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An explosion in southern Lebanon last week destroyed what is believed to have been a Hezbollah weapons depot. This latest in a series of mysterious “accidents” in Hezbollah-controlled precincts proved, as one Israeli official wryly remarked, that those who “sleep with rockets and amass large stockpiles of weapons are in a very unsafe place.” With the Party of God’s overland supply route through Syria choked off by the 22-month-long uprising against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and Israel virtually in total control of the maritime route, Hezbollah’s stockpile is being systematically degraded.Yet the arsenal of Iran’s other regional proxy force, Hamas,...

The U.S. military conducted wide-ranging air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, President Trump said. Why it matters: It was the biggest wave of U.S. strikes in Yemen since Trump assumed office. A U.S. official said Saturday's strikes were not a one-off but the start of a series of "relentless" U.S. strikes against the Houthis that are expected to last for days or maybe even weeks. Driving the news: According to local reports in Yemen, numerous explosions took place in Sana'a around 1:30pm ET. Trump said the strikes were aimed at "terrorists' bases, leaders, and missile defenses." Behind...

The Houthi rebels in Yemen announced on Tuesday evening that they will attack any ship that violates the group's ban on Israeli vessels passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, effective immediately. The "ban on the passage of all Israeli ships" will continue "until the crossings to the Gaza Strip are reopened and aid, food, and medicine are allowed in," said the Houthis’ military spokesperson, Yahya Saree. Earlier on Tuesday evening, Al-Arabiya reported that the United States attacked Houthi radar facilities and weapons storage sites in the port of Al-Hudaydah in...

The situation in Israel tonight with protests and clashes in Jerusalem, demonstrations by Arabs in Haifa and Nazareth as well. The Biden Administration pressuring Israel for calm tomorrow on Jerusalem Day but first... #Gestapo trending in Canada this weekend with the arrest of Christian Pastor Artur Pawlowski in Calgary... Today Pastor Pawlowski interviewed by Rebel News in Canada via phone from jail... New York Orthodox Jewish activist Heshy Tischler getting a ten-day community service sentence after his guilty plea to "inciting a riot" over an anti-coronavirus lockdown protest... The European Union isn't renewing its contract for the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine......

Balochistan.Roughly the size of Germany, it is Pakistan’s biggest and poorest province. And it’s also home to a long and bloody civil war that has been going on for decades. On one side there’s the central Pakistani government. On the other are Baloch nationalists who have fought for independence since 1948. They are organized in insurgent groups with names like the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Balochistan Liberation United Front. And while the government labels the Baloch as “terrorists,” the Baloch accuse the army of ethnic cleansing. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies Since the start of this...

Two police officers, three gunmen confirmed dead in attack claimed by the armed separatist group Baloch Liberation Army. Armed gunmen have killed two policemen as they stormed the Chinese consulate in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, security officials say, in a raid claimed by ethnic Baloch separatists. Security forces killed all three attackers and secured the building shortly after the raid was launched on Friday morning, Pakistan's military said in a statement. No Chinese citizens or Pakistani civilians were killed, security officials said. "All of our Chinese friends and officials who work at the consulate, 21 in total, all...

An accurate count of the AK47 type rifles confiscated in the Gulf of Aden on 28 August 2018, has been released. During 2016, the U.S. Navy intercepted and confiscated several shipments of small arms from stateless dhows in the Arabian sea. Thousands of AK type rifles, hundreds of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) were confiscated, along with PKM general purpose machine guns and 21 .50 caliber heavy machine guns. Included in a haul by the French, were some 60 mm mortars,  anti-tank missiles, and 64 Dragunov sniper rifles. From a March 2016 navy.mil article: The U.S. Navy Coastal Patrol ship...

BEIJING—China’s navy says its forces rescued a freighter from attack by pirates in the Gulf of Aden over the weekend. Missing from the report was any mention of the participation of the Indian navy, which says it dispatched four ships and a helicopter to provide cover for the action. The omission was likely no accident. Deep distrust persists between the two nuclear-armed Asian giants, and in recent days, China has angrily denounced New Delhi over a visit by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to an Indian border area that China claims as its own territory. Asked about that...

NORFOLK Thirteen Somalis and one Yemeni captured after four Americans were killed aboard a yacht last month are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Norfolk this afternoon on piracy, kidnapping and gun charges. The men were brought into the federal courthouse in downtown Norfolk this morning. The group was turned over to the Justice Department on Wednesday after being held aboard the carrier Enterprise since the Feb. 22 shooting deaths of the Americans. A Navy spokesman said the Somalis were removed from the ship by Department of Justice officials. A federal grand jury indicted 14 suspected pirates, the...

