strike

Jan. 23 (UPI) — Two were killed and another survived a lethal kinetic strike on an alleged drug vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command announced on Friday.

Personnel with Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted the strike “on a vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations” at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Southcom officials said in a news release.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the release continued.

“Two narco-terrorists were killed, and one survived the strike. Following the engagement, U.S. Southcom immediately notified [the] U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor.”

The Defense Department did not provide any more information on the strike, which was the first reported since U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores on Jan. 3.

Both were flown to New York, where they are charged with drug trafficking and related offenses in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York.

Southern Command began conducting aerial kinetic strikes on alleged drug-running vessels on Sept. 2.

It has carried out 36 strikes against an equal number of vessels that were said to be carrying potentially deadly narcotics, with many of the vessels sailing from Venezuela. At least 117 have died in the kinetic strikes.

A kinetic strike refers to the use of non-exploding munitions that rely on mass and velocity to knock out a target, according to the Department of Defense.

Jan. 23 (UPI) — People are calling out of work, businesses are shutting down and people are avoiding spending money in Minnesota Friday as a protest of the federal agents surge in their state.

The general strike day is called ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom, and the organizers have called for people to boycott work, school and shopping. The strike calls for an immediate end to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents in the state and charges for the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good. It also demands no more funding for ICE in the next federal budget.

“It’s tense and emotional, and folks are hurting,” Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director of Faith in Action, told The New York Times. He said Minnesotans are showing their “deep resilience and willingness to stand together in ways I haven’t seen folks do in a very long time.”

The day of the protest will be difficult for those braving the weather, as Minnesota is under an extreme cold warning Friday. Temperatures in the Twin Cities are expected to drop to minus 20 degrees, with wind chills of minus 41 degrees.

A march is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST in Minneapolis, and prayer vigils are planned all over the state.

The city has been under tension for weeks since the agents arrived. Good was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7. Federal prosecutors recently subpoenaed Gov. Tim Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democratic elected officials. A Nicaraguan detainee died in ICE custody of an apparent suicide. On Thursday, a 5-year-old boy was detained with his father, and three other children were taken. Three activists were arrested after a protest during a church service. Vice President JD Vance visited the city Thursday to “restore law and order” in the city, and he blamed local officials for the “chaotic” ICE enforcement.

The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the state of Minnesota have filed a federal lawsuit to stop the federal action in their cities and state.

Minneapolis native Kimberly Chase, 64, protested the Vance speech Thursday and told The Washington Post that her niece and her classmates had talked about digging a hole on school property to hide from ICE agents if they came to their school.

“We’re being invaded at all levels of society from kids to old people,” Chase told The Post. “But it’s not working. If anything, it’s making our community tighter.”

Many local businesses in the Twin Cities were closed on Friday.

“There’s a time to stand up for things, and this is it,” Alison Kirwin, the owner of Al’s Breakfast, told The New York Times. Her restaurant in Minneapolis closed on Friday. “If it takes away from a day of our income, that is worthwhile.”

In an email on Thursday, a Department of Homeland Security official told The Times that the strike was “beyond insane.” He asked, “Why would these labor bosses not want these public safety threats out of their communities?”

“What we have experienced and are experiencing in the state of Minnesota is not normal,” said JaNaé Bates Imari, auxiliary minister at Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Paul, at a Jan. 13 news conference, The Post reported. “We have witnessed violence over and over again, families being ripped apart, loved ones being torn from their hospital beds, from their workplaces, from their homes.

“We cannot allow this to continue,” Bates Imari said. “If you ever wondered for yourself, when is the time that we do something different, when is the time that we stand up … the time is now.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said on X Monday that the agency had arrested more than 10,000 undocumented immigrants in Minneapolis. She provided no evidence of that number.

Christa Sarrack, president of a labor union that represents about 6,000 of Minnesota’s hospitality workers, said the one-day strike might be the largest worker action in Minnesota history. She told The Times that some of the union members’ employers had decided to close for the day, and others were allowing employees to not come to work.

“We cannot simply sit by and allow this to continue,” Sarrack said. “We must use every tool that we have to fight back.”

