Associated Press: Houthi Missile Attack Kills 3 Crew Members In Yemen Rebels’ First Fatal Assault On Shipping

“A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday killed three of its crew members and forced survivors to abandon the vessel, the U.S. military said. It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence further escalates the conflict on a crucial maritime route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping. The Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the U.S. began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn’t halted their attacks. Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday that it would confiscate a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It is the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Middle East’s waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.”

Associated Press: IS Militants Kill At Least 18 People In An Attack On Villagers Collecting Truffles In Eastern Syria

“Islamic State militants attacked villagers collecting truffles in eastern Syria on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and leaving dozens injured and missing, opposition activists and pro-government media said. The attack against the truffle hunters was one of the deadliest strikes by the Islamic State group in the area in more than a year. It took place in a desert area near the town of Kobajeb in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq. Some of the truffle gatherers may have been kidnapped, opposition activists said. Despite the militant group’s defeat in Syria in March 2019, IS sleeper cells still carry deadly attacks in Syria and neighboring Iraq, across a wide swath of territory where the extremists had once run an Islamic caliphate. Since truffle hunters work in large groups in remote areas, IS militants in previous years have repeatedly preyed on them, emerging from the desert to kill many and abduct others to be ransomed for money. Separately, in Syria’s rebel-held northwest, an al-Qaida-linked group released more than 400 detainees from its jails after days of protests demanding their freedom.”

United States

Associated Press: Judge Sentences 4 Defendants In US Terrorism And Kidnapping Case To Life In Prison, Appeals Planned

“A U.S. judge on Wednesday sentenced four family members to life in prison for convictions stemming from a federal terrorism and kidnapping case that began in 2017 with the search for a toddler who went missing from Georgia and was later found dead when authorities raided a squalid compound in northern New Mexico. The sentencing comes months after jurors convicted the four defendants in what prosecutors had called a “sick end-of-times scheme.” The defendants were unsuccessful in their arguments that the severity of the sentences violated their constitutional rights. That will be just one of the arguments they plan to bring up when appealing their convictions. At trial, they suggested that the case was the product of “government overreach” and that they were targeted because they are Muslim. The fifth defendant — Jany Leveille, a Haitian national — avoided being part of a three-week trial last fall by pleading guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and being in possession of a firearm while unlawfully in the United States. Under the terms of her plea agreement, she had faced up to 17 years in prison.”

Yemen

CBS: Ship Sunk By Houthis Likely Responsible For Damaging 3 Telecommunications Cables Under Red Sea

“The U.S. assesses that three sea cables under the Red Sea damaged last week were likely severed by the anchor of a ship as it was sinking after an attack by the Houthis. "Those cables were cut mostly by an anchor dragging from the Rubymar as she sank," White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin in an interview Wednesday. The U.K.-owned commercial ship Rubymar sank Saturday morning after taking on water when it was hit by a Houthi missile on Feb. 18. As it was sinking, its anchor likely severed three of the cables that provide global telecommunications and internet data internationally. Telecommunications firm HGC Global Communications said last week in a statement that the incident "had a significant impact on communication networks in the Middle East," and it was rerouting affected traffic while also utilizing the other Red Sea cables that were still intact. The Houthis have been attacking commercial ships since November to protest the war in Gaza, but the Rubymar is the first ship that has sunk after being attacked.”

Middle East

Times Of Israel: IDF Soldier Killed, 13 Wounded In Battles With Hamas In Southern Gaza

“An Israeli soldier was killed and another 13 were wounded on Wednesday during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, bringing the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas since late October to 247. The soldier was named as Staff Sgt. David Sasson, 21, of the Oketz canine unit, from Ganot Hadar. Among the 12 wounded in the same battle against Hamas operatives, five sustained serious injuries, according to the Israel Defense Forces.”

Associated Press: Pressure Grows On Israel To Open More Aid Routes Into Gaza By Land And Sea As Hunger Worsens

“Efforts to get desperately needed humanitarian aid to war-wracked northern Gaza gained momentum Wednesday with the European Union increasing pressure for the creation of a sea route from Cyprus to Gaza and British Foreign Minister David Cameron saying that Israel’s allies were losing patience. While aid groups say all of Gaza is mired in a humanitarian crisis, the situation in the largely isolated north stands out. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living there have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The U.N. says that one in six children younger than 2 in the north suffers from acute malnutrition. Amid the global pressure to alleviate the crisis, two Israeli officials said Wednesday the government will begin allowing aid to move directly from its territory into northern Gaza and will also cooperate with the creation of the sea route from Cyprus.”

