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US Soldiers Join Somali Army in its War Against Shabaab

Security forces patrol outside a building that was attacked by suspected al-Shabab militants in Somalia's capital Mogadishu (AFP)
Security forces patrol outside a building that was attacked by suspected al-Shabab militants in Somalia's capital Mogadishu (AFP)
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US Soldiers Join Somali Army in its War Against Shabaab

Security forces patrol outside a building that was attacked by suspected al-Shabab militants in Somalia's capital Mogadishu (AFP)
Security forces patrol outside a building that was attacked by suspected al-Shabab militants in Somalia's capital Mogadishu (AFP)

US soldiers joined the Somali army, preparing for the second phase of the war against the extremist Somali al-Shabaab Movement.

An official in the Somali government confirmed, on condition of anonymity, to Asharq Al-Awsat that members of the US Special Forces had arrived in the Mahas area, about 300 km from the capital.

The special forces will help supervise the upcoming attack against the strongholds of al-Shabaab.

According to Somali media, US military officials and officers were received by Mahas Governor upon their arrival in the area.

It quoted local officials as saying that the visit of the US officials falls within the framework of the second phase of the upcoming military operation against al-Shabaab.

Meanwhile, the extremist Somali youth movement claimed to have received "intelligence information" regarding a US plan to return Ethiopian forces to Somalia.

In an interview with al-Shabab-affiliated radio, the militant group's spokesman, Ali Rage, accused the US of mobilizing forces against the group.

He said the original plan was to eliminate al-Shabab within six months, noting the failure of the first phase of the operation, which included NATO members such as the US and Türkiye.

Earlier this month, Mogadishu International Airport received a US Air Force plane loaded with a shipment of military equipment to support the Somali forces.

Somali Defense Minister Abdulkadir Nur said it would contribute to the war against the al-Shabab Movement.

Last year, US President Joe Biden restored 450 troops to Somalia to advise Somali soldiers, more than a year after his predecessor Donald Trump ordered their withdrawal.

Before Trump's decision, the US had about 700 troops in Somalia focused on helping local forces against the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab insurgency.

In addition to the military and logistical support, Washington allocated through the Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) of the US State Department a reward of $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Shabaab leader, Ali Rage, accused of involvement in terrorist attacks in Kenya and Somalia.

Officials in the Mahas region said that they are moving to the Galgaduud area to remove the Movement from it and urged locals to expel the al-Shabab from the whole country.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced the resumption of the second face of military operations against terrorism in several areas, noting that the national army is intensifying its operations against al-Shabaab Movement linked to the al-Qaeda organization, and inflicted heavy losses upon it.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Media Accuse Rouhani of ‘Serving Israel’

03 December 2025, Iran, Teheran: View of the smog-ridden metropolis of Tehran. Photo: Aref Taherkenareh/dpa
03 December 2025, Iran, Teheran: View of the smog-ridden metropolis of Tehran. Photo: Aref Taherkenareh/dpa
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Media Accuse Rouhani of ‘Serving Israel’

03 December 2025, Iran, Teheran: View of the smog-ridden metropolis of Tehran. Photo: Aref Taherkenareh/dpa
03 December 2025, Iran, Teheran: View of the smog-ridden metropolis of Tehran. Photo: Aref Taherkenareh/dpa

Media outlets aligned with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have accused former president Hassan Rouhani and his associates of “doing Israel a service,” escalating a political backlash triggered by Rouhani’s recent criticism of Iran’s ability to defend its airspace if last June’s 12-day war with Israel were to resume.

Tasnim, the Guards’ main media arm, protested sharply against Rouhani’s latest speech and the recommendations he offered to prevent a repeat of the conflict.

The media attack coincided with rising political tensions inside Iran as Rouhani’s name resurfaced in the debate over who might succeed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, a succession file that has deepened domestic polarization.

Tasnim opened its weekly analytical supplement with the headline “Working for Israel,” placing Rouhani’s photograph on the cover. It accused him of offering “narcissistic, arrogance-filled interpretations” about his claims that he prevented a war on Iran through diplomacy during his past government roles.