Some coffee shops planned to close but open their doors for people to come inside and warm up, offering free coffee and sign-making materials, The Post said. A brewery planned to offer free hot dogs. Other businesses said they would stay open to help employees who needed the wages but would donate some revenue to local nonprofits.

WASHINGTON  — Do licensed gun owners have a right to carry a loaded weapon into stores, restaurants and other private places that are open to the public?

California and Hawaii are among five states with new laws that forbid carrying firearms onto private property without the consent of an owner or manager. But the Trump administration joined gun-rights advocates on Tuesday in urging the Supreme Court to strike down these laws as unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment.

Such a law “effectively nullifies licenses to carry arms in public,” Trump’s lawyers said.

If you “stop at a gasoline station, you are committing a crime,” Deputy Solicitor Gen. Sarah Harris told the court.

An attorney representing Hawaii said the issue is one of property rights, not gun rights.

“An invitation to shop is not an invitation to bring your Glock,” Washington attorney Neal Katyal told the court. “There is no constitutional right to enter property that includes a right to bring firearms.”

The justices sounded split along the usual ideological lines, with the court’s conservatives signaling they are likely to strike down the new laws in five Democratic-led states.

“You are relegating the 2nd Amendment to second-class status,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. told Katyal.

He said the court had ruled law-abiding persons have a right to carry a firearm for self-defense when they leave home. That would include going to stores or businesses that are open to the public.

“If the owners don’t like guns, why don’t they just put up a sign?” Alito said.

Both sides agreed that business owners are generally free to allow or prohibit guns on their property. However, state officials said, the laws are important because business owners rarely post signs that either welcome or forbid the carrying of guns.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the 2nd Amendment should have the same standing as the 1st Amendment.

He said it was understood based on the 1st Amendment that a political candidate may walk up to a house and knock on the door or drop off a pamphlet. He questioned why the court should uphold a law that limits gun owners from entering places that are open to the public.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh said they too believed the “right to keep and bear arms” included the right to carry weapons, including into stores.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said property rights should prevail over gun rights.

“Is there a right to go on private property with a gun?” Sotomayor asked repeatedly. She said the court had never upheld such a broad right.

But with the possible exception of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, none of the conservatives agreed.

Four years ago, the court ruled law-abiding gun owners had a right to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense when they left home. They also said then that guns may be prohibited in “sensitive places” but they did not decide what that meant.

In the wake of that decision, California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey and Maryland adopted new laws that restricted carrying guns in public places, including parks and beaches.

The laws also said gun owners may not take a gun into a privately owned business without the “express authorization” of an owner or manager. California’s law went a step further and said the owner must post a clear sign allowing guns.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the laws from Hawaii and California, except for the required posting of a sign in California.

Three Hawaii residents with concealed carry permits appealed to the Supreme Court and won the backing of the Trump administration.

West Ham United forward Callum Wilson made light of the uncertainty surrounding his future, as he reacts to scoring a dramatic stoppage-time winner against Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

READ MORE: Late West Ham winner piles pressure on Spurs boss Frank

After threatening to attack Iran for days in support of protesters challenging the government in Tehran, United States President Donald Trump appeared to dial back the rhetoric on Wednesday evening.

The killings in Iran, Trump said, had stopped, adding that Tehran had told his administration that arrested protesters would not be executed.

Trump did not rule out an attack on Iran, but in effect, negated the rationale for such an attack.

Still, as Trump closes in on the completion of the first year of his second term in office, his track record suggests the possibility of US military strikes against Iran in the coming days remains a real threat.

We take a look:

Maduro abducted – amid diplomacy and limited strikes

Since August, the US had positioned its largest military deployment in the Caribbean Sea in decades.

The US military bombed more than 30 boats that it claimed – without providing evidence – were carrying drugs to the United States, killing more than 100 people in these strikes. For months, Trump and his team accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading mass-scale narcotics smuggling operations, again without evidence. Amid the boat bombings, Trump even said that the US might strike Venezuelan land next.

But in late November, Trump revealed to reporters that he had spoken to the Venezuelan leader. A few days later, the call was confirmed by Maduro himself, who described it as “cordial”.

The US then hit what Trump described as a docking facility for alleged drug boats in Venezuela. After that, on January 1, Maduro offered Trump an olive branch, saying he was open to talks with Washington on drug trafficking and even on enabling US access to oil. Trump appeared to be getting what he ostensibly wanted – access to Venezuelan oil and blocks on drugs from the country.