Nigeria

BBC: Nigeria's Boko Haram Crisis: Dozens Of Women Feared Abducted In Gamboru Ngala

“The victims were mostly women who lived in a camp in Gamboru Ngala town after fleeing their homes because of attacks by the insurgents, locals said. The abductions occurred when the group went to collect firewood to cook or sell, they added. The United Nations condemned the reported kidnappings and called of for the unconditional release of abductees. Mohamed Malick Fall, the UN's Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said that while the exact number is unknown it is estimated more than 200 people were abducted. He said in a statement on Wednesday that the incident was "a stark reminder that women and girls are among those most affected" by the Islamist insurgency in north-east Nigeria. While sympathising with the families of the victims, Mr Fall urged authorities to provide more livelihood opportunities for displaced persons in camps to reduce the risks they face. The largest mass abduction by Boko Haram occurred when more than 270 schoolgirls were seized from their dormitory in Chibok town, also in north-eastern Borno state, in 2014.”

Africa

Associated Press: Draft UN Resolution Calls For Cease-Fire In Conflict-Torn Sudan During Upcoming Muslim Holy Month

“Britain has circulated a draft U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in conflict-wracked Sudan ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins soon. The draft, obtained late Wednesday by The Associated Press, expresses “grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels of acute food insecurity, particularly in Darfur.” With Ramadan expected to begin around Sunday, depending on the sighting of the new moon, the council is expected to vote quickly on the resolution, likely on Friday. Sudan plunged into chaos last April, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.Fighting spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas, but in Sudan’s western Darfur region it took on a different form, with brutal attacks by the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces on ethnic African civilians. Thousands of people have been killed.”

Associated Press: New Attacks By IS-Linked Group In Mozambique Leave Over 70 Children Missing. Thousands Have Fled

“A surge of new attacks by an Islamic State-affiliated group in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province has left more than 70 children missing, with fears they may have drowned in a river or been kidnapped by militants as thousands of families fled, local authorities and a group of aid agencies said. Around 30 families now seeking shelter in Nampula province to the south have asked police to help locate their children, according to a report released Wednesday by the Protection Working Group, a network of non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies. The attacks have hit areas that had been relatively untouched since the start of the jihadist insurgency in Cabo Delgado in 2017. They may mark a new stage in a crisis that aid agencies say forced more than a million people to flee their homes during nearly seven years of violence. Thousands were killed. Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s northernmost province that borders Tanzania, was thrust into the international spotlight in 2020 and 2021 when insurgents were accused of carrying out mass beheadings, including of children.”

Reuters: Junta-Led Sahel States To Form Joint Force To Fight Insurgents

“Junta-led Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali have agreed to set up a joint force to tackle security threats across their territories, Niger's armed forces chief Moussa Salaou Barmou said on Wednesday after a meeting with his counterparts. The decision is the latest sign of closer alignment to emerge since the three neighbours in West Africa's insurgency-torn central Sahel region severed military ties with longstanding allies including France and formed a cooperation pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). In a televised statement, Barmou said the new task force would be "operational as soon as possible to meet the security challenges," but did not give further details on the size or remit of the force. Violence in the region fuelled by the decade-long fight with Islamist groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State has worsened since the three countries' militaries seized power in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023.”

Russia

Politico: Chess Champ Garry Kasparov Calls Inclusion On Moscow’s Terrorist List An ‘Honor’

“Russia’s financial monitoring agency has added ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov to its list of “terrorists and extremists.” The listing, by Rosfinmonitoring, restricts client bank transactions, requiring users to get approval every time they access their accounts. Kasparov to expressed his amusement, calling the citation an “honor that says more about Putin’s fascist regime than about me. “Today would be a good day to add Russia, Putin and all his cronies to the state sponsors of terror list,” he added, referring to a U.S. list of countries found to have “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.” After ending his chess career in 2005, Kasparov became active in the Russian opposition, but left the country in 2013 to avoid persecution. He is now one of the most outspoken opponents of Putin’s regime in exile. In 2015, Kasparov published a book prophetically titled “Winter is Coming,” arguing that Putin and other “enemies of the free world” must be stopped.”