Author: CounterVortex

Greater Middle East

Yemen moves closer to ‘all-out war’

YemenYemen is closer to all-out war than at any other point since 2022, UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg told the Security Council amid an upsurge of violence in and around the divided country. A Houthi attack on a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb strait killed six people, while fresh clashes between Houthi and government forces erupted in the frontline city of Taiz the following day. The Houthis said a drone strike on Saudi Arabia's Jizan oil refinery, on the Red Sea just over the border from Yemen, was a response to Saudi violations of Yemeni airspace. (Map via PCL)

Greater Middle East

Israeli ‘ecocide’ seen in Lebanon

LebanonLebanese firefighters, residents, and environmental groups have accused the Israeli military of deliberately lighting wildfires across the areas of southern Lebanon it occupies, with some labelling it "ecocide." According to the reports, up to 40% of the land in areas close to the front line has been burned by Israeli drones, flares and munitions since June, with firefighters in some cases attacked as they attempted to respond. (Image via Flickr)

Africa

South Sudan in border clashes with Ugandan forces

South SudanMore than 10,000 civilians are reported displaced in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria state following clashes between government troops and Ugandan forces. The fighting marks a sharp escalation in a long-running border dispute. Talks are underway at the scene to try to resolve the conflict over the contested area in Kajo-Keji county, along the frontier with Uganda's West Nile region. (Map via PCL)

Africa

Russian mercenaries run opioid empire in CAR

Central African RepublicRemnants of the Russian mercenary group Wagner apparently not integrated into Moscow's new Africa Corps have gone rogue in the Central African Republic, financing their operations through narco-trafficking. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the mercenaries are running an opioid empire, supplying tramadol to the national army, local militias, its own forces, and workers in gold mines the group operates. A painkiller in normal doses, tramadol acts as a stimulant in higher doses that can reduce fear, exhaustion and hunger in users. Proceeds from tramadol distribution, including exports, have helped the Wagner remnants in CAR maintain independence from Moscow. (Map via Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection)

The Andes

US pushes ‘Donroe Doctrine’ at Cuzco defense summit

CuzcoRepresentatives from over 30 countries gathered in the Peruvian city of Cuzco for the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas, where top Pentagon official Elbridge Colby used the occasion to defend the "Donroe Doctrine." As at other regional security summits, including the "Shield of the Americas" conference held in Florida in March, Trump officials cast drug trafficking and irregular migration as threats to US security, urged regional governments to increase military spending, and called for deeper security collaboration with Washington. An increasing number of the right-wing governments in attendance have embraced closer military ties with the United States through joint strikes and new military bases—even as militarized policies fail to curb organized crime and violence in countries like Ecuador, a key testing ground for the administration's renewed war on "narcoterrorism." (Photo: Martin St-Amant via Wikimedia Commons)

South Asia

Pakistan launches new offensive on Baloch rebels

BaluchistanPakistani authorities say that more than 100 insurgents have been killed in Balochistan province over the past week as security forces intensify a large-scale campaign against the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and other militant groups. The campaign, dubbed "Operation Shaban," was launched after a series of attacks on security personnel. The army, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Police have been deployed in coordinated aerial and ground assaults across the province. (Map: PCL)

Greater Middle East

Syria: ‘Barrel Bomb Mufti’ on trial

muftiThe trial of Syria's former grand mufti, Ahmed Bareddin Hassoun, opened at the Palace of Justice in Damascus. Hassoun led Syria's official religious establishment under the Bashar Assad dictatorship. He is accused of incitement to murder and abusing his position as a mufti to provide religious cover for the crimes of the regime, as well as participation in war crimes and crimes against humanity. He famously issued fatwas justifying the bombing of civilians and called the regime's use of indiscriminate barrel bombs "liberation," winning him the epithet "Barrel Bomb Mufti." He also issued a fatwa in 2017 authorizing the execution of detainees held at the notorious Sednaya Prison, where the Assad regime killed thousands, many through torture and starvation. (Photo: SANA via Arab News)

Greater Middle East

US strikes Uyghur militants in Syria: report

SyriaA suspected US-led coalition strike on a site used by Uyghur militants in Syria's Idlib province has renewed debate over the future of foreign fighters under the country's post-Assad government. Sources told The New Arab on that an aircraft targeted a compound used by a faction formerly known as the Turkistan Islamic Party, in al-Zainiya area near Jisr al-Shughour in western Idlib. While no confirmed information has emerged regarding casualties from the strike, preliminary reports suggested that a leader of Hurras al-Din, a former al-Qaeda affiliate which formally dissolved in January, may have been killed. (Map: PCL)

North America

HRW: Minnesota ICE raids violated human rights

ICEHuman Rights Watch (HRW) detailed abuses endured by communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul during the occupation of the Twin Cities area by immigration officers. According to HRW, officers terrorized residents, committed widespread human rights violations, and exposed "deeply abusive" tendencies within US immigration enforcement. (Photo: Chad Davis)

Iran

Iran: deadly repression in Baluchistan

BaluchistanIranian security forces violently dispersed protesters in Pashmouki village, Kerman province, within the greater Baluchistan region. Six ethnic Baloch residents, including three women, were detained, and several injured. The protest took place outside a chromite mine in the village, which has been a source of great contention. Iran's government has been cracking down on unlicensed mines in the region, but residents say they gain no economic benefit from the licensed ones, while they are left to deal with the environmental impacts. Since the mass protests in Iran earlier this year, the Baluchistan region has been flooded with Revolutionary Guard troops. Two Baloch youths in the region were killed by Revolutionary Guards in unclear circumstances within days of the Pashmouki violence. (Map: PCL)