US Planes to Partake in Israeli Military Drill Simulating Strike on Iran

Commander of the Central Command of the US Army (CENTCOM), Gen. Michael Kurilla, left, met on May 18, 2022, with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and observed the IDF’s ongoing major “Chariots of Fire” exercise. Israeli army
Commander of the Central Command of the US Army (CENTCOM), Gen. Michael Kurilla, left, met on May 18, 2022, with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and observed the IDF’s ongoing major “Chariots of Fire” exercise. Israeli army
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US Planes to Partake in Israeli Military Drill Simulating Strike on Iran

Commander of the Central Command of the US Army (CENTCOM), Gen. Michael Kurilla, left, met on May 18, 2022, with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and observed the IDF’s ongoing major “Chariots of Fire” exercise. Israeli army
Commander of the Central Command of the US Army (CENTCOM), Gen. Michael Kurilla, left, met on May 18, 2022, with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and observed the IDF’s ongoing major “Chariots of Fire” exercise. Israeli army

The newly confirmed commander of US military forces in the Middle East, US Army Gen. Michael Kurilla, spent a whole day with Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi. He personally observed the “Chariots of Fire” exercise, which simulates a multi-front war against Iran.
In two weeks, Israeli Air Force fighter jets will simulate a strike on targets in Iran. It is expected for US mid-air refueling planes to participate.

Kurilla, who assumed his duties as the new CENTCOM chief only a month ago, found himself amid military exercises that reminded of the volatile conditions in the Middle East for which he is responsible, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Kurilla commands US forces that deal with 21 countries, extending from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Seychelles to Somalia, Sudan, and Egypt. The US included Israel in this group last year, after the Abraham Accords were signed.

Israeli sources pointed out that Kurilla showed great interest in the details of the Israeli exercises, given that they dealt with a multi-front war scenario of which Iranian proxies are a part, such as the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

Israeli leaders told Kurilla that the “Chariots of Fire” exercises, which began last week and will continue for four weeks, simulate a broad attack on Iran and its arms, especially in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Tuesday that even though the US still prefers the diplomatic track in dealing with Iran, it is considering the possibility of resorting to a military option at some stage.

The US Air Force is set to conduct air-to-air refueling of Israeli fighter jets as they simulate a strike on Iranian territory, Channel 13 reported.

Publicizing the US-Israel collaboration is potentially intended to send a message to Tehran amid stalled talks in Vienna about returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The US participation “constitutes a message to the Iranians, at a time when negotiations over the nuclear agreement with Iran is stuck,” said Channel 13’s report. “The Israeli message is that if the Americans don’t attack, at least they should assist Israel.”



Bangladesh Protest Leaders Taken from Hospital by Police

People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Bangladesh Protest Leaders Taken from Hospital by Police

People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

Bangladeshi police detectives on Friday forced the discharge from hospital of three student protest leaders blamed for deadly unrest, taking them to an unknown location, staff told AFP.

Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud and Abu Baker Majumder are all members of Students Against Discrimination, the group responsible for organizing this month's street rallies against civil service hiring rules.

At least 195 people were killed in the ensuing police crackdown and clashes, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals, in some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure.

All three were patients at a hospital in the capital Dhaka, and at least two of them said their injuries were caused by torture in earlier police custody.

"They took them from us," Gonoshasthaya hospital supervisor Anwara Begum Lucky told AFP. "The men were from the Detective Branch."

She added that she had not wanted to discharge the student leaders but police had pressured the hospital chief to do so.

Islam's elder sister Fatema Tasnim told AFP from the hospital that six plainclothes detectives had taken all three men.

The trio's student group had suspended fresh protests at the start of this week, saying they had wanted the reform of government job quotas but not "at the expense of so much blood".

The pause was due to expire earlier on Friday but the group had given no indication of its future course of action.

Islam, 26, the chief coordinator of Students Against Discrimination, told AFP from his hospital bed on Monday that he feared for his life.

He said that two days beforehand, a group of people identifying themselves as police detectives blindfolded and handcuffed him and took him to an unknown location.

Islam added that he had come to his senses the following morning on a roadside in Dhaka.

Mahmud earlier told AFP that he had also been detained by police and beaten at the height of last week's unrest.

Three senior police officers in Dhaka all denied that the trio had been taken from the hospital and into custody on Friday.

- Garment tycoon arrested -

Police told AFP on Thursday that they had arrested at least 4,000 people since the unrest began last week, including 2,500 in Dhaka.

On Friday police said they had arrested David Hasanat, the founder and chief executive of one of Bangladesh's biggest garment factory enterprises.

His Viyellatex Group employs more than 15,000 people according to its website, and its annual turnover was estimated at $400 million by the Daily Star newspaper last year.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police inspector Abu Sayed Miah said Hasanat and several others were suspected of financing the "anarchy, arson and vandalism" of last week.

Bangladesh makes around $50 billion in annual export earnings from the textile trade, which services leading global brands including H&M, Gap and others.

Student protests began this month after the reintroduction in June of a scheme reserving more than half of government jobs for certain candidates.

With around 18 million young people in Bangladesh out of work, according to government figures, the move deeply upset graduates facing an acute jobs crisis.

Critics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists to Hasina's Awami League.

- 'Call to the nation' -

The Supreme Court cut the number of reserved jobs on Sunday but fell short of protesters' demands to scrap the quotas entirely.

Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Her government is also accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Hasina continued a tour of government buildings that had been ransacked by protesters, on Friday visiting state broadcaster Bangladesh Television, which was partly set ablaze last week.

"Find those who were involved in this," she said, according to state news agency BSS.

"Cooperate with us to ensure their punishment. I am making this call to the nation."