The allies of the United States continue to create tensions in the Middle East, threatening peace and security in the entire region.

The conflict between Washington’s key ally, Israel, and Iran remains one of the main factors behind instability in the region.

Israel is still attacking Syria under the pretext of fighting the influence of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Airstrikes on military position in Syria were reported on October 21, 24 and 27 as well as on November 13 and 19. The Israeli strikes killed six soldiers and a local Hezbollah fighter.

Aside from the regular airstrikes, a drone attack targeted a shipment of Iranian fuel that was destined to Hezbollah in Lebanon on the Syrian-Iraqi border on November 8. At least ten, including Iranian nationals, were killed in the attack, which was attributed to Israel.

On November 22, tensions rose again when a senior officer of the IRGC Aerospace Force was killed with a roadside bomb in the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Iran said the Israeli intelligence was behind the assassination.

The recent Israeli attacks didn’t go without a response. Attacks on U.S. bases in northeastern Syria were reported on October 22 and 26 as well as on November 17 and 25.

Furthermore, a drone attack that targeted an Israeli-owned tanker off the coast of Oman on November 16 was blamed on Iran. However, Tehran rejected these accusations.

Israel is not the only ally of the U.S. in the Middle East that has been escalating. Washington’s NATO partner, Turkey, has been also making some strong moves under the pretext of protecting its national security.

On November 20, Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq, codenamed Claw-Sword. The operation came as a response to the November 13 Istanbul bombing. Ankara blamed the attack, which killed six, on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its Syrian affiliate, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) who happens to be the core faction of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

So far, Operation Claw-Sword has been limited to air and artillery strikes. However, senior Turkish officials have already warned that a ground offensive against the SDF in northern Syria could start soon.

Turkey’s operation has already killed more than 50 SDF fighters and Syrian soldiers. Despite of these heavy losses, the U.S.-allied SDF is still hindering Russian-led efforts to de-escalate by addressing Ankara’s security concerns.

Kurdish forces in Iraq, some of whom enjoy close relations with the U.S., have been also provoking Iran. Tehran believe that some of the Iranian-Kurdish opposition militant groups based in the Kurdistan region have been supporting a wave of violence and protests on its territory which broke out after the death of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in mid-September.

The IRGC attacked these opposition militant groups on November 21 and 22. Later, the guards’ Ground Forces began amassing reinforcement

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On July 4, the Russian National Guard reported that it found documents of the OSCE which testified to the cooperation of the OSCE international monitoring organization with the Ukrainian special services and the special services of NATO countries.
The documents were found by the Special Forces of the Russian National Guard in the house of Ukrainian General Vyacheskav Savchenko, former head of the regional department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in the city of Kherson.
The fashionable mansion of the Ukrainian general located on Budyonny Street was stormed during a security mission of the Russian Special Forces. The documents were found in one of the rooms. The special forces seized a handwritten diagram with the locations of the units of the Russian Armed Forces in Crimea, as well as in the Russian Rostov, Smolensk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions.

According to representative of the Russian National Guard, the found documents confirm that “the representatives of the foreign mission, located in Kherson, enjoyed the personal patronage of Savchenko”. The OSCE staff visited the general on a regular basis, which was confirmed by the testimony of witnesses from among local residents.

The documents are another evidence of illegal intelligence activities carried out by the OSCE employees in the interests of the Ukrainian special services, as well as the special services of NATO countries. They confirm once again the long and close cooperation of the international organization with the Kiev regime far beyond the official framework.

Amid community protests over Akron police officers’ fatal shooting of 25-year-old Jayland Walker on June 27, the Akron Police Department on Sunday released officer body-camera video of the incident, which started with an alleged traffic violation and ended in a huge eruption of fire from eight officers who were chasing him on foot.

While unarmed at the moment of the shooting, police say Walker fired a shot from his vehicle during the car chase that preceded the foot pursuit. They also say they found a pistol in his car and a shell casing near the site of Walker’s alleged shot.

Police say officers attempted to stop Walker’s vehicle in Akron’s North Hill section for unspecified traffic and equipment violations. He refused to stop and, about 40 seconds into the ensuing car chase, “a sound consistent with a gunshot can be heard on the body-worn cameras of the officers,” the police video narrator says.

In the video, one of the two officers in the car can be heard saying “shots fired,” and one proceeds to notify dispatch that a shot came out the suspect’s car. Akron police point to what they say is a flash of light visible at the same time.

The pursuit continued for several minutes, first on a freeway and then on city streets, with speeds reaching 80 miles per hour. Walker’s silver Buick eventually slowed to a crawl, and video shows him exiting through the passenger door while wearing a ski mask.

Police say that, as Walker ran, he turned and faced officers momentarily before continuing. Soon after, police unsuccessfully tried stopping him with Tasers.

Walker continued running, and as he reached a parking lot, police say he quickly turned toward the chasing officers. “Officers reacted by discharging their firearms, striking the suspect,” says the police video narrator.

Akron police chief Stephen Mylett said the video imagery gives the appearance that Walker is reaching for his waist, and that it captures what appears to be a “forward motion of his arm.” Officers told investigators they perceived that Walker had turned and appeared to be moving into a firing position.

An enormous volume of gunfire is heard on the video before shouts of “cease fire.” The number of shots fired is unknown.”However, based on the video, I anticipate that number to be high,” said Mylett. “A lot of rounds were fired, and I will not be surprised if the number at the end of the investigation is consistent with the number that has been circulating in the media.” That number is 90.

WAR update
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WAR update
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