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Yemeni Army Monitoring 250 Iranian Experts in the Country

Houthi militants in Yemen. (Reuters)
Houthi militants in Yemen. (Reuters)
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Yemeni Army Monitoring 250 Iranian Experts in the Country

Houthi militants in Yemen. (Reuters)
Houthi militants in Yemen. (Reuters)

The Yemeni army revealed that more than 250 Iranian experts were monitored in the country over the past few days.

They were present in several regions of the al-Hodeidah and Saada provinces and were active in military operations and training, added the army.

Military spokesman Abdo Abdullah Majali told Asharq Al-Awsat that the experts were monitored through ongoing state intelligence surveillance.

He revealed that the experts were developing rockets and fixing their spare parts, which are advanced jobs that are beyond the expertise of the militias.

Intelligence agencies were alerted to the Iranian presence in the region after noticing the development of the militias’ military capabilities, he explained.

Furthermore, Houthi prisoners revealed the presence of the Iranians during investigations with them. They also confirmed that they were active in training camps and in developing weapons.

Majali stated that the national Yemeni army has several options in which to confront the Iranian experts, but he refused to disclose them.

He did reveal however that they are primarily related to the military’s advance with the backing of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen.

He stressed that the army will immediately arrest the Iranians in order to carry out investigations with them according to Yemeni laws. They will be tried for all the actions they did in sparking the war and destroying Yemen.

They entered Yemen through illegal means and they will not be able to escape without being held accountable, he vowed.

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World

US Military Strikes Another Alleged Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing 3

A shot of a boat targeted by a US raid in the Caribbean (archive - Reuters)
A shot of a boat targeted by a US raid in the Caribbean (archive - Reuters)
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US Military Strikes Another Alleged Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing 3

A shot of a boat targeted by a US raid in the Caribbean (archive - Reuters)
A shot of a boat targeted by a US raid in the Caribbean (archive - Reuters)

The US military said Friday that it has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

US Southern Command said on social media that the boat “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” It said the strike killed three people. A video linked to the post shows a boat floating in the water before bursting into flames.

Friday’s attack raises the death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats to at least 148 people in at least 43 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

President Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the US over land from Mexico.

World

Afghanistan Quake Causes No ‘Serious’ Damage, Injuries, Says Official

Afghan men prepare meals during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Afghan men prepare meals during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
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Afghanistan Quake Causes No ‘Serious’ Damage, Injuries, Says Official

Afghan men prepare meals during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Afghan men prepare meals during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 February 2026. (EPA)

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked eastern Afghanistan including the capital Kabul has resulted in only minor damage and one reported injury, a disaster official told AFP on Saturday.

The quake hit on Friday just as people in the Muslim-majority country were sitting down to break their Ramadan fast.

The epicenter was near several remote villages around 130 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Kabul, the United States Geological Survey said.

"There aren't any serious casualties or damages after yesterday's earthquake," said Mohammad Yousuf Hamad, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority.

He added that one person had sustained "a minor injury in Takhar", in Afghanistan's north, "and three houses had minor damage in Laghman" province.

Zilgay Talabi, a resident of Khenj district near the epicenter, said the tremor was "very strong, it went on for almost 30 seconds".

Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.

In August last year, a shallow 6.0-magnitude quake in the country's east wiped out mountainside villages and killed more than 2,200 people.

Weeks later, a 6.3-magnitude quake in northern Afghanistan killed 27 people.

Large tremors in western Herat, near the Iranian border, in 2023, and in Nangarhar province in 2022, killed hundreds and destroyed thousands of homes.

Many homes in the predominantly rural country, which has been devastated by decades of war, are shoddily built.

Poor communication networks and infrastructure in mountainous Afghanistan have hampered disaster responses in the past, preventing authorities from reaching far-flung villages for hours or even days before they could assess the extent of the damage.

World

Serbia Urges Citizens to Quit Iran ‘As Soon as Possible’

People walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, January 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, January 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Serbia Urges Citizens to Quit Iran ‘As Soon as Possible’

People walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, January 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, January 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Serbia has urged its citizens in Iran to leave the country "as soon as possible", after US President Donald Trump threatened military action over the country's nuclear program.

The Balkan nation had already invited Serbian nationals in mid-January to leave Iran and not to travel there, as the country's clerical authorities launched a bloody crackdown on a mass protest movement.

"Due to the deteriorating security situation, citizens of the Republic of Serbia are not recommended to travel to Iran in the coming period," the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website published overnight Friday to Saturday.

"All those who are in Iran are recommended to leave the country as soon as possible."

Iran said on Friday that it was hoping for a quick deal with the United States on Tehran's nuclear program, long a source of discord between the two foes.

But Trump, after ordering a major naval build-up in the Middle East aimed at heaping pressure on Tehran, said on Friday that he was "considering" a limited military strike if the negotiations proved unfruitful.