Israeli warplanes struck a target near the Syrian port city of Latakia Thursday night according to senior Obama administration officials.
The target was a missile storage site. Middle eastern press outlets reported the explosions but the Israeli government has not confirmed they were responsible for the attack.
Israel had long said that they would take any step to stop Syria from providing weapons to Hezbollah or any other group designated as terrorists. The Israeli government has also said they would stop weapons that could be used to attack Israel from being taken into Lebanon.
Terrorist group Hezbollah has entered the Syrian civil war backing up the government forces of Bashir al-Assad. The attack is not the first time Israel has attacked weapons believed to be designated for Hezbollah. Israeli forces attacked a convoy in January transporting weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
Human Rights Watch is reporting that the Syrian military has been firing missiles into civilian populated areas in an attempt to root out rebel forces.
The U.S. based HRW has investigated nine missile attacks that killed at least 215 people, half of the dead children, between February and July. Continue reading →
Lebanese media is reporting that a rocket launched toward Israel from a town near the Israeli border.
Residents of Marjayoun, 6 miles from the border, said they could hear the rocket being launched according to the National News Agency. Residents of the northern Israeli town of Metula contacted the military reporting the sound of an explosion. Continue reading →
Iranian media was bragging about their nation’s fielding of a “massive” number of new long-range missile launchers. The weapons systems would be able to reach inside Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East. Continue reading →
North Korea conducted a missile test over the weekend in another attempt to show defiance to the world’s sanctions.
A short-range guided missile was fired into the water off the eastern coast Sunday and three short-range missiles were fired in a test on Saturday. South Korea called the acts “provocations” but noted that no North Korea troops were moving toward the border. Continue reading →
North Korea has quietly removed two medium-range missile from their eastern coastline. U.S. officials state that this is possibly a sign of weakening hostility on the Korean peninsula despite no official word from Pyongyang that North Korea was lowering its military posture.
The missiles had been put in place to back up dictator Kim Jong-un’s declarations that North Korea would bomb South Korea, Japan or the United States because of United Nations sanctions placed after the North’s third nuclear bomb test. The North was also angry about joint South Korea/United States military drills despite the fact the drills happen every year. Continue reading →
Syrian government forces are continuing to use ballistic missiles against rebel forces and civilian neighborhoods suspected of housing rebels.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the latest round of attacks the “act of a desperate regime nearing collapse.” Continue reading →
The UN Security Council has condemned a North Korean launch of a Unha-3 rocket. The Council’s president called the action “a clear violation of Security Council resolutions.” The United States said that North Korea will face consequences for the launch. Continue reading →
