Deadly church bombing reignites Christians' fears in post-Assad Syria
BEIRUT — A deadly suicide bombing at a church outside Damascus, which Syrian authorities have blamed on the Islamic State, has revived worries that extremists might exploit Syria's fragile peace as its six-month-old government tries to keep a lid on bubbling sectarian violence across the country after the brutal Assad regime.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
17 minutes ago
- Fox News
Experts gauge success of 'bunker buster' bombs dropped by US on Iran nuclear sites
While President Donald Trump has asserted that the military's weekend strike against Iran "completely and totally obliterated" its nuclear weapon-making capabilities, there are still questions about whether the ground-penetrating "bunker buster" bombs used to attack Iran's key enrichment sites were enough to stop the rogue country from developing a nuclear bomb. A report released last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) explains that the special "bunker buster" bombs the U.S. used in Iran over the weekend that everyone is talking about, known as GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, or MOPs, might not be able to fully destroy the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow. Fordow, which Trump said was "gone" now following the strike, is considered central to Iran's nuclear weapon-making capabilities. Meanwhile, a satellite imagery expert relayed to Reuters that confirmation of below-ground destruction could not be determined via pictures alone, because the facility's hundreds of centrifuges are too deeply buried in order to make an accurate determination. "I actually have a little bit of a rosier view on things," Andrea Stricker, Deputy Director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program, told Fox News Digital. "I think that because of the massive damage and the shock wave that would have been sent by 12 Massive Ordnance Penetrators at the Fordow site, that it likely would render its centrifuges damaged or inoperable." Stricker noted that centrifuges are "very delicate" and the kind of shock wave coming from the MOPs would at least put them "out of commission." She also said if any centrifuges did survive the blasts, it would be likely that they would be inaccessible by Iranian authorities for several months. "Underground facilities present a difficult target, not only for destruction, but also in terms of follow-on battle damage assessment," added Wes Rumbaugh, a fellow in the Missile Defense Project at CSIS. "The United States and Israel will likely need to invest additional intelligence resources to determine the true extent of the damage from the U.S. strikes and their long-term effect on Iranian nuclear infrastructure." In addition to Fordow, the U.S. used its MOPs at an Iranian enrichment facility called Natanz, where, according to Stricker, at least 1,000 centrifuges are located, as well as an above-ground enrichment plant and other labs capable of making uranium metal. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the above-ground labs had previously been damaged by Israeli airstrikes, destroying the plant's electrical infrastructure. Meanwhile, satellite imagery following the U.S.'s decision to drop two MOPs on Natanz show two craters located where the site's underground enrichment facilities are reportedly located. However, it is still not clear if the U.S. attacks completely destroyed the underground nuclear infrastructure. Either way, Striker noted, the significant damage to Iran's Natanz facility will create a "bottleneck" in the country's supply chain for weapons-grade uranium, which will significantly impact Iran's nuclear weapon-making capabilities. The third site targeted by the U.S.'s airstrikes was Iran's Isfahan nuclear enrichment facility, but MOPs were not used at that site. Instead, the U.S. used Tomahawk cruise missiles, which the IAEA confirmed caused significant damage. Satellite imagery reportedly shows Isfahan's above-ground facilities were taken out, but it remains unclear the extent of the damage to the site's underground sections. One of the biggest outstanding questions regarding the success of the United States' weekend strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, is whether authorities in the country were able to move their nuclear materials from the targeted sites before the U.S. launched its missiles at them. But, according to CSIS's Bumbaugh, even if that is the case and Iran moved their nuclear materials, the chaos would still make it hard for Iran to "sprint to a nuclear weapon." "Having to move these assets to new facilities likely degrades Iran's immediate ability to sprint to a nuclear weapon but makes it likely that Iran will go to great lengths to conceal their new location," Bumbaugh said. "This movement of nuclear infrastructure or material would make follow-on strikes difficult if intelligence is unable to find all of the new hidden facilities." "There's a lot of alarmism right now about whether Iran could sprint to a bomb," Stricker added. "Israel has done so much damage to their ability to make nuclear weapons [and] the weaponization supply chain. So the facilities, the components that [Iran] would need, the equipment, and then up to 14 nuclear scientists, I think, if they did want to build a bomb quickly, they're really stymieing – they don't have access to all of all that, all of those assets they would need. And so, I think in the short to medium term, we don't need to be overly concerned that they could get there." Fox News Digital reached out to both the Pentagon and the Air Force to glean more details about the success of the weekend strike on Iran, but no new information was gleaned. An Air Force spokesperson did confirm to Fox News Digital that, in total, U.S. forces deployed 75 "precision guided weapons" targeting Iran over the weekend, including 14 30,000 pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators. On Monday, Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, appealed for immediate access to the targeted Iranian nuclear sites in order to assess the damage that is likely "significant," according to the United Nations.
