[BB] The deployment, reportedly at the behest of the Nigerian government, was in response to the pervasive threat of radical jihadist paramilitaries in the country’s north and Middle Belt, which have regularly waged genocidal war against the indigenous Christian populations of those regions. Nigeria is home to a variety of jihadist terrorist groups, most prominently Boko Haram, a Boko Haram splinter group tied to the Islamic State, and the organized Fulani jihadist militias in the Middle Belt, often falsely referred to as “herdsmen.”
President Donald Trump outraged his Nigerian counterpart, Bola Tinubu, in October 2025 by placing Nigeria on the State Department’s list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious freedom, citing the routine slaughter of Christians throughout the country. Trump followed up that designation by ordering airstrikes on jihadist targets in northern Nigeria on Christmas Day, which Tinubu’s government affirmed it had approved. Those events led to the Nigerian government confirming in February that it had requested further aid from the United States in combatting jihadist assailants.
The Nigerian Defense Headquarters held a briefing with reporters on Tuesday to discuss the withdrawal of the troops it had requested in February. Government officials insisted that the Americans’ departure would not compromise security for Nigerians.
“The deployment of U.S. personnel was tied to specific operational and counter-terrorism objectives and the decision to draw down personnel is therefore part of the evolving nature of that engagement,” Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba, the director of defense information, reportedly stated. “Elements of the U.S. security partnership, particularly intelligence cooperation, training, and information sharing, will continue.”
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the deployment of the troops in February, stating that their main objective in the country would be to train the notoriously ineffective Nigerian armed forces.
“The terrorist activity in West Africa — and Nigeria specifically — is something we’re incredibly concerned with. We want to partner with capable and willing partners that are able to address these shared security concerns,” a CENTCOM spokesperson explained at the time.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
09/03/2026 00:00 ||
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[BusinessInsider] World’s strongest military alliance faces new Chinese move as Beijing deploys Z-20Ks near NATO borders while it’s African exercises continues
China has dramatically demonstrated its expanding global military reach by deploying advanced combat aircraft across Europe and Africa. In Eastern Europe, the Chinese military has showcased its state-of-the-art Z-20K medium utility assault helicopters right on the borders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the world's strongest military alliance.
China has demonstrated its growing global military reach by deploying advanced aircraft in Europe and Africa.
In August 2026, China sent six J-16 fighter jets over 6,000 km to Egypt for a landmark joint military exercise.
China showcased its Z-20K assault helicopters during joint drills near NATO borders in Belarus.
These exercises illustrate China's enhanced capacity for rapid, long-range military deployment.
[BB] TechCrunch reports that the Pentagon has launched military versions of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Elon Musk’s Grok, giving the department’s 3 million civilian and military personnel access to generative AI tools built around what officials describe as “warfighter needs.” The two tools, ChatGPT Mil and Grok for Government, join GenAI.mil, a secure portal the Pentagon launched last year so War Department employees can use commercial AI models without sending sensitive data through consumer channels. The military versions skip the data collection practices common in consumer tech products.
GenAI.mil started out with Google Gemini. Since then it has signed up more than 1.7 million unique users out of the department’s 3 million personnel, according to the Department of War. One name is missing from the lineup: Anthropic’s Claude. The Trump administration labeled Anthropic a supply-chain risk, a designation the company is fighting in court, and the dispute with the Pentagon traces back to Anthropic’s refusal to grant unrestricted use of its AI tools without certain safety guardrails.
ChatGPT Mil comes out of OpenAI’s OpenAI for Government program and, per the War Department, covers chat, files, projects and custom GPTs. It’s built for document-heavy, routine unclassified work such as administrative tasks, logistics, planning and policy, with more features planned over time. Grok for Government is branded under SpaceX’s Starshield AI, which runs on a secure satellite network using Starlink technology. A Department of War press release put it this way: “Starshield AI’s Grok for Government will provide the warfighter with immediate productivity gains, stronger knowledge continuity and more secure and efficient collaboration.” Beyond OpenAI and xAI, the Pentagon has also struck AI-related deals with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Nvidia and Reflection AI.
[BB] Speaking to Vienna’s Heute newspaper, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said that his government plans to introduce a constitutional law to ban political Islam, saying, “If religion is used politically, we must oppose it with all severity.”
“Let me be clear: I do not want our children and grandchildren to grow up in an Islamic State,” Stocker added on social media.
