Iran Launches New Strikes on Kurdish Sites

A photo distributed by Fars News Agency shows an Iranian rocket launched towards Kurdistan last Thursday (AFP)
A photo distributed by Fars News Agency shows an Iranian rocket launched towards Kurdistan last Thursday (AFP)
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Iran Launches New Strikes on Kurdish Sites

A photo distributed by Fars News Agency shows an Iranian rocket launched towards Kurdistan last Thursday (AFP)
A photo distributed by Fars News Agency shows an Iranian rocket launched towards Kurdistan last Thursday (AFP)

Iran renewed bombing of sites in the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, said an official from Komala Iranian-Kurdish opposition.

Atta Nasser said that the Iranian forces launched artillery fire and drone strikes on bases used by exiled Iranian group Komala in the Mount Halgurd area, near the Iranian border.

The strikes "destroyed some outposts, without causing casualties among our ranks," Nasser said.

On Thursday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced they would continue their attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan against the Iranian-Kurdish opposition.

For more than a week, Iran has launched sporadic strikes in northern Iraq, the most violent of which was on Wednesday, with more than 70 missiles and drone strikes in the autonomous region, targeting Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups.

At least 14 people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in the attacks, and 50 others were injured, mostly civilians.

The IRGC said in a statement that it launched a series of operations targeting terrorists in Iraq with "precision missiles" and "suicide drones."

The attacks come as unrest continues across Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman.

Meanwhile, Iraqi President Barham Salih confirmed the Iranian bombing was a serious escalation and a violation of the country's sovereignty, security, stability, and safety of its citizens.

Salih met with National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji to discuss the recent developments in politics and security-related matters in Iraq.

He also condemned the continued Turkish shelling of the Kurdish area, emphasizing that it is not sustainable or acceptable and has to be ceased immediately to prevent its ramifications.

The meeting reiterated the need to follow up on the security issues with high-level officials of neighboring countries, describing it as a "serious escalation."

They reiterated the need to promote dialogue and for Iraq and its neighbors to address the security challenges, noting that it should be based on shared security interests and in ways that would maintain Iraq's sovereignty and safeguard its citizens.

Earlier, Iraq summoned Iran's ambassador to hand over a worded note of protest to the Iranian government.

Iraq's note of protest said it "condemns this crime in continuous aggression by the Iranian forces against Iraq's sovereignty and territorial sanctity," the Foreign Ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry said the attack was a "dangerous development that threatens Iraq's security and sovereignty."

It is not yet clear whether Iraq will protest at the UN Security Council or will be satisfied with the position expressed by the protest letter.

However, linking the Iranian bombing with the continuation of Turkish shelling of Iraqi areas is a new Iraqi position in terms of dealing with both countries.



UN Rights Office Says Hundreds Killed in Iran Protests

This video grab taken on January 13, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 10, 2026 shows clashes in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran. (UGC/AFP)
This video grab taken on January 13, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 10, 2026 shows clashes in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran. (UGC/AFP)
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UN Rights Office Says Hundreds Killed in Iran Protests

This video grab taken on January 13, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 10, 2026 shows clashes in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran. (UGC/AFP)
This video grab taken on January 13, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 10, 2026 shows clashes in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran. (UGC/AFP)

The UN human rights chief said on ​Tuesday that he was "horrified" by mounting violence by Iran's security forces against peaceful protesters, with the UN citing its own sources as saying that hundreds have been killed so far.

The country's clerical authorities are ‌facing the biggest ‌demonstrations since 2022 ‌and ⁠on ​Sunday ‌a rights group said that unrest has killed more than 500 people. An Iranian official indicated on Tuesday it was higher, at around 2,000.

"This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and ⁠their demands for fairness, equality and justice must ‌be heard," UN High ‍Commissioner for ‍Human Rights Volker Turk said in a ‍statement read out by UN rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.

Asked to comment on the scale of the killings, Laurence, citing ​the United Nations' sources in Iran, said: "The number that we're hearing is ⁠hundreds."

