The U.S. announces the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian as Houthi attacks have ground international shipping transiting the Red Sea through the Suez Canal to a halt as multiple shippers are now bypassing the dangerous waterway. It is unclear if the operation will be offensive or defensive in nature.
A Norwegian tanker was hit with a cruise missile, while a French warship shot down two drones that “came straight at” it. The Houthis have vowed to continue to attack all international ships that enter or leave Israeli ports.
The attack is the latest by the Houthis against international shipping and U.S. Navy warships. The U.S. military has yet to respond to repeated attacks on U.S. warships and commercial vessels.
The anti-ship ballistic missiles, which were fired by the Houthis after a U.S. warship foiled a hijacking in the Gulf of Aden, missed their mark. The U.S. military has not responded to the attack.
The the U.S. military accused Iran of directly carrying out attacks on U.S. forces. “close-range ballistic missiles” were used in a recent attack against U.S. forces.
Unlike three previous strikes by the U.S. military which were intended to deter the militias from attacking U.S. forces, today’s strike targeted a Hezbollah Brigades team that had targeted a U.S. base in western Iraq.
Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada is led by Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, who is directly responsible for the formation of the Shia terror groups in Iraq and the killing of American soldiers. An IRGC agent was also listed in the designation of Hezbollah Brigades leaders.
The U.S. attack is thought to have killed a handful of Iranian proxy militiamen. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did not mention deterrence or a desire to deescalate this time around.
The Biden administration’s Oct. 27 attempt to deter Iran and its proxies from further strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria has failed, as the militias launched an additional 21 attacks since that date.
Iran’s militias in Iraq and Syria have launched at least 24 strikes, primarily with drones, rockets, and mortars on U.S. military bases since Oct. 17. Five of the attacks took place after the U.S. military struck IRGC weapons depots in Syria in a failed effort to reestablish deterrence.
The war goes on; rockets are still raining down on central Israel (including Jerusalem) while Israel continues targeting Hamas leaders in Gaza. But…
Breaking today and over the weekend:
Israeli boots are now on the ground inside Gaza. There was also some IDF activity in Jenin inside the West Bank.
Iran’s President Raisi gaslit said on X that, “the Zionist regime’s crimes have crossed the red lines which may force everyone to take action.”
While Lebanese Hezbollah is still keeping things at a simmer just below the threshold of all-out war, other Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria are very much in the game. Some are even firing at U.S. forces in the region.
Bill and Joe are joined again by FDD’s Behnam Ben Taleblu to unpack these and related headlines.
In response to a spate of attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militias, the U.S. military struck two IRGC weapons storage sites in Syria. After years of largely ignoring these strikes, the Biden administration wants to deter the militias from future assaults. It may be too late.
The Hezbollah Brigades have now joined other Iranian proxies and sponsored groups in issuing threats against the United States over the ongoing war in Israel.
The raid is the latest against the Islamic State’s network in Iraq and Syria, which has been weakened since it lost its physical caliphate in 2019 but continues to persist.
Another caliph is dead. A new one, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, has been appointed.
Musa Ali Daqduq, a Hezbollah military commander and Specially Designated Global Terrorist, is training the “Golan Unit” to attack American troops operating in Syria.
Sami al-Uraydi, a Jordanian national and senior leader within al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has been designated.
Iran-backed groups launch rocket and drone strikes against U.S. bases in eastern Syria.
Hezbollah announced that a fighter belonging to the group died while performing his jihadi duty.
The U.S. military has targeted the Islamic State’s top tier leadership cadre with raids and strikes at least five times since the beginning of the summer of 2022.
The Islamic State announced the death of its emir, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, and has chosen a new leader, an individual identified only as Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi.
Israel’s defense minister revealed Syrian military used to manufacture advanced arms for Tehran.
You guessed it. Our guest is, indeed, Caleb Weiss. This time, he and Bill discuss how (and which) prison breaks fit into the larger strategy of various Jihadi groups — and why some don’t bother.
Mostafa Mahdovinejad, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed on Tuesday under unknown circumstances.
Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, a senior leader and military commander in the Al Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Din, was the target of the strike. CENTCOM claims he was killed, but al Yemeni was also reported killed in a U.S. strike in Sept. 2021.
Bill Roggio is joined by Edmund Fitton-Brown, Coordinator of the United Nations Security Council Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, to discuss the findings from his team’s latest report on the statuses of ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Yesterday, the U.S. conducted a raid in Syria that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. Host Bill Roggio is joined by Craig Whiteside to unpack the raid and discuss what might happen next within ISIS — including what Qurayshi’s succession might look like. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around […]
Islamic State emir Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi died during a daring overnight raid conducted by U.S. special operations forces in Idlib province in northeastern Syria, ending a two-year hunt for the group’s leader. His demise does not mean the end of the Islamic State is at hand.
On Feb. 2, Bill Roggio testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security at a hearing titled, “The Dynamic Terrorism Landscape and What It Means for America.” His testimony focused on the state of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Pakistan, and the growing threat of global jihadism.
Hurras al Din, an al Qaeda group in Syria, has claimed responsibility for a bus explosion in Damascus. The Syrian state-controlled media says the explosion was caused by a “short circuit” near the bus’s fuel tank.