“In Austria, everyone can believe what they want and what they want. This freedom of faith is protected by our constitution. But where believers and non-believers are distinguished, where men and women are not equal, where our institutions, authorities and courts are not respected, that freedom ends. Just as we protect the practice of religion, we must protect our democracy.”
The move was supported by Integration Minister Claudia Bauer, who vowed to fight political Islam in Austria and throughout Europe “with all means possible, because radical Islam is the greatest danger of our time, for our Western democracy, for the freedom of girls and women and for everyone who wants to live their religion peacefully and freely.”
Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) has specifically pointed to the Muslim Brotherhood as an example of political Islam, which it describes as efforts to inculcate Muslim practices in social and political structures with the long-term aim of establishing Sharia law or a Caliphate throughout the West.
[BB] “With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves,” the bank’s governor, Olaf Sleijpen, said in a written statement. “We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness.” and P.Trump can't seize it.
Ok, but what would the Netherlands do with their gold, now that they have at least some of it readily available?
The Dutch central bank announced Wednesday that it has moved billions of dollars worth of its gold reserves out of North America in a move it described as “crisis preparedness” in a time of global political unrest.
It said that between March and August, some 86 metric tons (94.8 tons) of gold were transferred to London from the combined total of around 313 metric tons (345 tons) held in New York and Ottawa, Canada. Before the move, New York housed 31.3% of the Dutch gold and Ottawa held 19.7%. After the move, both cities now hold 18.5%, the bank said.
The bank owns 612.4 metric tons (675 tons) of gold that was worth 72.2 billion euros (about $83.6 billion) at the end of 2025.
“With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves,” the bank’s governor, Olaf Sleijpen, said in a written statement. “We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness.”
More than 27 metric tons (30 tons) of gold were “physically transferred” from the United States and Canada to the Dutch bank’s heavily guarded vault on a military base near the central town of Zeist, the bank said, without elaborating on exactly how the gold bars got across the Atlantic Ocean. A similar quantity of gold was transferred from Zeist to London.
The rest of the relocation was achieved by selling around 59 metric tons (65 tons) of gold in New York and using the proceeds to buy gold in London.
#2
They never pass up an opportunity to fok with the Orange Man. They're still in denial over their 1995 Schengen Agreement. The quicker we become Switzerland, the better.
Had President Trump not closed the borders, it would already be over for the US. Washington's game is 'big government.' More people means.....
bigger givernment.
Earlier this year, France eliminated its remaining New York gold holdings, selling 129 metric tons that had been stored in the States, according to reports.
It used proceeds from the January sale to buy an equivalent amount of gold in Europe, and the precious pile now sits in Paris.
The Banque de France explicitly ruled out a political explanation for the move at the time.
As for the Netherlands, it holds about 612 metric tons of gold. Its latest reshuffling reduced the country’s New York stockpile by just over 78 metric tons and its Ottawa holdings by roughly 7 metric tons, according to the FT.
#5
Maybe they can trade it to China for some of the US T-bonds they are holding. That way everybody wins. Chine continues it's divestment / gains more gold. And Holland shows they are a "good friend" of the US by helping hold up the t-bond rate and showing that they are still good investments (in some folks eyes)
[BB] Multiple explosive devices were found Tuesday morning at a substation near the Jänschwalde coal-fired power plant in Brandenburg in northeastern Germany. Hours later, a short circuit knocked power lines out of service at the Bergheim power substation near Cologne in western Germany – an incident described by security officials as a deliberate act.
Neither incident affected the general power supply in their areas. Authorities are investigating the incidents but have not named any suspects, nor have they said if they could be connected. They say possible suspects could include a foreign power or left-wing extremists.
The initial information matched the pattern of Black Bloc/Antifa ecoterrorists, for what that’s worth.
“A substation is the nerve center of our daily lives. Anyone who attacks it isn’t just attacking a tin roof – they’re attacking our country, our economy, our daily lives, and all of us,” said Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Bergheim is located. “Critical infrastructure is the Achilles’ heel of our society. Perhaps we haven’t taken this issue seriously enough over the years.”
Officials described the explosives as “rocketlike objects equipped with a propellant charge” similar to fireworks. They said there were more than a dozen, but that only one managed to carry a cable into the high-voltage power line to establish a conductive connection to the ground, the German news agency dpa reported.
Bright flashes of light could be seen along several power lines at the Bergheim power substation near Cologne in western Germany on Tuesday evening, said Reul.
