A Boston Globe report said said the undervover teams are searching for Iraqi Scud missile launchers, monitoring oil fields and marking mine-fields.
The crew of an Iraqi cargo vessel were denied permission to disembark at Karwar port in Karnataka by the coastal security authorities as per special instructions given by the central government "after the Pakistan incident", Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Friday.
US President Barack Obama has decided to send 300 additional American Special Operations troops to assist in Iraq's fight against the advancing Sunni, Al Qaeda-inspired extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has captured several cities and has its sights set on Baghdad.
President Barack Obama has authorised deployment of less than 50 special operations forces in northern Syria to counter the IS, a senior official in Washington said on Friday, expanding the US' involvement in the fight against the dreaded group from the air to the ground.
...reopen for up to six months. Until then, the Strait stays nearly closed. The world pays. And no one, including the man who started this, can say when it ends, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
'Mojtaba Khamenei supervised the most recent repression in December 2025 and January 2026 which remains ongoing.'
The battle for Mosul, where the self-declared caliph of IS is believed to be hiding, is likely to end in a decisive defeat for the terrorist group, the Independent reported.
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
An influential US lawmaker claims his visit to India helped catalyze "early signals" that New Delhi may reduce its imports of Russian oil, a step he described as "meaningful" in weakening Moscow's ability to fund its war in Ukraine.
Uttar Pradesh's leading export hubs are reeling under the impact of a steep 50 per cent tariff imposed by the US on Indian imports, with exporters warning of job losses, stalled orders and shrinking market access. Industry leaders from Noida, Kanpur and Varanasi said the tariff has put years of painstaking market-building at risk, even as protests and demonstrations erupted in several districts last week.
As the Iraqi and American forces enter the final stages of the fight to take back Mosul from the Islamic State, 1 million people are expected to become refugees. This is what a modern-day mass exodus looks like.
Lt Gen Ghai said as for the process of documenting these weapons and informing those who need to know about them, "that is definitely continuing, and I can definitely authenticate that".
Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts blew themselves up in the middle of a group of 500 special forces policemen protesting the disbanding of their unit.
The frequent use of these assault rifles by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, according to experts, is a consequence of the US Army leaving behind arms and ammunition while pulling out from Afghanistan in 2021 and is a cause of concern due to the more lethal nature of the steel bullets used.
The best in international photojournalism was recently announced by World Press Photo's Annual Photo Contest. Despite fierce competition, the jury was forced to select just a handful of images from more than 73,044 photos by 4,548 photographers across 125 different countries. This year's grand prize was awarded to Venezuelan photographer Ronaldo Schemidt, earning him the title of Press Photographer of the Year. Here are some of the winners.
The US has deployed its elite counter-terrorism unit Delta Force for covert operations in Iraq to capture or kill high-ranking Islamic State operatives and gather intelligence, according to a media report.
In a major departure from its long-standing policy of not exporting arms to a conflict region, Germany on Wednesday decided to supply weapons to Kurdish forces battling the "barbaric" Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants in northern Iraq.
Ranveer Singh made his fans proud as he received a special honour at the Red Sea Film Festival 2023.
Commissioner of Police R P Sharma said they had come to stay in the hotel at about 9 pm on Monday but fled when they were asked to produce identity proof before being given rooms.
The winners of the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest have been announced. The winning shot was taken by Turkish Associated Press photographer called Burhan Ozbilici, with an image he has simply titled An Assassination in Turkey. Showing Mevlut Mert Altintas shouting after shooting Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey, on December 19 2016.
The Islamic State terror group plans to seize Iran's nuclear secrets, unleash a vicious campaign of ethnic cleansing and Nazi-style eugenics to consolidate and expand its self-declared caliphate, according to a seized policy manifesto of the dreaded outfit.
As they capture back Mosul from Islamic State, Iraqi and American forces discover an underground train tunnel that was turned into an assault course by IS for its elite fighters.
Here is a glimpse into US soldiers' life battling against IS.
Rediff.com lists a few other dramatic and frightful hostage situations that sent governments and security agencies into a tizzy.
US Special Forces have moved into Syria's Raqqa area and taking the fight to the terror group.
Bomb explosions and clashes between rebels and Iraqi forces and US troops have left 23 dead.
Obama asks Congress to grant war powers; vows defeat of Islamic State.
A demon-hunting spirit takes possession of a frail teenager, an up, close and portentous encounter in the cocaine trade, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri's Neelam connection, a 21-year-old Kurdish cop understanding the mechanics of war, Gena Rowlands setting the benchmark for badassery -- Sukanya Verma brings all this and more on the OTT scene this week.
'It did not vote against America, or for Russia.' 'If we had voted for the American motion, it would have spoilt our relationship with Russia without any change in Russia's behaviour.'
The advance of the Al-Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and its allies towards Baghdad appears to have been "stalled" but the "grave" situation in Iraq needs to be dealt with militarily as well as politically, a top UN official has said.
'The bigger challenge and dilemma for Pakistan would be if the US and Saudi Arabia go full throttle against Iran and enforce regime change in Tehran.' 'That would be bad news for Pakistan, especially with the current instability in Balochistan,' notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim on Wednesday said international monitors could observe the proceedings.
After being alerted by Odisha, its Andhra Pradesh counterpart intercepted a vehicle with Delhi registration number and nabbed the five persons, including two women.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has formally nominated James Mattis, a retired 4-star Marine Corps general who has long voiced concerns about the threat posed by Iran, as the Defence Secretary to replace Ashton Carter.
'Large-impact aerial weapons have no use against dictator regimes or terrorist entities,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
Al-Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which has carved out a large fiefdom along the Iraqi-Syrian border, poses a "legitimate threat" to the capital city of Baghdad, a top Pentagon official has said.