The agency questioned whether Rouhani was suggesting that Iran had no deterrent other than his negotiations, and whether the United States and Israel were at full strength at the time while Iran lacked defensive capability.

It further asked why Rouhani’s diplomacy failed to prevent the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement under Donald Trump or avert the assassinations of General Qassem Soleimani and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the senior nuclear official killed in late 2020 in an attack attributed to Israel.

Rouhani last week criticized the country’s tightened security climate, saying Iran needed “an atmosphere of safety, not an atmosphere of securitization.”

He warned that Iran could not remain in a state of “no war and no peace,” citing Khamenei’s own remarks, and urged efforts to rebuild deterrence across multiple fields to confront what he called “the conspiracies of enemies.”

He argued that Iran today lacks “broad regional deterrence,” noting that the airspace of neighboring countries, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, had fallen under US and Israeli influence, making hostile aerial movement near Iran “safe and free of obstacles.”

Rouhani insisted continuation of the nuclear deal would have prevented the 12-day conflict, calling the nuclear file a pretext for the attacks and blaming subsequent governments for failing to revive the accord.

Tasnim said Rouhani’s positions “practically serve Israel” because they place responsibility on internal actors while removing Israel from the circle of blame. It portrayed his comments as a political act against “sacred unity,” adding that presenting such views “even within a realistic and careful framework” ultimately benefits Israel.

Tasnim also revived long-standing criticism that Rouhani’s government did not sufficiently support Iran’s intervention in Syria in 2013 and 2014, arguing that such reluctance approached “the level of treason.” It claimed one of General Soleimani’s biggest grievances was the administration’s lack of cooperation on the Syrian front.

Responding to Rouhani’s remarks on “securitization,” Tasnim said his own administration had been among the most security-dominated of the Islamic Republic era. The agency pointed to Rouhani’s intelligence background and argued that his current counsel contradicted his record in office.

Rouhani’s comments were also interpreted as an indirect response to Khamenei’s November 27 televised speech, in which the Supreme Leader warned against internal division, repeated his narrative that the US and Israel had “failed” to achieve their war aims and urged Iranians to maintain “national alignment.”

The renewed criticism comes as Rouhani has faced months of attacks from rivals, including parliamentarians, who accuse him of positioning himself to assume the role of Supreme Leader should Khamenei become unable to carry out his duties, including in the event of an Israeli assassination attempt.

Last month, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Rouhani and former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of damaging Iran’s strategic ties with Russia.

Hardline lawmakers revived the chant “Death to Fereydoun,” using Rouhani’s birth family name. One conservative MP said the judiciary should address Rouhani’s “misconduct” so that anyone aspiring to senior posts would “return to his rightful place behind bars.”

After Rouhani’s latest remarks circulated, discussion of his possible leadership prospects reemerged, this time in reformist media.

Reformist theorist Sadegh Zibakalam said Rouhani believes he lacks nothing compared to other succession candidates, including Mojtaba Khamenei, arguing that Rouhani’s executive experience makes him “more qualified than others.”

At the same time, businessman Babak Zanjani, who was sentenced to death for corruption during Rouhani’s presidency but released last year, made a harsh post on X rejecting any future political role for Rouhani.

Iran, he wrote, needed a “young, educated and effective” force, “not holders of fake degrees,” warning that “we will cleanse Iran of incompetence.”

World

Iran Holds Massive Drills in Gulf

A handout photo made available on 05 December 2025 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a missile being launched during a military drill in the waters off southern Iran coast. EPA/IRGC HANDOUT
A handout photo made available on 05 December 2025 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a missile being launched during a military drill in the waters off southern Iran coast. EPA/IRGC HANDOUT
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Iran Holds Massive Drills in Gulf

A handout photo made available on 05 December 2025 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a missile being launched during a military drill in the waters off southern Iran coast. EPA/IRGC HANDOUT
A handout photo made available on 05 December 2025 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a missile being launched during a military drill in the waters off southern Iran coast. EPA/IRGC HANDOUT

Iran launched massive missiles in the Sea of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz during the second day of a naval drill, state TV reported Friday.

