Latest news with #rocketattack

The National
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Iranian Foreign Minister to meet European officials in Geneva on Friday
Iran-EU talks in Geneva to take place on Friday Major Iranian rocket attack hits Israel's central and southern areas Iran will pay 'full price' after hospital strike, Netanyahu says Israel warns Iranians to leave area near Arak heavy water reactor Trump considers joining as Israel-Iran war enters seventh day Iran offline for more than 12 hours, monitor says In pictures: Israel-Iran conflict


The Sun
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Iran in ‘direct hit' on Israel hospital & Tehran reactor blitzed as Trump ‘approves strike & could join war in DAYS'
Iran blows up Israeli school buses in horror strike This is the chilling aftermath of a huge ballistic rocket blast by Iran which blew up a line of Israeli school buses. A 30-foot crater sat just yards from the charred hulk of the bus laid bare the destructive power of the Iranian missiles terrorising Israel since Friday. The rocket was fired more than 1,000 miles and armed with a tonne of explosives. It narrowly missed dozens of homes before thundering into a bus depot site. Locals cowering in shelters nearby felt the earth move as the blast delivered a fireball coupled with a shrapnel shockwave which wiped out ten buses at 8.48am on Tuesday.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia used Grad rocket artillery in deadly Sumy attack on 3 June
Russian forces used a 122 mm BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket system, with a range of up to 40 km, to strike the city of Sumy on 3 June. Source: Ukrainska Pravda article: Are you advancing on Tyotkino? We're tripping over the same mistake: What's happening in Sumy as Russian forces push forward (English translation coming soon) Details: On the morning of 3 June, Russian forces attacked cars at traffic lights in central Sumy, killing three people. Three others – a 17-year-old, an 86-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man – died in hospital. The man's 7-year-old daughter, Masha, was transferred to Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv with shrapnel in her lungs. Local media, Sumy Oblast Military Administration and later President Volodymyr Zelenskyy initially reported that the Russians likely fired on the city with long-range rocket artillery. On social media, Sumy residents and journalists speculated it could have been a Russian Tornado MLRS, with a range of 120 km, suggesting no new threat to the city had emerged and urging calm. However, Ukrainska Pravda reports this is likely incorrect. Our sources in a law enforcement agency, later confirmed by the Office of the Prosecutor General, indicate the attack involved a BM-21 Grad, with a range of 20-40 kilometres. Russian forces used 122 mm extended-range 9M521 rockets in the city centre. These highly-explosive fragmentation rockets are designed for use against infantry, unarmoured, or lightly armoured vehicles. Fired from Grad or the upgraded Tornado-G systems, a single salvo can launch up to 40 rockets, each containing around 1,000 fragments. The maximum range is 40 km. BM-21 Grad MLRS Stock photo: Russian webpages Sources in law enforcement told Ukrainska Pravda that the Grad strike had been launched from Russian territory, confirming no heavy equipment, artillery, or MLRS is present in Russian-occupied villages in Sumy Oblast. Measuring 30-40 kilometres from the strike point in Sumy, the Grad system was likely positioned in Russian villages such as Sinyak, Kulbaki, or Novoivanovka to the north, or Guevo or Gornali to the east. Where could the Russian BM-21 Grad that attacked Sumy on 3 June 2025 have been located? Source: Ukrainska Pravda; DeepStateMap, an interactive map of hostilities in Ukraine Quote: "What are we saying here? The Russians managed to position a Grad system near the border and open fire, while Ukrainian units failed to detect or neutralise it. This represents a new level of risk for Sumy." More details: Nevertheless, the rocket artillery strikes on Sumy have not yet become widespread, suggesting the 3 June attack may have been an attempt to intimidate civilians and pressure Ukraine into negotiation compromises. The implication appears to be: "We're hitting Sumy with MLRS; you risk losing more if you don't meet our terms." However, even Russia's most severe attacks on Sumy, Kyiv, or other cities have not shifted Ukraine's resolve. They only strengthen Ukrainians' determination to defend their cities. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!