“It wasn’t a broken switch, it was intentional. It was a criminal act,” Reul said. “We are investigating two possibilities: sabotage directed by a foreign government and left-wing extremism. We cannot rule out either possibility at this time.”
Police said investigators found six launch devices in a nearby cornfield. Chief Detective Michael Esser told reporters that the devices were supposedly designed to use pyrotechnic devices to lift a wire high above the power lines.
The investigation has so far found that “the perpetrators deliberately caused a short circuit by placing conductive material – presumably cables – over the overhead line.”
A project of the Turkish government in support of Hamas, mostly to give people an excuse to scream at Israel because they certainly aren’t bring aid to their putative target..
[IsraelTimes] Ships will stop in Spain, Portugal and Italy to gather support and raise funds for their cause before departing for the Palestinian enclave
A new flotilla
…by this point flotillas are beyond boring. Everyone who is anyone has already done it long since so we’re well into the wannabes and never weres…
is expected to depart Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... next month and set sail on the Mediterranean in the latest bid by anti-Israel activists to break the Israeli naval blockade of 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, according to reports Wednesday.
Citing the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), news outlets including Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported that the new flotilla departing in October will make calls at ports in Spain, Portugal and Italia before heading toward Gaza.
It will be the first attempt that the pro-Paleostinian and anti-Israel organization has made to reach Gaza since Israel arrested 430 of its activists across 50 ships in international waters in May.
The arrests sparked international backlash at the time, after several activists alleged experiencing abuse and sexual assault, including rape, while being held in Israeli detention. international backlash? I didn't feel any backlash, did you?
Israel denied these accounts, but National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir prompted further scrutiny and outrage by posting a video of him mocking bound, kneeling activists in a detention center.
Since then, FFC activists have been sailing around Europe to gather support and raise funds for their cause ahead of October’s sailing.
One ship, the Handala II, called at ports in Norway, Sweden and Denmark last month, while another, The Kate, sailed from Bristol, England, to Kinsale, in the Republic of Ireland, on Saturday.
The Kate will stop at additional ports in Ireland, Germany and La Belle France over the next few weeks before joining up with the rest of the ships in the flotilla.
One of the activists aboard The Kate is Fiacc Ó Brolcháin, a 74-year-old sailor who was arrested and deported by Israel in May, according to local Irish outlet The Southern Star.
The FFC did not give an exact departure date for the flotilla, and didn’t provide details on how many ships and activists were expected to take part, or how much aid it would be attempting to bring into Gaza.
There have been several attempts to reach Gaza by sea over the past three years, after Israel’s war with Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... sparked a deep humanitarian crisis in the Paleostinian enclave.
Israel says the attempts are largely performative, noting that the ships carry only symbolic aid and have refused Israel’s offer to transfer the goods to Gaza over land.
None of the attempts have been successful, and each has ended with Israeli forces boarding the vessels and arresting the activists before bringing them to land and deporting them to their home countries.
More than 73,400 people have been killed in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack sparked the war there,
…assuming a total starting population of 2.1 million, that’s about 3.4% over almost three years or on the order of 1.2% per year if I didn’t misplace a decimal point somewhere along the line — not exactly genocide numbers even before we include the population increase of something like 50,000 due to the jihad of the women’s wombs…
including more than 1,330 since the October 2025 ceasefire, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
The Israeli military believes that Hamas’s overall toll is largely accurate, with IDF officials estimating that two to three civilians were killed for every dead terror operative.
[Breitbart] *squeaks* the Deep State Lame Duck
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called on President Donald Trump to replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, days after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned.
Tillis wrote on X that Hegseth has pushed senior officers out of the military and failed to keep the talent the Pentagon needs.
The Pentagon is overequipped with talent at the senior officer level, at least compared to ratios during World War II…
Driscoll submitted his resignation to Trump on Monday after 18 months in the job.
“I served on Senate Armed Services for 8 years and as chair or ranking member of the Personnel and Readiness subcommittee. I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country,” Tillis wrote. “He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force.”
The North Carolina Republican opened his post by thanking Driscoll and crediting him with pushing the Army to adapt to the kind of warfare seen in Ukraine and Iran. He paired Driscoll with former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, whom Hegseth removed in April.
“He and General George began a transformative period of innovation in how we array our forces and equip our Soldiers,” Tillis wrote.
The retiring senator then turned on Hegseth directly.
