Two drones fell in Khurmala oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan, counter-terrorism service says
Khurmala oilfield is located near the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil.
The Iraqi Security Media Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said in a statement that no casualties were reported and only material damage was recorded.
An investigation into the incident was launched in coordination with security forces in Kurdistan, it added.
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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
The corner of Nigeria enforcing ‘sit-at-home strikes' with deadly effect
Emeka was on the way to open his shop when he heard the first gunshots. He started running for his life and just yards away, saw someone hit by a bullet then drop to the floor with a thud. He didn't stop running, knowing that if he did, he'd be the next victim. That was four years ago – and the torment has never ended for Emeka and his neighbours. For every Monday, those living across Nigeria's south-east are subjected to 'sit-at-home strikes' during which they are not allowed to leave their homes under the orders of banned separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob). Banks are shut, schools are closed, shopkeepers stay at home and residents stay off the streets. If they defy the orders, they will beaten or shot dead on the street, with their cars set on fire – sometimes with them still inside. 'They use Mondays to terrorise people in the name of fighting for Biafra. They kill innocent people [and] burn motors that refuse to sit at home,' Emeka, who declined to give his real name for fear of reprisals, told The Telegraph. 'Seriously, things are not going well.' Monday used to be the busiest day of the week for Emeka's chemist shop in the southern city of Aba. Now business grinds to a halt. His shop and the stalls across Ariaria market – one of the largest in West Africa – are deserted and the city is left as a ghost town. The Ipob, labelled a terrorist organisation by Nigerian authorities, launched the weekly sit-at-home protest in August 2021 across the five states of Nigeria's south-east, which is predominantly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group. Their aim was to pressure the government into releasing Nnamdi Kanu, the group's leader. The group has since said they have called off the strikes, claiming they have been hijacked by criminal groups. The disruption has now dragged on for four years. At least 700 people have been killed and the local economy has been blighted by the carnage, with losses surpassing 7.6 trillion naira (£3.7bn). Among the dead are civilians punished for defying the weekly order, as well as those who have died amid clashes between the separatists and Nigerian security forces, according to SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based research firm. Ikemesit Effiong, a partner at SBM, said the strike had created a 'climate of fear and economic paralysis' in the region. Ipob have subjected locals to arson, looting and targeted assassinations, the firm said. The violence and economic blight are driving people away from what has traditionally been one of Nigeria's commercial hotspots. Ngozi left her village in Imo state for Lagos with her husband and children because of what she said were relentless assaults against people not complying with the protest. She said: 'You almost cannot see any young person in my community now, everybody left. If you speak about them, they will come and burn your house and kill everybody they can find.' One trader who sells plastic ware in the city of Onitsha, who only gave her name as Janet, said: 'I am not in support of Biafra or Nigeria but since we cannot go to work, I just stay at home with my family to be safe.' Mazi Austin Agbanyim, Ipob's Europe representative, confirmed the group had started the stay-at-home protest to demand the release of Mr Kanu, who was arrested in Kenya in 2021. Mr Kanu is a British dual national who has championed Biafran independence for years and formerly ran a campaigning radio station from his flat in Peckham, South London. Biafra briefly seceded from Nigeria in the late 1960s, prompting civil war and the deaths of at least a million people, before the breakaway was blockaded and starved into surrender. After his arrest in Kenya he was taken back to Nigeria where he has been held ever since and faces terrorism charges. Ipob claims it has since called off the protests and they are not responsible for the deaths of civilians, arguing instead that they have been 'hijacked by criminal imposters'. Mr Agbanyim told The Telegraph: 'They were paid by the enemies of Biafra freedom to infiltrate our movement, criminalise it, and cause division. They did so by illegally enforcing sit-at-home on Mondays and killing those who dare violate their orders.' Analysts say the situation has been further confused by other armed groups claiming allegiance to Ipob and factions within the group persisting in enforcing the protest. Criminal gangs are also thought to have latched on to the chaos. Polling shows that any support for the protest has plummeted as the years have dragged on. Despite Ipob's attempts to disassociate itself from the region's violence, Nigerian police have accused the group of involvement in several incidents, including a 2021 attack on a prison and the murder of over 30 travellers earlier this month. The Ipob denied responsibility for those two attacks. Nigeria's federal high court in Abuja last week said it would rule on Oct 10 whether to free Mr Kanu. Back in Aba, Emeka is convinced that a release would ease the situation, though he is not sure which way the court will go. He said: 'I just wish one day it will end.'
