US airstrikes target Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq, Syria
The U.S. military, under the direction of President Joe Biden, conducted airstrikes Sunday against what it said were “facilities used by Iranbacked militia groups” near the border between Iraq and Syria.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the militias were using the facilities to launch unmanned aerial vehicle attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq.
Kirby said the U.S. military targeted three operational and weapons storage facilities — two in Syria and one in Iraq.
He described the airstrikes as “defensive,” saying they were launched in response to an “ongoing series of attacks by Iranbacked groups targeting U.S. interests in Iraq.”
“The United States took necessary, appropriate, and deliberate action designed to limit the risk of escalation — but also to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message,” Kirby said.
Hurricane Enrique:
The first hurricane of the eastern Pacific season stayed just off Mexico’s southwestern coast Sunday, and forecasters warned that heavy rains could cause dangerous flash floods or mudslides in coastal areas.
Hurricane Enrique, which formed Saturday, had maximum sustained winds around 90 mph Sunday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that “slight strengthening’’ was possible through Sunday night. “Enrique is then expected to begin weakening on Monday and continue to weaken through early this week,” the center said.
Enrique was on a path that could take it to the southern end of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula as a tropical storm by midweek.
The hurricane center said Enrique could drop 6 to 12 inches of rain, with isolated maximums of 18 inches, over Colima state and coastal sections of the states of Jalisco, Michoacan, and northern Guerrero.
Hot air balloon tragedy:
Authorities on Sunday released the names of the pilot and two couples who died after a hot air balloon they were riding in struck a power line and crashed onto a busy street in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
New Mexico State Police on Sunday identified the pilot as Nicholas Meleski, 62, and the four passengers as Susan Montoya, 65; John Montoya, 61; Mary Martinez, 59; and Martin Martinez, 62. The ages of the Martinez couple were reversed when authorities released their identities Saturday.
All were Albuquerque residents.
State Police said John Montoya died at a hospital from his injuries while the other victims were declared dead at the crash scene Saturday.
Witnesses told authorities that the balloon descended toward the ground Saturday morning and struck an overhead power line.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration will be investigating the cause of the crash.
There have been 12 fatal hot air ballooning accidents in the United States since 2008.
Saudi women’s rights:
Two Saudi women’s rights campaigners have been released from prison, three years after a sweeping crackdown by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman targeting female activists who’d peacefully advocated for greater freedoms, rights groups said Sunday.
It appears that all the women’s rights activists detained in the 2018 sweep have now been released from prison, although the status of one woman remains unclear.
The London-based ALQST rights group, which primarily focuses on Saudi Arabia, said the two women — Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada — were released sometime late Saturday or early Sunday. Human Rights Watch also confirmed their release.
The women had been sentenced to five years imprisonment, two of which were suspended.
They had been vocal critics of Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship laws, which gave husbands, fathers and in some cases a woman’s own son control over her ability to obtain a passport and travel. They had also advocated for the right of women to drive. Both restrictions have since been lifted.
UK defense papers:
Sensitive defense documents containing details about the British military have been found at a bus stop in England, the BBC reported Sunday.
The papers included plans for a possible U.K. military presence in Afghanistan, as well as discussion about the potential Russian reaction to the British warship HMS Defender’s travel through waters off the Crimean coast last week, the BBC said.
The BBC said a member of the public who wanted to remain unnamed contacted it when they found the pile of documents — about 50 pages in all — in a soggy heap Tuesday behind a bus stop in Kent, southeast of London.
The Ministry of Defense said an employee had reported the loss of the documents last week.
Kashmir attack:
Indian officials said Sunday that they suspect explosives-laden drones were used to attack an air base in the disputed region of Kashmir, calling it the first such incident of its kind in India.
Dilbagh Singh, the region’s police director-general, told the private news channel New Delhi Television that “drones with payload were used in both the blasts.” Singh called the attack an act of terrorism.
Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the explosions, according to a military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with military regulations.
India’s air force tweeted that the attack caused minor damage to a building on the base, located in the southern city of Jammu in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, while the second blast hit an open area.
It said no military equipment was damaged.
The incident, if proven to have been carried out by anti-India rebels, would mark a major shift in strategy against New Delhi. Rebels have primarily used classic guerrilla tactics such as ambushes, hit-and-run attacks, remote-controlled explosions and car bombings.
Rescue at sea:
Tunisian naval forces recovered two bodies and picked up 178 migrants from the Mediterranean on Sunday after the boats transporting them broke down on the perilous crossing from Libya to Europe, a Tunisian Defense Ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman, Mohamed Zekri, said the migrants’ boats had been at risk of sinking. An oil rig in the area sounded the alarm. The migrants hailed from Bangladesh, Eritrea, Egypt, Mali and Ivory Coast.
It was the second largescale rescue in the area in 48 hours. The Tunisian navy picked up 267 migrants Friday who were also attempting the crossing from Libya, bound for Italy.