The report said the Revolutionary Guard launched the missiles from the depth of Iran's mainland, hitting targets in the Oman Sea and neighboring area near Strait of Hormuz in a drill that began on Thursday.

It identified the missiles as cruise Qadr-110, Qadr-380 and Ghadir that have a range of up to 2,000 kilometers. It said the Guard also launched a ballistic missile identified as 303, without elaborating.

The drill is the second one following the Israel-Iran war in June that killed nearly 1,100 people in Iran, including military commanders and nuclear scientists. Missile attacks by Iran killed 28 in Israel.

Earlier, Iran hosted an anti-terrorism drill in its northwestern province of East Azerbaijan with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which, according to state Press TV, was intended to signal both “peace and friendship” to neighboring states and warn enemies that “any miscalculation would meet a decisive response.”

The SCO, a Eurasian security and economic bloc founded in 2001 to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism, often conducts joint military exercises among its members.

The organization includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and several Central Asian countries, with observer and dialogue partners such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and others participating in selected operations.

World

Taiwan Says China Deploys Warships in ‘Military Operations’

A Chinese PLA navy ship monitors an area during a maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines, Australia and Canadian navy near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sep 3, 2025. (AFP)
A Chinese PLA navy ship monitors an area during a maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines, Australia and Canadian navy near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sep 3, 2025. (AFP)
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Taiwan Says China Deploys Warships in ‘Military Operations’

A Chinese PLA navy ship monitors an area during a maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines, Australia and Canadian navy near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sep 3, 2025. (AFP)
A Chinese PLA navy ship monitors an area during a maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines, Australia and Canadian navy near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sep 3, 2025. (AFP)

Taiwan said Friday that China had deployed warships for “military operations” stretching hundreds of kilometers from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea, posing a “threat” to the region.

Beijing, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, neither confirmed nor denied the maneuvers.

Taiwan’s defense ministry and other security agencies were monitoring China’s activities and had a “complete grasp of the situation,” presidential office spokeswoman Karen Kuo told reporters.

She did not say how many Chinese ships were involved in the deployment, but a security source told AFP the number was “significant.” The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The operations were not limited to the Taiwan Strait, but extended from the southern Yellow Sea, to the East China Sea near the disputed Diaoyu Islands and on into the South China Sea and even the Western Pacific, Kuo said.

“This indeed poses a threat and impact on the Indo-Pacific and the entire region,” she said.

Taiwan urged China to “exercise restraint,” Kuo said, adding: “We are also confident that we can handle this matter well.”

Neither China’s armed forces nor state media have announced any increased military activity in the region where Taiwan said Chinese ships had been detected.

Beijing’s defense ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said Friday that the navy’s training on the high seas complies with international law and “is not directed at any specific country or target.”

He was responding to a question about a Chinese naval flotilla that reportedly may be heading toward Australia.

A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said Beijing “has consistently followed a defensive policy” and urged “relevant parties” not to “overreact or... engage in groundless hype.”

China has refused to rule out using force to take Taiwan, and also contentiously claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea.

Taiwan’s intelligence chief Tsai Ming-yen said Wednesday that October to December was the “peak season” for China’s “annual evaluation exercises.”

There was a possibility that China’s ruling Communist Party could turn seemingly routine military activities into drills targeting Taiwan, Tsai warned.

Last December, Taiwan said about 90 Chinese warships and coast guard vessels took part in vast exercises including simulating attacks on foreign ships and practicing blockading sea routes in Beijing’s biggest maritime drills in years.

Beijing did not confirm the drills at that time.

The United States has historically been Taiwan’s main security backer.

But President Donald Trump’s administration signaled a potential shift in that policy on Friday, saying in a strategy document that its Asian allies Japan and South Korea should take on more of the burden of defending the region.