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
I was CO of the SAS. Here are four words our Special Forces need to hear from the PM
With war in Europe and new threats to this country around every corner, from autocratic tyrants like Putin, jihadists and deranged activists, we should be supporting and encouraging those who keep us safe not seeking new legal ways to artificially transform their past acts of military necessity into alleged human rights violations. The US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke recently at the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) week outlining his nation's rock-solid support and admiration for those conducting complex counter-terrorist operations alongside their many allies, including the UK. For emphasis, and in recognition of the new threat of state-sponsored 'lawfare' against these guardians of our collective security, he passed on a personal note to their commander from President Trump which simply stated: 'I have your back'. This is exactly the unequivocal message our protectors need to hear as they advance towards a suspected suicide-capable terrorist hiding within a civilian population, without the blessing of perfect intelligence, time and resources. Contrast this to the way that our own leaders – political and military – stand silent as our own Special Forces are pursued by a toxic combination of creative journalists and lawyers, each keen to prove that historical state-directed operations in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan were done in ways that should now be presented to the Crown Prosecution Service. This in many cases not due to any new evidence, incidentally – that would be reasonable – but simply because of a crafty interpretation of international laws created far from our sovereign legislature and sponsored by those that have no respect for either the realities of close quarter combat, or our need to defend ourselves. To the general dismay of potential volunteers to our armed forces and of our American allies, our public or parliamentary debate seems to dismiss the blood-stained experience of veterans as unreasonable or even fanciful. Self-effacing descriptions of the realities of combat are dismissed as mere cartoon stories and trumped by the creative opinions of human rights lawyers who seem to value the lives of our enemies ahead of those of our soldiers sent to defeat them. Energetic, combative and very well paid, these legal professionals demonstrate great skill at retrospectively transforming descriptions of close quarter combat into revisionist suggestions of human rights violations and even war crimes. No wonder recruiting numbers are falling or that our soldiers start to hesitate, fearing the long-term legal consequences of taking decisive action in a combat situation. To the many practitioners within the vital transatlantic counter-terrorism alliance it appears that the UK's application of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to the British way of war is starting to critically restrict its ability to stop terrorists and other bad actors from attacking our citizens or those of our allies. Can these staunch allies of ours still rely on the UK to deal with these common threats or are we becoming that type of fearful partner that simply prefers others to do the dirty work? To them, have we become nothing but a soft, compromised underbelly to be watched rather than the respected, self-sufficient bastion of old; a vulnerability rather than a strongpoint? Have we become a risky partner in sensitive operations, whose participation in joint operations carries the risk of inviting follow-on lawfare back into the courtrooms of our allies, even the USA? Such are the whispered and worried questions being asked in the global targeting rooms when considering UK potential contributions to today's fight. In the confusing and murky world of counter-terrorism where threats fade in and out of view in an instant, hesitation always leads to failure and death. This is a brutal reality known to both enemies and allies alike; exploited by the former, feared by the latter. There are never any second chances, and this is no place for unreliable, indecisive or gun-shy allies. Recognising this, let us hope that our own national leaders can offer the same reassuring support to our forces as shown by the US President in that simple but powerful promise to his team: 'I have your back'. For without it, they risk allowing the effect of this escalating lawfare to weaken the hand and confidence of our very special guardians just when we need them the most.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine's city of Dnipro, governor says
KYIV, July 26 (Reuters) - Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles in an overnight attack that killed three people in Ukraine's Dnipro and the nearby region on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow's troops launched 235 drones and 27 missiles, damaging residential and commercial buildings and causing fires, the Ukrainian Air Force said. It said in a statement that 10 missiles and 25 attack drones hit nine sites. The rest of the drones and missiles were brought down, the Air Force said. "A terrible night. A massive combined attack on the region," Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram app. He said three people were killed in the attacks and six others wounded in the city of Dnipro and the nearby region. Lysak posted pictures showing firefighters battling fires, a residential building with smashed windows, and charred cars. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed retaliatory strikes. "Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airports should feel that Russia's own war is now hitting them back with real consequences," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app. Ukraine's attacks on Russia have heated up in recent months, with Moscow and Kyiv exchanging swarms of drones and fierce fighting raging along more than 1,000 kilometres of the frontline.