Fox News
17 minutes ago
- Fox News
Biden's Middle East coordinator praises Trump team for handling of Iranian conflict: 'Best place we can be'
The U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities Saturday have rendered ideal results for addressing the crisis between Iran and Israel, according to former President Joe Biden's National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. "Bottom line, this is about the best place we can be," Brett McGurk said in a CNN interview late Monday. "I give extremely high marks to this national security team and President Trump for managing this crisis and getting where we are." Additionally, McGurk said that the Trump administration has an opportunity to pursue a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza amid ongoing attempts for months to secure one. "There's a chance for diplomacy here," McGurk said. "Not only on the Iran side, but also in Gaza. Those talks are also going on back channel in Cairo; there's a Hamas delegation there. Try to get that ceasefire in place. And you can come out of this in a place that is far better than we would have anticipated 10 nights ago." While McGurk most recently served in the Biden administration, he's been part of both Republican and Democrat administrations. He previously served on former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama's National Security Councils. He also served as the special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during both the Obama administration and President Donald Trump's first term. However, he resigned from that post in 2018 following Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, along with then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis for the same reason. In addition to McGurk, other officials who served in Democratic administrations also weighed in to support Trump's handling of the Iran conflict, including Jamie Metzl, who previously served as former President Bill Clinton's director for multilateral affairs on the National Security Council. Metzl said that while he's been critical of Trump and voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, he doesn't believe Harris could have pulled off the strikes against Iranian targets like Trump did. "Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years," Metzl said in a post on X Sunday. "Its regime has murdered thousands of American citizens. Its slogan 'death to America' was not window dressing but core ideology. It was racing toward a nuclear weapon with every intention of using it to threaten America, our allies, and the Middle East region as a whole." "Although I believe electing Kamala Harris would have been better for our democracy, society, and economy, as well as for helping the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world, I also believe VP Harris would not have had the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took last night," Metzl said. The U.S. launched strikes late Saturday targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. The mission involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, including B-2 stealth bombers, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. While Trump said early Tuesday that a ceasefire had gone into effect between Israel and Iran, Trump issued tough words for both countries later Tuesday morning amid accusations from both sides that the other had violated the agreement. Trump told reporters both Israel and Iran failed to follow the terms of the agreement, which he said is still in effect. "I'm not happy with them," Trump said at the White House Tuesday morning. 'I'm not happy with Iran either, but I'm really unhappy with Israel going out this morning." "We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f--- they're doing," he said.
Wall Street Journal
23 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Israel-Iran Cease-Fire Live: Trump Wants End to ‘12 Day War'
President Trump responded with anger when there was continued fire between Israel and Iran after a U.S.-brokered cease-fire went into effect. But in subsequent hours, there were initial signs that the cease-fire might be holding. Israel said on Tuesday that it was lifting nearly all wartime restrictions on civilian movement and economic activity, and the Israeli airport authority said Ben Gurion and Haifa airports are returning to full activity. Israel had earlier Tuesday confirmed the cease-fire, saying it had achieved its war aims having removed a 'dual existential threat' from Iran's nuclear and ballistic-missile programs. Iran's foreign minister had said his country would stop its attacks as long as Israel did. Trump also made clear the U.S. wasn't seeking a regime change in Iran. Trump announced the cease-fire on social media Monday evening, hours after Iran launched missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar in a telegraphed attack that caused no injuries or deaths. Trump said the early notice and lack of casualties left the door open for an end to the fighting. What else to know: Trump said the deal was brokered after both sides had come to him "almost simultaneously." Qatar played a role. None of the parties to the cease-fire has revealed the terms of the deal. The chief of staff of Israel's military said it is shifting its focus back to Gaza from its airborne operations against Iran. U.S. forces intercepted at least five one-way attack drones launched against their bases beside Baghdad airport and in western Iraq, a U.S. official said. Oil prices extended their slide.
