Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator A deadly double suicide bombing ripped through a second-hand clothing market in Tayaran Square, located in Bab Al-Sharqi commercial district of Baghdad on Thursday. Hassan Mohammed Al-Tamimi, Iraq’s Health Minister, said at least 32 people were killed and 110 others were wounded. Those at the scene report the bombers were able to move freely through the area after easing restrictions due to the Covid-19 virus, which has hit Iraq very hard. A clothing vendor told reporters at the scene that the first bomber pretended to have a stomach ache, fell to the ground complaining,…

A powerful explosion was felt throughout the Homs countryside on Tuesday night, following a blast at one of the major pipelines inside the governorate. According to a field source in the Homs Governorate, the explosion occurred at the Syrian Gas Company site in the governorate’s countryside, causing a burst of flames that required immediate assistance from the civil defense teams. The source said the civil defense teams are at the scene of the explosion; however, they have been unable to put out the flames at the site. The cause of the explosion is still unknown at this time. In the…

The Russian Armed Forces were filmed recently carrying out an operation in the Hama Governorate to destroy a militant cave near the administrative border of Idlib. In the video shared by Russia’s Channel 5 News, the Russian Armed Forces can be seen combing through the militant cave inside the northwestern countryside of the Hama Governorate. Just before they blew up the cave, the Russian forces can be seen coming across weapons left behind by the militant forces that once occupied this area of Hama. The Russian Armed Forces have been conducting combing operations with their sapper units to dismantle explosives…

The annual rankings of military strength of the countries of the world, issued by the Global Fire Power website, were released recently, along with the regional rankings. In the Middle East region, Turkey was considered the strongest military, followed by Egypt at number two and Iran at number three. Saudi Arabia ranked fourth in the military power in the Middle East, followed by Israel in fifth place, the Emirates sixth, Iraq in seventh place, Syria in eighth, Kuwait ranked ninth, while Oman ranked tenth, and then Jordan ranked eleventh. The bottom of the list consisted of Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain, and…

Iran has imposed sanctions on incumbent US President Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting Secretary of Defence Christopher Miller, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, ex-Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, as well as a number of other former officials, including Gina Haspel, John Bolton, Brian Hook, and others, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said. The blacklisting of 10 senior US officials, including POTUS Trump, is because of their “role and involvement in terrorist and anti-human rights actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iranian citizens”, the ministry’s spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, as quoted by journalist Abas Aslani. The…

Radical Islamic group, identifying themselves as “Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron”, released a statement on Sunday in which they claimed responsibility for an attack on the Turkish Armed Forces in northwestern Syria. The group, which was discussed in-depth by researcher Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamim, alleged that they carried out a sniper attack against the Turkish Armed Forces in the Aleppo Governorate town of Batabo. The Turkish Ministry of Defense has not commented on this alleged attack; however, according to Al-Mayadeen TV, who cited local sources, three soldiers were killed in the sniper operation by the jihadist group. No further details have been…

The Turkish authorities announced on Sunday that a cargo ship carrying the Russian flag has sunk off the coast of the northern Black Sea state of Barton. State Governor Senan Gunner told reporters that the ship sank off the Turkish coast, noting that there were no reports of casualties as a result of the incident. The governor confirmed that the local authorities launched an operation to rescue the crew of the ill-fated ship, who are estimated at 15 sailors, who are now on board three lifeboats, and he later announced the rescue of three of these sailors. Gunner said the…

One person was killed and six others were wounded on Sunday when an explosive device was detonated as a vehicle was transporting bread to a town in the northern countryside of the Aleppo Governorate. According to local reports, a 39-year-old man was killed and a woman and her child were among the wounded in what appears to be a targeted attack near a popular market inside the town located near the city of Azaz along the Turkish border. Local reports said that the explosive device was planted on a Suzuki truck that was used to transport bread to the area.…

On Saturday, the Iranian Navy revealed the details of the attempt to approach a U.S. submarine during a maneuver in the Persian Gulf this week. The Assistant Commander of the Naval Force for Coordination Affairs in the Iranian Armed Forces, Admiral Hamzah Ali Kawyani, said in statements via the Iranian “First Channel”, that “the foreign submarine was American,” pointing out that “Iranian submarines and ships managed to surround that American submarine and warn it repeatedly.” “The foreign submarine’s movements was approaching the maneuvers area of ​​the Iranian Navy in the northern Indian Ocean region, and it was monitored by the…

In a rare move, the U.S. and Russian forces agreed to open a crossing between the territories controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and government in Deir Ezzor. According to a field report from the Deir Ezzor Governorate, the U.S. and Russian forces agreed to open the Al-Salihiyah crossing, which will link civilians to both sides of the Euphrates. The importance of the land crossing is that it is the only crossing that connects between the governorates of Deir Ezzor and Al-Hasakah in eastern Syria, and it reopened this morning after being closed for nearly a year due to…