Iranian ships and submarines have deployed an undisclosed number of Iranian troops and weapons at the Eritrean port town of Assab, according to opposition groups, foreign diplomats, and NGOs in the area. The city of Assab sits at the Horn of Africa in the Arabian Sea. As such, Assab offers a strategic position as the world nervously eyes the precarious routes through which a seaborne oil traverses daily. Local sources have reported that Iran recently sent soldiers and a large number of long-range and ballistic missiles. The military basing came after Iran signed an accord with Eritrea to revamp the...

Uh oh....looks like some Navy squids took a picture of bin Laden being buried at sea!

  "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, God with us. ... Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." — George Frideric Handel, "Messiah" WASHINGTON — This magnificent musical work penned by Handel in 1741 is heard all around the world in this season. His powerful lyrics are drawn directly from the Bible and remind us all to be thankful for the birth, sacrifice and resurrection of the Lamb of God.In our family Christmas tradition, Handel's oratorio is performed at our Christmas Eve...

The planes coming in from missions over Afghanistan for a night landing touch down with a thud, the runway so short and narrow that there is no room for error. It's the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a US Navy aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea that provides air support for coalition forces fighting Islamic Taliban militants in Afghanistan. The floating airport, or the "city at sea" as its captain Dee L. Mewbourne likes to call it, provides nearly a third of air missions against the Taliban. "We are providing almost daily support to the Operation Enduring Freedom...

debkafile's military sources report a decision by the Obama administration to boost US military strength in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf regions in the short term with an extra air and naval strike forces and 6,000 Marine and sea combatants. Carrier Strike Group 10, headed by the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, sails out of the US Navy base at Norfolk, Virginia Friday, May 21. On arrival, it will raise the number of US carriers off Iranian shores to two. Up until now, President Barack Obama kept just one aircraft carrier stationed off the coast of Iran, the USS...

Military experts say the Fifth Fleet has come a long way since Iranian gunboats crippled it within hours in a notorious war game five years ago. In fact, says John Pike, president of the Alexandria, Va.-based Global Security Web site, the Navy was well on its way to solving the challenge of fending off the swarming swift boats before the war game began. In that test, an enemy "red team" headed by retired Martine Corps Gen. Paul Van Riper deployed the gun boats and propeller-driven suicide planes to paralyze the Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. It...

After showing its firepower by testing a host of missiles in the Arabian Sea last week, Pakistan has test fired another missile. The surface-to-air missile was test fired from Pak Navy’s guided missile destroyer on Tuesday “which scored a direct hit,” the official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan said quoting a Navy press release. The Navy termed its anti-air warfare capability as another manifestation of its offensive punch. The state-of-the-art, fully automated missile is capable of intercepting targets at very high speeds, the statement said. The Navy had, over the weekend, test launched an array of missiles and torpedoes...

Pakistan's navy successfully test-fired a series of missiles and torpedoes Friday in what it called a message to "nefarious" forces — an apparent reference to longtime rival India. While the two nuclear-armed neighbors have taken slow steps toward restarting peace talks, they also have a history of using weapons tests as a form of diplomatic saber-rattling. The tests occurred in the Arabian Sea and employed various aircraft, submarines and ships. It was not immediately clear if the missiles were capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Both countries regularly test their missile systems, and usually notify each other ahead of such launches...

Iran has reported a naval buildup in the Gulf. Officials said Western and allied forces have deployed scores of warships in the Gulf and Arabian Sea. They said nearly 100 warships have been conducting operations, many of which appear to be directed against Iran. "The Westerners know well that the existence of these warships in the Persian Gulf serve as the best operational targets for Iran if they should want to undertake any military action against Iran," Iranian Defense Minister Ahmed Vahidi said. Vahidi, in an address on Jan. 19, said more than 90 foreign warships were detected in the...

Perhaps purely motivated by profit, Somalian pirates are shuttling weapons and terrorists in and out of the country and sharing up to fifty-percent of the ransoms with al-Shabab, what it reaps from hijacking ships. Formed as the Islamic Courts Union's (ICU) military wing, al-Shabab announced in March its affiliation with al Qaeda after regaining control of most of southern Somalia earlier this year when Ethiopia withdrew its forces. Southern Somalia is now under the control of Shabaab and other Islamist groups. Click image to enlarge. Map used with permission. Read the story at The Long War JournalThe Weekly Standard's Thomas...

OTTAWA - The Canadian warship HMCS Winnipeg has thwarted a probable pirate attack in the Arabian Sea. The ship is currently participating in a NATO led counter-piracy mission known as Operation Allied Protector. While engaging in escort duties, military officials say Winnipeg observed several small skiffs approaching the merchant vessel Pacific Opal. The Pacific Opal radioed for help and Winnipeg dispatched a Sea King helicopter, causing the pirates to withdraw. Lieutenant-General Michel Gauthier, Commander of Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, said the incident "highlights the importance of our mission and the efforts to make a difference with our coalition partners in...