The National
04-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Hezbollah splinter group in Syria risks confrontation with Israel after rare rocket attack
A small group in southern Syria that once formed part of a Hezbollah network is suspected of carrying out an overnight rocket attack on an Israeli-occupied area in the Golan Heights, sources said on Wednesday as Syrian authorities denied Israeli claims that Damascus was responsible. The two rockets hit an open area and caused no casualties, according to the Israeli military, which responded with air raids on several Syrian military sites. The US envoy to Syria, Thomas Barack, visited the Golan Heights on Wednesday, indicating the seriousness of the incident. It was the first such attack on Israel from Syria since rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham group toppled former president Bashar Al Assad in December. New President Ahmad Al Shara has sought to consolidate control of the country in the face of sectarian violence, and now faces the fresh challenge of handling Israel's response. A previously unknown group calling itself the Martyr Mohammed Deif Brigades claimed responsibility. Mr Deif was the military chief of Hamas who was killed by Israel last year in its war to eliminate the Palestinian militant group from Gaza. Two sources in Jordan, which borders the Golan Heights, said the attack appeared to be the work of a local group with 12 members comprising Palestinian refugees and Syrians from the district of Nawa in Deraa governorate. The rockets were fired from the Sahm Al Golan area, south of Nawa, they said. It is one of many of small groups that Hezbollah and Iran set up in southern Syria around 2018, three years after Russia's intervention in the Syrian civil war caused significant defeats for rebels fighting the former regime. Tehran and Moscow were the main backers of Mr Al Assad's 24-year rule. "These groups were designed to be small, nimble and hard to detect," one of the sources said, adding that many of them had kept open lines of communications with Hezbollah and Hamas. "The Israelis have reacted strongly because they don't want the south to become a launch pad against them again," the source said. In the final year of the Assad regime, Israeli troops faced increasing rocket and drone attacks that Israel blamed on Iran and its militia allies. Israel does not trust the HTS-led government that replaced Mr Al Assad and is upset about the support it has received from countries in the region and the West, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the US and the EU. HTS, a group formerly linked with Al Qaeda, was allied with Turkey when it launched the offensive that ended five decades of Assad family rule on December 8. "We will not allow a return to the reality of October 7," said Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, referring to the surprise Hamas attack on Israel that started the present war in GAz Israel responded to the regime change by sending its troops into Syrian territory across the UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights, south-west of Damascus, and bombing military and militia installations across Syria, particularly in southern areas. This has vastly curbed the ability of the new Syrian government to deploy troops and military hardware in the south as it seeks to establish control over the entire country. Israel's attacks on Syria have subsided in recent weeks, with reports emerging that the two sides had engaged in talks. On Wednesday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Syria does not "pose a threat to anyone in the region" and that "peaceful solutions" are needed across the region. "The utmost priority in Syria's south is to spread the authority of the state and end the presence of non-state arms," a ministry statement said.


The National
04-06-2025
- General
- The National
Israel-Syria tensions spike after rocket attack in Golan Heights
A small group in southern Syria that once formed part of a Hezbollah network is suspected of carrying out an overnight rocket attack on an Israeli-controlled area in the Golan Heights, sources said on Wednesday as Syrian authorities denied Israeli claims that Damascus was responsible. The two rockets hit an open area and caused no casualties, according to the Israeli military, which responded with air raids on several Syrian military sites. The US envoy to Syria, Thomas Barack, visited the Golan Heights on Wednesday, indicating the seriousness of the incident. It was the first such attack on Israel from Syria since rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham group toppled former president Bashar Al Assad in December. New President Ahmad Al Shara has sought to consolidate control of the country in the face of sectarian violence and now faces the fresh challenge of Israel's response. A previously unknown group calling itself the Martyr Mohammed Deif Brigades claimed responsibility. Mr Deif was the military chief of Hamas who was killed by Israel last year in its war to eliminate the Palestinian militant group from Gaza. Two sources in Jordan, which borders the Golan Heights, said the attack appeared to be the work of a local group with 12 members comprising Palestinian refugees and Syrians from the district of Nawa in Deraa governorate. The rockets were fired from the Sahm Al Golan area, south of Nawa, they said. It is one of many of small groups that Hezbollah and Iran set up in southern Syria around 2018, three years after Russia's intervention in the Syrian civil war caused significant defeats for rebels fighting the former regime. Tehran and Moscow were the main backers of Mr Al Assad's 24-year rule. "These groups were designed to be small, nimble and hard to detect," one of the sources said, adding that many of them had kept open lines of communications with Hezbollah and Hamas. "The Israelis have reacted strongly because they don't want the south to become a launch pad against them again," the source said. In the final year of the Assad regime, Israeli troops faced increasing rocket and drone attacks that Israel blamed on Iran and its militia allies. Israel does not trust the HTS-led government that replaced Mr Al Assad and is upset about the support it has received from countries in the region and the West, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the US and the EU. HTS, a group formerly linked with Al Qaeda, was allied with Turkey when it launched the offensive that ended five decades of Assad family rule on December 8. Israel responded to the regime change by sending its troops into Syrian territory across the UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights, south-west of Damascus, and bombing military and militia installations across Syria, particularly in southern areas. This has vastly curbed the ability of the new Syrian government to deploy troops and military hardware in the south as it seeks to establish control over the entire country. Israel's attacks on Syria have subsided in recent weeks, with reports emerging that the two sides had engaged in talks. On Wednesday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Syria does not "pose a threat to anyone in the region" and that "peaceful solutions" are needed across the region. "The utmost priority in Syria's south is to spread the authority of the state and end the presence of non-state arms," a ministry statement said.