Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:
– **Israel launches ‘wide-scale’ strikes**
Israel’s military said it began a broad wave of strikes on western Iran, more than two weeks into the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic. “A short while ago, the IDF began a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in western Iran,” the army said in a statement.
– **Iraq warns of prison at risk**
Iraq warned that drone attacks near Baghdad airport threatened the security of the nearby prison housing Islamic State group suspects recently brought from Syria. They have been held since in Baghdad’s al-Karkh prison, once a US Army detention centre known as Camp Cropper, which is part of Baghdad airport’s complex that has been subjected to repeated strikes. Since the start of the Middle East war, Tehran-backed armed groups have been claiming daily drone and rocket attacks against US bases in Iraq.
– **Zelensky fears losing US support**
Ukraine does not want to lose US support for its struggle against Russia as a result of Washington’s war with Iran, President Volodymyr Zelensky has told journalists. “We are showing our willingness to help the United States and their allies in the Middle East” by offering to share Ukraine’s drone expertise, and “we strongly hope that as a result of the Middle East, the United States will not turn its back on the question of the war in Ukraine,” he added.
– **Iran Guards threaten Israeli PM**
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vowed on Sunday to “pursue and kill” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to their website Sepah News.
– **Pentagon identifies soldiers killed**
The Pentagon released the identities of six US crew members killed during the crash of a refuelling aircraft in western Iraq earlier this week, which authorities said was not caused by “hostile fire.” The Pentagon said the six members killed in the crash were John Klinner, 33; Ariana Savino, 31; Ashley Pruitt, 34; Seth Koval, 38; Curtis Angst, 30; and Tyler Simmons, 28.
– **South Korea evacuates more than 200**
South Korea is evacuating 204 of its citizens and seven other nationals from the Middle East using a military aircraft, the foreign ministry said, calling the operation “unprecedented.” The evacuees are due to arrive in South Korea on Sunday afternoon.
– **Loud explosions heard in Bahrain’s Manama**
Explosions rang out over Bahrain’s capital of Manama early on Sunday, two AFP journalists said. Bahrain said it had intercepted 125 missiles and 203 drones since the start of Iran’s attacks, which have killed two people in the kingdom and 24 others in neighbouring Gulf nations.
– **Iraq football team to travel to Mexico**
Iraq will travel to Mexico for a 2026 World Cup playoff match despite calls for it to be postponed due to the Middle East war, the country’s football association said Saturday. The national team would depart in the coming days via a private plane ahead of the match scheduled for March 31 in the Mexican city of Monterrey.
– **Bahrain, Saudi Arabia F1 races cancelled**
The Formula One races scheduled for April in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been cancelled due to the conflict, motorsport’s governing body announced.
– **More Iranian footballers drop asylum bid**
Three members of the Iranian women’s football team granted asylum in Australia have changed their minds and decided to return home to Iran, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said. One other team member seeking refuge had a change of heart in the past week and left the country, leaving a total of three out of seven asylum seekers from the squad still in Australia.
burs-giv/sbk
© 2024 AFP
