US Airstrike Hits Houthi Command and Control Facility in Yemen

The setting sun's light shines through a thick blanket of clouds in the sky over Sanaa, Yemen, 15 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
The setting sun's light shines through a thick blanket of clouds in the sky over Sanaa, Yemen, 15 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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US Airstrike Hits Houthi Command and Control Facility in Yemen

The setting sun's light shines through a thick blanket of clouds in the sky over Sanaa, Yemen, 15 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
The setting sun's light shines through a thick blanket of clouds in the sky over Sanaa, Yemen, 15 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

The US military said it conducted an airstrike on Monday against a command and control facility operated by the Houthi militias in Yemen.

"The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," the US military's Central Command said in a post on X.

The airstrike came after the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen that had triggered sirens across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area on Monday afternoon.

The missile was intercepted outside Israel’s borders, the military said.

However, shrapnel fell on the roof of a home in the east Jerusalem, which the military said was likely from one of the Israeli interceptor missiles.

There were no reports of casualties or major damage, according to Israel’s emergency services.

The Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for firing a hypersonic ballistic missile toward Tel Aviv.

The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, but nearly all of those weapons have been intercepted.



Sharaa Denies he Wants to Turn Syria into a Version of Afghanistan

This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on December 17, 2024 shows Ahmed al-Sharaa receiving the director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in Damascus. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on December 17, 2024 shows Ahmed al-Sharaa receiving the director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in Damascus. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
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Sharaa Denies he Wants to Turn Syria into a Version of Afghanistan

This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on December 17, 2024 shows Ahmed al-Sharaa receiving the director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in Damascus. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on December 17, 2024 shows Ahmed al-Sharaa receiving the director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in Damascus. (Photo by SANA / AFP)

The de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said the country is exhausted by war and is not a threat to its neighbors or to the West, denying that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan.

In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, he called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted.

"Now, after all that has happened, sanctions must be lifted because they were targeted at the old regime. The victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way," he said.

Sharaa led the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime less than two weeks ago. He is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant group in the opposition alliance, and was previously known by his nom de guerre of Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

He said HTS should be de-listed as a terrorist organization. It is designated as one by the UN, US, EU and UK.

Sharaa denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan, saying the two countries were very different, with different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, he said, there was a different mindset.

He also told the BCC that he believed in education for women.

"We've had universities in Idlib for more than eight years," Sharaa said, referring to Syria's northwestern province that has been held by opposition fighters since 2011.

"I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%."