iran's defense options, which should encourage rational leaders to consider listening - are the mullahs rational?
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.
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