Turk also voiced concern that the death penalty might be used against thousands of protesters who have been arrested.

The unrest has prompted US President Donald Trump to reissue threats to intervene militarily on behalf of Iran's protesters.

"There's concern that (the protests) have been instrumentalized, and they shouldn't be instrumentalized by anyone," ‌said Laurence on a possible US intervention.


Russia Strikes Power Plant, Kills Four in Ukraine Barrage

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area a day before, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 03 January 2026, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area a day before, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 03 January 2026, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
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Russia Strikes Power Plant, Kills Four in Ukraine Barrage

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area a day before, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 03 January 2026, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area a day before, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 03 January 2026, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV

Russia battered Ukraine with more than two dozen missiles and hundreds of drones early Tuesday, killing four people and pummelling another power plant, piling more pressure on Ukraine's brittle energy system.

An AFP journalist in the eastern Kharkiv region, where four people were killed, saw firefighters battling a fire at a postal hub and rescue workers helping survivors by lamp light in freezing temperatures.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "several hundred thousand" households near Kyiv were without power after the strikes, and again called on allies to bolster his country's air defense systems.

"The world can respond to this Russian terror with new assistance packages for Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media.

"Russia must come to learn that cold will not help it win the war," he added.

Authorities in Kyiv and the surrounding region rolled out emergency power cuts in the hours after the attack, saying freezing temperatures were complicating their work.

DTEK, Ukraine's largest energy provider, said Russian forces had struck one of its power plants, saying it was the eighth such attack since October.

The operator did not reveal which of its plants was struck, but said Russia had attacked its power plants over 220 times since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Moscow has pummelled Ukraine with daily drone and missile barrages in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and cutting power and heating in the frigid height of winter.

The Ukrainian air force said that Tuesday's bombardment included 25 missiles and 247 drones.

The Kharkiv governor gave the death toll and added that six people were wounded in the overnight hit outside the region's main city, also called Kharkiv.

White helmeted emergency workers could be seen clambering through the still-smoking wreckage of a building occupied by postal company Nova Poshta, in a video posted by the regional prosecutor's office.

Within Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said a Russian long-range drone struck a medical facility for children, causing a fire. No casualties were reported.

The overnight strikes hit other regions as well, including the southern city of Odesa.

Residential buildings, a hospital and a kindergarten were damaged, with at least five people wounded in two waves of attacks, regional governor Sergiy Lysak said.

Russia's use last week of a nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile on Ukraine sparked condemnation from Kyiv's allies, including Washington, which called it a "dangerous and inexplicable escalation of this war".

Moscow on Monday said the missile hit an aviation repair factory in the Lviv region and that it was fired in response to Ukraine's attempt to strike one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's residences -- a claim Kyiv denies and that Washington has said it does not believe happened.


Israel Says It Remains on Alert Because of Iran Protests

A member of the Iranian police attends a pro-government rally in Tehran, Iran, January 12, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A member of the Iranian police attends a pro-government rally in Tehran, Iran, January 12, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Israel Says It Remains on Alert Because of Iran Protests

A member of the Iranian police attends a pro-government rally in Tehran, Iran, January 12, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A member of the Iranian police attends a pro-government rally in Tehran, Iran, January 12, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it continues to be “on alert for surprise scenarios” due to the ongoing protests in Iran, but has not made any changes to guidelines for civilians, as it does prior to a concrete threat.

“The protests in Iran are an internal matter,” Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin wrote on X.

Also on Tuesday, Iranian security forces arrested what a state television report described as terrorist groups linked to Israel in the southeastern city of Zahedan.

The report, without providing additional details, said the group entered through Iran’s eastern borders and carried US-made guns and explosives that the group had planned to use in assassinations and acts of sabotage.

Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear program over the summer, resulting in a 12-day war that killed nearly 1,200 Iranians and almost 30 Israelis. Over the past week, Iran has threatened to attack Israel if Israel or the US attacks.