“If we had a @SecWar who maintained the same priorities and forward-thinking, he would be fighting to retain talented leaders like Dan and the many flag officers he has forced into retirement,” Tillis wrote. “Instead, he is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks.”
Driscoll gave a different account of his own exit. In a post on X Tuesday, the outgoing Army secretary credited Hegseth and did not say why he was stepping down. He said Wednesday would be his last day.
“We could not have made the progress we did without the support of Secretary Hegseth,” Driscoll wrote.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly praised Driscoll Monday, saying he provided “outstanding leadership during historic military operations” and assisted with negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said he was “disappointed” by the resignation.
According to CNN, a source familiar with the matter said Driscoll raised concerns in his resignation about Army transformation and readiness and Hegseth “blocking those efforts specifically by firing the generals who were responsible.”
CBS News counted at least 20 departures from the Pentagon’s top ranks under Hegseth, spanning uniformed commanders and civilian appointees. Tillis voted to confirm him.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/03/2026 00:00 ||
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#1
China, Russia and the US are all going through huge leadership changes right now. Some is due to loyalty issues, but a lot of generals are the old guard and not willing to embrace the new ways of war.
All the great powers, including the US did this back in 1937-42 as well. They knew what was coming and I suspect Hegseth knows it too. If he is choosing the right men to lead the new modern army... only a war will show that result.
#6
To retain young, talented officers you need to be sure there is room for promotion. Since the number of officers must decrease with each level up, in peace(ish) times senior officers need to retire/be 'retired.' Most will be good officers, but ...
[FOX] The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week announced the seizure of more than $550,000 in cryptocurrency donations and the disruption of recruitment websites connected to terrorist organization Hamas.
Through court-authorized seizures, the FBI seized approximately $560,000 in cryptocurrency and took control of domains and servers Hamas was allegedly using to raise money and recruit supporters, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
"A message to Hamas: We will stop your fundraising for terror," Pirro said in a statement. "Your networks are not secure, your crypto is vulnerable, and we will not stop until your ability to wage war is defeated."
In a video posted on X, Pirro described the operation as a "massive blow against foreign terrorism" that would disrupt Hamas' online recruitment efforts.
"By seizing their servers and their domains, we were able to directly intercept money that was going to be used by the military wing of Hamas, the Al Qassam Brigade," she said.
"And to add a little more interest to this, we also now have the names and identities of thousands of individuals who tried to give money to Hamas that we were able to intercept," she continued.
According to federal court documents, investigators became aware of a group chat claiming ties to Hamas on an encrypted communications platform that was directing supporters of the terrorist organization to a fundraising website and a rotating set of cryptocurrency donation addresses.
Prosecutors said investigators used information from multiple human sources on three separate occasions — March 25, June 25 and Oct. 10, 2025 — to identify, trace and seize approximately $560,000 in cryptocurrency intended to support Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades.
[IsraelTimes] ‘They like to attack on Jewish holidays because, after all, they hate Jews,’ says DM.
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts at sunset on September 11th this year, and the High Holiday season ends when three stars can be seen in the night sky at the end of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah on October 4th.
[IsraelTimes] In his new book, ex-PM recounts how Syria’s Muhammad Suleiman was shot in the back of the head by elite troops who emerged from the ocean to breach his beachfront property
Former prime minister Ehud Olmert has confirmed for the first time that Israel was behind the 2008 liquidation of then-Syrian president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... ’s top military adviser, Muhammad Suleiman.
In addition to serving as Assad’s chief military and intelligence aide, Suleiman was in charge of the construction and security of the Syrian nuclear facility in Deir Ezzor.
On August 1, 2008, Suleiman, a Syrian brigadier general and a presidential adviser on arms procurement, was shot multiple times in the head at an outdoor dinner party he was hosting at his beachfront villa in the coastal city of Tartus.
Although Israel has long been suspected of being behind the liquidation, it never publicly confirmed it, prompting some to speculate that his death was in fact the result of an internal dispute.
However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... in 2015, leaked documents from the US National Security Agency revealed that Israel’s elite naval commandos of Shayetet 13 breached Suleiman’s villa from the sea, shot him in the back of the head, and then escaped back to the sea without detection.
