عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran's Supreme Leader: Militant Groups Against Israel Remain Strong

02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TT
TT

Iran's Supreme Leader: Militant Groups Against Israel Remain Strong

02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Thursday the alliance of militant groups opposed to Israel remains strong despite the killing of many of their senior leaders.

“God willing, the world will see a day when the Zionist regime will be defeated by them,” Iranian state TV reported Khamenei as saying.

Khamenei said Hamas and other “leaders of the resistance” are “still fighting” even though some of their leaders have been killed by intensified Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli strikes and military operations in recent months have killed the top leaders of both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as many of their senior commanders.

Both groups are part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, which includes other Iran-backed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Iran and its allies have repeatedly traded fire with Israel and the United States over the past year following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, raising fears of a regional war.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

An 8-hour Russian Drone Barrage Keeps Kyiv on Edge as the War in Ukraine nears 1,000 Days

Firefighters work at a compound of a vegetable warehouse hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Firefighters work at a compound of a vegetable warehouse hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
TT
TT

An 8-hour Russian Drone Barrage Keeps Kyiv on Edge as the War in Ukraine nears 1,000 Days

Firefighters work at a compound of a vegetable warehouse hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Firefighters work at a compound of a vegetable warehouse hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Dozens of Russian drones targeted the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in a nighttime attack that lasted eight hours, authorities said Thursday, as Russia kept up its relentless pounding of Ukraine after almost 1,000 days of war.
Russian forces fired lone drones and swarms of drones that entered Ukrainian airspace from various directions and at a variety of altitudes, officials said, in an apparent attempt to stretch air defense systems and unnerve city residents, The Associated Press said.
Ukrainian air defenses “neutralized” three dozen drones, but falling debris caused damage to a hospital and residential and office buildings in the capital, local authorities said, including a blaze on the 33rd floor of an apartment building.
At least two people were reported injured.
Drone attacks on Kyiv have recently been occurring almost daily, with the nighttime explosions and the continuous buzzing sound of drones keeping the city on edge. Russia is deploying about 10 times more Iranian-made Shahed drones than it was this time last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week.
Ukraine’s forces are struggling to match the might of Russia’s military, which is much bigger and better equipped. Western support is crucial for Ukraine to sustain the costly war of attrition. The uncertainty over how long that aid will continue has deepened, however, with the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States. He has repeatedly taken issue with US aid to Ukraine.
Russia, meanwhile, is trying to grind down Ukraine’s appetite for the fight and sap the West’s support for Kyiv by drawing out the conflict.
The Russian barrages mostly involve Shahed drones. They are suited to terrorizing civilians, according to Andrii Kovalenko, head of the state Center for Countering Disinformation.
Russia is aiming to save and stockpile its missiles, which are much more powerful than drones, Kovalenko claimed Thursday. Russia has used missiles effectively in its campaign to knock out Ukraine’s power grid.
Also, the drone attacks gradually wear down Ukraine’s air defenses, making it more vulnerable to future missile launches.
Power outages were reported in the Zhytomyr region, which borders Kyiv to the west, following a Russian attack there, according to the energy company Zhytomyroblenergo.
Another Russian drone attack injured one person in the southern city of Odesa, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said, as drone debris damaged an 11-story residential building.