Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said on Tuesday that US airstrikes in Anbar, western Iraq, killed 15 of its fighters, including a senior commander. Iraqi media reported that Iraqi Prime Minister “In a blatant and cowardly attack, the commander of the Anbar Operations in the Popular Mobilization Forces, Saad Dua al-Bayji, was martyred along with a group of his heroic comrades following a treacherous American airstrike that targeted the command headquarters while they were performing their national duty,” the PMF said in a statement, according to The Cradle. The group added that it...

US Africa Command has announced in a press release that its forces launched an airstrike in Somalia on February 10, marking at least the 30th US airstrike in the country this year as the Trump administration continues bombing the country at a record pace. The command said the strike targeted al-Shabaab about 30 miles to the northeast of the port city of Kismayo in southern Somalia’s Lower Juba province. The US-backed Somali government and al-Shabaab both reported clashes in the same area that day and made vastly different claims. The US-backed Somali Defense Ministry said that the Danab, a...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday that Iran cannot be trusted, as Witkoff prepares for potential talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. “Ahead of Envoy Witkoff’s departure to meet with a representative of Iran, the Prime Minister clarified his position that Iran has proven time and again that its promises cannot be relied upon,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after the talks. According to Haaretz, President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also attended the meeting. While holding no official...

Turkish intelligence has warned Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that Kurdish fighters have been entering Iran from Iraq amid protests inside Iran, Reuters reported on Wednesday. An unnamed senior Iranian official speaking to the outlet said that the IRGC has been clashing with armed Kurdish fighters dispatched from both Iraq and Turkey. The Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, a Kurdish Iranian separatist group mainly based in Iraq, has been claiming that its armed wing has been conducting operations against Iranian forces. On Tuesday, the PAK claimed its forces launched an...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he’s held talks with President Trump on the possibility of the US deploying troops to Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader made the comment when asked if the US plans to deploy troops as part of a security guarantee for a potential future peace deal with Russia. “To be honest, this can only be confirmed by the President of the United States of America. These are US troops, and therefore, it is America that makes such decisions,” Zelensky said, according to Ukrinform. “Of course, we are discussing this both with President Trump and with...

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has launched major military drills encircling the island of Taiwan, a step Beijing has made clear is a response to the US recently approving more than $11 billion in arms sales for Taipei. According to CGTN, Chen Binhua, a Chinese government spokesman, said the drills were aimed at curbing “collusion between ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and external elements that endanger peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and fundamentally safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian was asked at his...

At least three Palestinians have died in Gaza due to three different causes, according to reports from the Strip on Thursday, as the civilian population is still facing Israeli attacks while living in rubble and tents amid harsh weather and under continued Israeli aid restrictions. According to Middle East Eye, a one-month-old infant, Saeed Asaeed Abdeen, died in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, due to the cold weather, as families are living in flimsy tents that have been hit with floods and heavy winds. Israel has maintained restrictions on tents and other shelters entering Gaza despite the...

Eleven Palestinians were injured by Israeli shelling in Gaza City on Wednesday, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as Israel continues launching attacks in the Strip despite the Trump-backed ceasefire deal. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that at least one person was in critical condition due to Israeli attacks in Gaza City. The IDF claimed in a brief statement that a mortar shell fired near Gaza’s so-called “yellow line” had “missed its target” and that the incident was “being investigated.” According to TRT World, Israeli artillery shelling was also reported in southern Gaza and in...