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Israeli planes bomb southern Lebanon after radio blasts

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By Walid Saleh and James Mackenzie

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel bombed southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it had thwarted an Iranian-led assassination plot, a day after explosions of Hezbollah radios that came on the heels of blasts in booby trapped pagers, setting the foes hurtling towards war.

The sophisticated attacks on armed group Hezbollah’s communications equipment, which killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000 over two days, sowed disarray in Lebanon, with panicked residents abandoning their mobile phones.

“This isn’t a small matter, it’s war. Who can even secure their phone now? When I heard about what happened yesterday, I left my phone on my motorcycle and walked away,” said Mustafa Sibal on a street near central Beirut.

A distant roar in the skies could be heard in Beirut from what Lebanese state media said was Israeli jets breaking the sound barrier – a sound that has grown increasingly common in recent months.

Israel said its warplanes struck villages in southern Lebanon overnight, and a security source and Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV reported airstrikes near the border resumed on Thursday just after midday.

Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon’s south. The Lebanese health minister raised the death toll, saying 25 people had been killed and 608 injured in the country’s deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel in parallel with the Gaza war last year.

The previous day, hundreds of pagers – used by Hezbollah to evade mobile phone surveillance – exploded at once, killing 12 people including two children, and injuring more than 2,300.

In a post on X, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the United Nations Security Council to take a firm stand to stop Israel’s “aggression” and “technological war” against his country.

Israel has not commented directly on the booby-trapped walkie-talkies and pagers, but multiple security sources have said the attacks were carried out by its spy agency Mossad.

Israel says its conflict with Hezbollah, like its war in Gaza against Palestinian militant group Hamas, is part of a wider regional confrontation with Iran, which sponsors both groups as well as armed movements in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

On Thursday Israeli security forces announced that an Israeli businessman had been arrested last month after attending at least two meetings in Iran, where he discussed assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister or the head of the Shin Bet spy agency.

Last week, Shin Bet uncovered what it said was a plot by Hezbollah to assassinate former Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

Israel has been accused of assassinations including a blast in Tehran that killed the leader of Hamas and another in a Beirut suburb that killed a senior Hezbollah commander within hours of each other in July.

Despite the events of the past few days, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon said the situation along the frontier had “not changed much in terms of exchanges of fire between the parties”.

“There was an intensification last week. This week it is more or less the same. There are still exchanges of fire. It is still worrying, still concerning, and the rhetoric is high,” the spokesperson, Andrea Tenenti, told Reuters.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the Israeli-Lebanon border in parallel with the war Israel has waged in Gaza against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group whose fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the Israel-Lebanon border area on both sides. Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return the evacuated Israelis “securely to their homes”.

SHIFTING FOCUS

The Israeli military said its overnight air strikes hit Hezbollah targets in Chihine, Tayibe, Blida, Meiss El Jabal, Aitaroun and Kfarkela in southern Lebanon, as well as a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Khiam.

Israeli media reported that a number of Israeli civilians had been wounded by anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon, but there was no official confirmation.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the war was moving into a new phase, with more resources and military units now being shifted to the northern border.

According to Israeli officials, the forces being deployed there include the 98th Division, an elite formation including commando and paratroop elements that has been fighting in Gaza.

Hezbollah launched missile barrages on Israel on the day after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, and since then there has been a constant exchange of fire that neither side has allowed to escalate into a full-scale war.

However, tens of thousands have been evacuated on both sides of the border, and there has been mounting pressure in Israel for the government to get the evacuees back home.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Walid Saleh in BeirutWriting by Michael GeorgyEditing by Peter Graff)

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Uromi killings: Defence Headquarters gives progress report

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The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has confirmed that the political leaders from Edo and Kano states have ended the tension that emerged following the recent killings in Uromi, Edo State.

Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, stated on Thursday that both state governments have taken steps to address the issue. He noted that the Edo State leadership had visited Kano to engage with the affected families.

“So at the political level, everything has been resolved. I don’t think there is going to be any issue. Anybody or group causing apprehension or threats, if security agencies are aware, will be investigated,” Kangye said.

On the issue of herdsmen attacks in various parts of the country, including the FCT, Enugu, Benue, Ondo, Zamfara, and Cross River states, Kangye rejected claims that the military had relaxed its efforts.

“The military has not abandoned the war against violent herdsmen, terrorists, and bandits. We have neutralized many of them, and we are continuing the onslaught to get rid of them and their leaders,” he said.

Addressing speculations that Niger Republic may have withdrawn from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Kangye dismissed the reports as unverified.

“MNJTF was established by countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to tackle the myriads of cross-border movement of terrorists and other criminals because what happens in one country affects the others. But if by chance, any of the countries pull out for any reason, it will have implications for others because the synergy of efforts will no longer be there. So efforts must be sustained to make sure this synergy is sustained in the Lake Chad Basin Commission countries,” he explained.

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Human Rights Activist Omoyele Sowore Slams DSS Over Priorities

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Renowned human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has criticized the Department of State Services (DSS) for its alleged selective enforcement of the law. Sowore questioned the DSS’s priorities, asking why they swiftly arrest individuals who plan protests or criticize the President, while failing to apprehend terrorists transporting guns from the North to the South.

Sowore’s comments come amid the ongoing crisis in Uromi, Edo State.

His statement highlights the perceived double standard in the DSS’s approach to maintaining national security.

This is not Sowore’s first encounter with the DSS. In 2019, he was arrested and detained for calling for a peaceful revolution. The charges against him were eventually struck out in February 2024, after a lengthy court battle.

https://x.com/nigeriainfofm/status/1907775497422954959?s=46

 

Sowore’s criticism of the DSS has sparked a conversation about the agency’s role in maintaining national security, while also respecting human rights and upholding the rule of law.

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Police arrest pastor for alleged h0mosexuality in Port Harcourt

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Rivers State Police have arrested Elijah, a cleric and General Overseer of a Port Harcourt church, over alleged homosexuality.

His arrest follows a leaked video showing him in a compromising situation.

According to the police, he has been charged to court.

 

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