Author: Steven Sahiounie

At least five Egyptian military personnel were killed in a militant attack on Wednesday in northern Sinai, two security sources said,the second deadly strike against security forces on the peninsula in less than a week. Four others were injured when armed men opened fire at a security post in the coastal area of northeastern Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip, the sources said. There was no immediate comment from Egyptian authorities. The deaths follow a May 7 ambush at a checkpoint in Sinai that killed 11 Egyptian soldiers and was claimed by Islamic State, one of the deadliest attacks in…

A suicide bomber hit a checkpoint near the airport in Mogadishu, killing at least four people, according to Somalian authorities. A number of wounded people were taken away in an ambulance, according to witnesses. There were no details on the other casualties. The blast happened as presidential candidates were heading into the heavily fortified airport area to address lawmakers ahead of Sunday’s vote for president. Somalia’s militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which destroyed a number of small businesses along the street. Al-Shabab opposes Somalia’s federal government and frequently stages lethal attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the…

Iraqi soldiers killed nine Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorists in Kirkuk, Iraq’s northern region, on Wednesday, according to the military. The Iraqi forces surrounded nine militants holed up in a tunnel near Kraw Mountain, some 250 kilometers north of Baghdad, and blasted the tunnel, killing all nine terrorists inside, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command’s media office said. Iraqi security forces have undertaken extensive operations against terrorists in recent months to combat their increased activity. Since 2017, the security situation in Iraq has improved. Daesh remnants, on the other hand, have disappeared into cities, deserts, and rocky terrain, launching periodic guerilla operations against…

Countries should concentrate their diplomatic efforts on providing humanitarian aid and having civilians evacuated from the combat zones, Antonio Guterres stressed United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres does not see the possibility of concluding peace or achieving a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine at the moment. “At the present moment, there are no immediate chances of a peace agreement or immediate chances for a global ceasefire,” he told a news conference after a meeting with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen. Asked if he understood Russia’s endgame following talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on April 26, Guterres said he…

Iran’s security forces arrested two European nationals who entered the country to exploit people’s protests and turn them into riots. Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said the European saboteurs were two intelligence officers who aimed to implement sabotage scenarios, making networks of rioters and guiding them to deviate the country’s widespread protests toward devastating riots and insecurity. The statement “The two main elements who are citizens of a European country, organized by the intelligence services, are experts in creating insurgency and instability.” “For years, they had trained their local agents in several of their target countries to…

Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom (AUKUS), which condemned China and the Solomon Islands for a security cooperation deal, are the ones militarising the South Pacific and provoking a new arms race in the region, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday. “Australia, together with the US and the UK, is forming a military bloc and provoking an arms race in the South Pacific without any consultations with island countries of the region,” Zhao said at a press briefing. The spokesman urged Australia to reconsider its actions concerning the issue. Last September, Australia, the US and…

A US warship’s passage through the Taiwan Strait is a “staged drama,” Beijing said The Chinese military made critical remarks on Wednesday after the US sailed one of its warships through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday in a show of flag mission. Beijing said that Washington had a habit of “staging dramas” over the self-governed island that China considers to be under its sovereignty. The US supports Taiwan against China, while maintaining strategic ambiguity over its status. The US Navy sent the USS Port Royal, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser of the 7th Fleet, to pass through the body of water separating…

The US has already slapped Moscow with sanctions similar to ones reserved for state sponsors of terrorism, spokesperson Psaki says Washington says it has already imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia that are usually reserved for countries the State Department designates as state sponsors of terrorism. At a regular press briefing on Tuesday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki was answering a question about the recent push by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. “We have been doing, already, what has happened to those other countries. So, extensive financial sanctions, export controls, also…

The bill implies allocation of funds for military, economic and humanitarian aid to Kiev US House of Representatives approved the bill on allocation of addition $40 billion in aid to Ukraine Tuesday, according to a livestream on the House website. The bill gained the required majority of votes and will be forwarded to the Senate now. Should the Senate approve the bill, it will be forwarded to US President Joe Biden for signing. The bill implies allocation of funds for military, economic and humanitarian aid to Kiev. Biden requested this additional funding earlier. He urged the lawmakers to approve it…

Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, General Shavendra Silva, on Tuesday gave his assurances that the military won’t resort to the “disgraceful” act of shooting at protesters under any circumstances, after the opposition expressed its concerns that troops would abuse anti-government demonstrators. The United States on Tuesday said it was concerned by the deployment of the military in Sri Lanka, hours after that country’s Defence Ministry ordered its forces to “open fire” on people found looting public property or causing harm to others. “We’re concerned by the deployment of the military. We underscore, we stress…