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Second Iranian Ship Heading to Sri Lanka after Submarine Attack

This frame grab from a video released by the US Department of Defense on March 4, 2026, shows what the Department of Defense says is periscope footage of a US Navy submarine firing on and sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by US Department of Defense / AFP)
This frame grab from a video released by the US Department of Defense on March 4, 2026, shows what the Department of Defense says is periscope footage of a US Navy submarine firing on and sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by US Department of Defense / AFP)
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Second Iranian Ship Heading to Sri Lanka after Submarine Attack

This frame grab from a video released by the US Department of Defense on March 4, 2026, shows what the Department of Defense says is periscope footage of a US Navy submarine firing on and sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by US Department of Defense / AFP)
This frame grab from a video released by the US Department of Defense on March 4, 2026, shows what the Department of Defense says is periscope footage of a US Navy submarine firing on and sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by US Department of Defense / AFP)

A second Iranian warship was heading towards Sri Lanka's territorial waters Thursday, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, killing at least 87 sailors, a minister told parliament.

Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details, AFP reported.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was meeting top officials Thursday to discuss a response to an Iranian request to enter the safety of the island's waters, official sources said.

They said the vessel was carrying more than 100 crew and feared they too could be targeted the same way a sister vessel was sunk by a US submarine just off Sri Lanka's southern coast on Wednesday.

The sinking came as the war sparked by a joint US-Israel attack on Iran continued to spread across the Middle East and beyond.

Authorities in the southern port city of Galle, meanwhile, were making preparations Thursday to hand over the remains of 87 Iranian sailors killed in the torpedo attack claimed by the US military.

Officials at the main hospital in Galle said 32 rescued Iranians were still being treated under tight security provided by police and elite commandos.

The Emergency Treatment Unit was off limits to visitors and other patients, with the medical authorities setting up a separate ward for the Iranians.

“Most of them have minor injuries, but there were a few with fractures and burns," a nurse at the hospital said, without giving her name.

Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath told AFP that Sri Lankan navy vessels were continuing their search for missing Iranian sailors.

The vessel had issued a distress call at dawn on Wednesday but completely sunk by the time a Sri Lankan rescue ship reached the area.

The attack was just 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Galle, the local navy said.

The warship was returning after attending a military exercise in India's eastern port of Visakhapatnam.

Iran has not yet commented on the sinking.

Sri Lanka has remained neutral and has repeatedly urged dialogue to resolve the conflict in the Middle East.

Iran is a key buyer of Sri Lankan tea, the country's main export commodity.

 

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South Korea, US to Hold High-level Defense Meeting on Wartime Command

The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. (US Army/Handout via Reuters)
The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. (US Army/Handout via Reuters)
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South Korea, US to Hold High-level Defense Meeting on Wartime Command

The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. (US Army/Handout via Reuters)
The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. (US Army/Handout via Reuters)

South Korea and the US will hold a high-level defense meeting in Washington on May 12-13 to discuss ‌the transfer ‌of wartime ‌operational ⁠control of their combined ⁠forces on the Korean peninsula, the South Korean defense ministry said ⁠on Thursday.

The ‌Korea-US ‌Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) ‌is normally held ‌ahead of the two countries' defense ministers' meeting, where ‌the allies discuss defense posture against ⁠North Korea. ⁠The two countries plan to transfer the command of the combined forces during wartime, now held by the US, to South Korea.

World

Australians Linked to ISIS Militants in Syria Arrive in Melbourne

FILE PHOTO: Members of Australian families believed to be linked to ISIS militants leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Members of Australian families believed to be linked to ISIS militants leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman/File Photo
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Australians Linked to ISIS Militants in Syria Arrive in Melbourne

FILE PHOTO: Members of Australian families believed to be linked to ISIS militants leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Members of Australian families believed to be linked to ISIS militants leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman/File Photo

A group of women linked to the ISIS extremist group landed in Melbourne on Thursday, years after allegedly sneaking into Syria to join the group's self-declared caliphate.

The Qatar Airways flight from Doha, reportedly carrying three women and eight children who have spent years living in a camp in Syria, landed in Melbourne in the evening, an AFP journalist at the airport said.

Minutes later, another Qatar Airways flight from Doha landed at Sydney airport, reportedly carrying one woman from the Syria camp and her son.

World

Taiwan Carries Out First Torpedo Test Fire for Domestically Made Submarine

FILE PHOTO: Members of the navy pose for pictures next to Narwhal, Taiwan's first domestically built submarine, after its launching ceremony in Kaohsiung, Taiwan September 28, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Members of the navy pose for pictures next to Narwhal, Taiwan's first domestically built submarine, after its launching ceremony in Kaohsiung, Taiwan September 28, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
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Taiwan Carries Out First Torpedo Test Fire for Domestically Made Submarine

FILE PHOTO: Members of the navy pose for pictures next to Narwhal, Taiwan's first domestically built submarine, after its launching ceremony in Kaohsiung, Taiwan September 28, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Members of the navy pose for pictures next to Narwhal, Taiwan's first domestically built submarine, after its launching ceremony in Kaohsiung, Taiwan September 28, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo

Taiwan has carried out the maiden torpedo test firing for its first domestically developed submarine, a major milestone in a project aimed at strengthening deterrence against the Chinese navy and protecting vital sea lanes in the event of war.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous submarine program a key part of an ambitious project to modernize its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty claims.

The submarine program has drawn on expertise and technology from ⁠several countries, including ⁠the United States and Britain, a breakthrough for diplomatically isolated Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing's territorial claims.

Taiwan's CSBC Corp, which is leading construction of what is eventually planned to be eight submarines, said in a statement on Thursday that the first ship, named the ⁠Narwhal, had carried out its first torpedo test the day before.

The test verified the combat system's operational capabilities in terms of detection and tracking, fire control, launch, and torpedo guidance, Reuters quoted it as saying.

In January, the submarine carried out its first underwater sea trial.

Taiwan has said it hopes to deploy at least two such domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles.

The first submarine, with a price tag of T$49.36 billion ($1.57 ⁠billion), ⁠will use a combat system by Lockheed Martin Corp and carry US-made Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes.

The CSBC statement did not say what kind of torpedoes were test-fired.

The Narwhal had been due to be delivered to the navy in 2024, joining two existing submarines purchased from the Netherlands in the 1980s, but the program has been hit with delays.

Taiwan's armed forces are dwarfed by those of China, which has three operational aircraft carriers and several nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and is developing stealth fighter jets.