Yet only hours later, US forces targeted the capital, abducting Maduro and his wife on charges of narcotics trafficking and transporting them to the United States.

Iran bombed – when ‘two weeks’ of diplomacy appeared imminent

Venezuela was not the first time Trump launched a dramatic attack at a time when diplomacy appeared to be taking hold.

In June, Iran learned the hard way that Trump’s words and actions do not match.

Amid rising tensions over US accusations that Iran was racing towards enriching uranium for nuclear weapons, Washington and Tehran engaged in weeks of hectic negotiations. Trump frequently warned Iran that time was running out for it to strike a deal, but then returned to talks.

On June 13, he wrote on Truth Social that his team “remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue.”

His “entire” administration, he said, had been “directed to negotiate with Iran”.

But barely hours later, US ally Israel struck Iran. Most experts believe Israel would not have attacked Iran without Trump’s approval.

As Israel and Iran traded fire in the subsequent days, Trump faced questions over whether the US would bomb Iran.

On June 20, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying that he would “make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks”.

Far from utilising the full two weeks he gave himself, Trump made his decision in two days.

In the early hours of June 22, US B-2 Spirit bombers dropped fourteen bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, buried deep inside a mountain near Qom. The US also bombed nuclear facilities in Natanz and Isfahan using the most powerful conventional bombs in the US arsenal.

The attack shocked many observers, in part because of what appeared to have been an elaborate diplomatic ruse preceding it.

Iran protest calculus: What’s Trump’s plan?

Now, all eyes are on Iran again, where demonstrations against the government have been under way for the past two weeks, before calming down earlier this week.

As the unrest turned deadlier last week, Trump urged Iranians to continue demonstrating.

“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!… HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on January 13, without elaborating on what form that help might take.

But within 24 hours, during a meeting with reporters in Washington, DC, Trump said he had been assured that the killing of protesters in Iran had stopped.

“They’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place – there were supposed to be a lot of executions today, and that the executions won’t take place – and we’re going to find out,” Trump said on Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with Fox TV, also denied that Tehran planned to execute antigovernment protesters. “Hanging is ‌out of the ‌question,” he said.

Which other countries is Trump threatening?

Beyond Iran and Venezuela, longstanding US rivals, Trump’s aggression has increasingly extended towards Washington’s own allies, including Canada and Greenland.

The most striking example is Trump’s eagerness to take over Greenland, a Danish territory, which has evolved from a campaign talking point into a focal element of his administration’s Western Hemisphere strategy.

On January 5, the State Department posted a black-and-white image of Trump on social media, declaring: “This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.”

The president has refused to rule out the use of military force, with administration officials openly discussing US interest in Greenland’s strategic location and mineral resources.

Denmark has categorically rejected any sale, while Greenland’s leadership insists the territory is not for sale.

But experts such as Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations, argue that Trump uses threats to intimidate adversaries and typically employs force only against weaker targets.

In a paper published last May titled, The bully’s pulpit: Finding patterns in Trump’s use of military force, Shapiro suggested that Trump frequently invokes military threats but often fails to follow through.

According to Shapiro, Trump is more likely to act when threats carry “low escalation risk”, while threats against nuclear-armed or militarily strong states largely serve rhetorical purposes. The most extreme or theatrical warnings, he argues, tend to function as tools of “political signalling rather than precursors to real military action”.

“Trump often deploys grandiose threats but only accepts limited, low-risk military operations. He uses foreign policy as political theatre, aiming threats as much at his domestic base and media cycle as at foreign adversaries,” Shapiro writes.

Calculated unpredictability?

Some analysts believe Trump’s approach offers tactical advantages.

“The intent is to keep opponents off balance, heightening psychological pressure and extracting maximum strategic leverage,” a Pakistani government official told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. “Even his European allies are not always certain what to expect.”

Others remain sceptical. Qandil Abbas, a specialist on Middle East affairs at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, described Trump’s behaviour as erratic, citing his repeated threats against multiple countries.

“Look at his threats against Cuba, or Iran, or Venezuela, and yet this is the same president who also wants to win a Nobel prize and is desperate for it,” Abbas told Al Jazeera.