According to an excerpt obtained Wednesday by the Ynet news site, Olmert, who was prime minister of Israel in 2006-2009, has confirmed the contents of the leaked intelligence documents in his new Hebrew-language book, named after the internal IDF code for the 2007 bombing of Syria’s nuclear reactor in Deir Ezzor,
…that’d be Al Kibar.…
roughly translatable as "Arizona, all of us."
"He [Suleiman] and his guests were sitting on the balcony, and the soldiers approached under the cover of darkness to a distance of 150 meters on either side of the balcony, and confirmed his identity," he wrote. "Even though there were quite a few people on the beach, nobody noticed them.
"When the order was given, three bullets were fired at Suleiman, hitting the back of his head," Olmert recounted. "Immediately afterward, the soldiers retreated to the coast, on the way to the boat that picked them up."
Syria suppressed the news of Suleiman’s liquidation for four days following his death before pointing the finger at Israel.
The Deir Ezzor nuclear reactor was the target of an Israeli strike in September 2007,
…Operation Outside the Box on 6 September 2007. At President Bush’s request, the IDF provided photos and soil samples to show him why action was necessary…
also while Olmert was in office. Then, too, Israel did not take responsibility for the bombing, in part to avoid retaliation from Damascus. Jerusalem officially acknowledged the strike in 2018.
Suleiman "had a hand in everything," wrote Olmert, highlighting his connection to the Deir Ezzor facility. "A month before the attack, he received a new Mercedes from Assad as a token of appreciation for his contribution to building the reactor."
In 2024, Olmert also admitted for the first time that Israel was responsible for the death of Hezbollah global operations chief Imad Mughniyeh, who died in a kaboom in Damascus in February 2008.
Mughniyeh was implicated in some of the Iran-backed terror group’s major attacks, including the 1992 bombing at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA building in the Argentinian capital, in which 85 people were killed.
[Jpost] Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Director-General Avi Cohen Scali accused Erdogan of "leading an antisemitic policy toward the State of Israel."
By YOAV ETIEL
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 20:24
New studies examining what they described as Turkey’s use of antisemitism as a tool for diplomatic attacks against Israel, including efforts to incriminate Israeli soldiers through false allegations of “war crimes,” were released by the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry on Wednesday
The studies published by the ministry found that the WOLAS and Freedom Watch Platform organizations, which allegedly operate as “civil society” groups, use advanced open-source intelligence (OSINT) systems to identify IDF soldiers and civilians holding dual citizenship. According to the ministry, these systems are used to pursue legal action against them with the knowledge of the Turkish government.
“In recent years, Turkey has established a state mechanism in which antisemitism, delegitimization and legal warfare against Israelis are carried out at high intensity as part of an organized and predetermined policy of the country’s leadership and institutions,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The Research Division at the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry reveals in its studies that the mechanism is rooted in the education and religious systems through to organizations operating in the international arena against IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens and accusing them of war crimes,” the statement added.
The studies describe what the ministry called a consistent process of institutionalizing antisemitism within the Turkish government. They also outline how Turkey, under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has transformed hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people from a political message into a broader governmental framework that extends across state institutions.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
09/03/2026 00:00 ||
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🇷🇺🇮🇷 RUSSIA REPORTEDLY HELPING IRAN DEVELOP SUPERSONIC MISSILES
Russia has reportedly been helping Iran develop a ramjet-powered supersonic cruise missile program, according to the Financial Times.
The program, codenamed “C430L,” began in 2023 and could give Tehran a significantly greater ability to threaten US aircraft carriers and other vessels across the Middle East.
The FT says Russian engineers and experts made multiple trips to Iran, with the project focused on technology capable of propelling cruise missiles at multiple times the speed of sound.
Iran has reportedly built and tested the ramjet system, but there is currently no evidence that a supersonic cruise missile using the technology has been deployed.
The FT described the project as “one of the most significant known transfers of strategic military technology from Moscow to Tehran.”
Missile expert Fabian Hinz warned: “This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades.”
Posted by: badanov ||
09/03/2026 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Rudaw] Conflicting accounts between official narratives and testimonies from locals alleging potential IRGC involvement over strikes in 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... which killed four civilians at a wedding party demands further investigation, a watchdog said on Wednesday, amid Iran’s request for international legal action over the alleged US strikes.
Four civilians attending a wedding party were killed and at least 63 others were maimed in Kuhestak, a coastal city in Sirik in southern Iran bordering the Strait of Hormuz, on Tuesday following US strikes on IRGC bases south of Iran. The US strikes are part of a renewed escalation between Washington and Tehran that has started since Sunday.
"The sound of two drones" was heard "prior to the earth-shattering kaboom," said Haalvsh, a human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... organization monitoring southeastern Iran, citing Ali Mallahi, the owner of the house where his daughter’s wedding ceremony was held.
While the attack has been attributed to US fighter jets according to official accounts, Haalvsh noted on their telegram account that "the accounts of several [local] witnesses and individuals present at the scene differ from the official version."
"Some citizens have raised the possibility that the drone observed or heard prior to the earth-shattering kaboom may have belonged to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces," the monitor said.
This underscores the need for an independent and detailed investigation, the type of munition used, or the delivery vehicle involved regarding a possible attribution to IRGC forces, stated Haalvsh, noting that "there is currently no independent and reliable evidence available to confirm this claim, and no definitive statement can be made regarding the identity or affiliation of the drone."
"What can be stated with greater certainty, at this point, is the occurrence of powerful explosions in close proximity to residential homes and a wedding venue, resulting in casualties and a large number of injuries," the monitor noted, stating it is currently interviewing witnesses, and working to cross-reference independent accounts and analyze available evidence to verify the precise circumstances and the party responsible for the attack.
Iranian authorities rejected the account.
"Iranian authorities have vehemently accused the US for the incident. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X, "If a power acts like Satan, picks targets like Satan, and kills like Satan, it’s Satan."
Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... the Iranian Red Islamic Thingy Society (IRCS) on Wednesday sent a letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC), asking the Hague-based court to investigate the attack "allegedly carried out by forces of the United States of America," claiming that it may constitute "war crimes."
The attack came after US forces hit IRGC’s "air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites" on Tuesday. Iran responded with drone and missile strikes on alleged US bases in Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, and the Kurdistan Region.
🚨 The father of a bride whose wedding in Sirik was struck says two drones crashed into the wedding ceremony.
According to the father and local residents, IRGC forces quickly arrived and removed pieces of the drones from the scene, which locals claim was an attempt to push the… https://t.co/L3jsmZss4ypic.twitter.com/QbxWOnc0Pf
… an attempt to push the narrative that the United States attacked the wedding.
Islamic Republic missiles and drones have repeatedly malfunctioned or gone off course, with incidents resulting in impacts inside Iranian residential areas.
[Rudaw] A British navy monitor on Wednesday confirmed an incident that involved a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. The statement coincided with a semi-state-owned Saudi maritime shipping company reporting that "two Filipino crew members" had been killed in an incident involving one of their vessels in the key waterway.
UKMTO said it received a "verified" and "time-late" report that "a tanker was involved in a security incident resulting in two casualties." The incident took place in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and resulted in no "environmental impact at this time," the monitor added.
"Authorities are investigating," UKMTO said, advising vessels to "transit with caution and report any suspicious activity."
While the British navy monitor did not explicitly name the vessel, the semi-state-owned Saudi maritime shipping company Bahri said in a Wednesday statement that one of its vessels, the Sidr, was "involved in a security incident while transiting the Strait of Hormuz" on Monday evening.
"It is with profound sadness that Bahri confirms the loss of two of its Filipino seafarers as a result of the incident," the statement said, adding that the company "remains in continuous contact with the vessel and is coordinating closely with the relevant authorities and maritime industry stakeholders, while continuing to closely monitor developments."
Bahri further expressed commitment to "operating in accordance with the highest standards of safety, security, and environmental protection."
The Strait of Hormuz - a vital waterway through which around one-fifth of global oil supplies pass - has seen no return to normal shipping since the US and Israel launched a joint aerial campaign on February 28, striking thousands of targets across 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... over six weeks.
Tehran responded with thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets - particularly in Gulf Arab states - while also launching retaliatory strikes against Israel.
The two sides reached a preliminary ceasefire in early April, followed by the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in mid-June, which established a truce on all fronts and set a 60-day window for negotiating a final agreement, extendable only by mutual consent.
Despite the MoU, Iran and the US have traded multiple rounds of strikes and counterstrikes, the latest of which escalated on July 8 before subsiding in late July.
As of late Wednesday, the two sides had been locked in a new round of tit-for-tat strikes since Sunday, with US Central Command (CENTCOM) stating that its forces had "completed" a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets as Tehran indicated its response was underway.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/03/2026 2026-09-03 00:15 ||
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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 braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
The Scourge of Hama...
...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 