So is Trump actually pulling back from the prospect of attacking Iran – or is he bluffing?

According to Abbas, Trump’s apparent change in tone might be the result of feedback from US allies in the region “that attacking Iran is not smart”.

Still, Abbas said that “with Israel’s support, I feel he will find a way to strike the country.”

Though there are currently no aircraft carriers in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) region, the Navy’s top admiral said he would seek alternatives to extending the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) for any potential operation against Iran. The strike group, which most recently took part in the Operation Absolute Resolve mission to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, is currently in the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) region. It has been away from home since leaving its homeport of Norfolk on June 24, 2025. Extending deployments has a cascading effect on the ability to maintain ships and on the lives of the sailors who operate them.

Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), discussed the status of Ford and her escorts with a small group of reporters, including from The War Zone, today at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium.

“I think the Ford, from its capability perspective, would be an invaluable option for any military thing the president wants to do,” Caudle explained. “But if it requires an extension, it’s going to get some push back from the CNO. And I will see if there is something else I can do.”

Caudle did not provide specific options, but emphasized that there is a price to be paid for the strike group after being away from homeport for more than 200 days under often intense conditions.

As for what is in the CENTCOM area of operations today, six U.S. Navy warships including three Arleigh Burke class destroyers, USS McFaul, USS Mitscher and USS Roosevelt are present, as well as three Littoral Combat Ships, the USS Tulsa, USS Santa Barbara and USS Canberra. This is a much smaller array of vessels than what was present during the war between Israel and Iran in June. If a carrier is requested, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group would be the one that would likely respond.

Lincoln is currently operating in the South China Sea. There are no other carriers on cruise at the moment. But it’s also worth noting that a carrier is not a prerequisite for dealing with contingencies or even offensive operations in the region. The U.S. can fold in other resources to help make up for the naval presence gap. Where it may be felt most is in missile and drone defense, especially considering multiple Aegis-equipped surface combatants were tasked with defending Israel during the war. This was in addition to the need to defend U.S. and other allies’ facilities in the region.

As for the Ford, its strike group left Norfolk for a “regularly scheduled deployment” to the Mediterranean 11 days before the start of the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran and two days before the U.S. Operation Midnight Hammer attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Last October, the strike group was ordered by President Donald Trump to move to the SOUTHCOM region in response to the growing tensions with Venezuela, which you can read more about here. Arleigh Burke class destroyers USS Winston S. Churchill, USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan remain on station with the Ford to continue operations under Operation Southern Spear, the effort to counter drug trafficking in the region and maintain pressure on Venezuela.

“The fact that the Ford is currently operating in the Southern Command’s area of operations is fine with me,” Caudle posited. “It is the extensions that bother.”

“I am a big non-fan of extensions, and because they do have significant impact,” Caudle explained. “Number one, I’m a sailors-first CNO. People want to have some type of certainty that they’re going to do a seven-month deployment.”

“When it goes past that, that disrupts lives,” Caudle added. “It disrupts things like funerals that were planned, marriages that were planned, okay, babies that were planned, you know, so the human element of extension, I’m not a big fan of obviously.”

Beyond affecting people, extensions also have a detrimental impact on the ships.

“To the financial and readiness aspects, we have maintenance agreements and contracts that have been made with yards that are going to repair the ships that are in that strike group, including the carrier itself,” Caudle explained. “And so when those are tied to a specific time, the yard is expecting it to be there. All that is highly disruptive.”

Extending the deployment of the Ford and its carrier group would also add stress “to the workforce, to the balance on that yard, and to how we actually conduct that maintenance, even more so if it goes into the next fiscal year,” Caudle said. “The financial aspects of an extension can be quite disruptive when we burn the ships hotter – more than planned. That does have detrimental effects on the work package.”

“So now, when the ship comes back, we expected the ship to be in this level of state in which it was used during that seven-month deployment, when it goes eight, nine-plus months, those critical components that we weren’t expecting to repair are now on the table,” Caudle pointed out. “The work package grows, so that’s disruptive.”

Yesterday, the Navy highlighted concerns about how heavy work loads interfere with one aspect of ship maintenance, rust, but there is a much larger scope of work that needs to be done to keep a carrier strike group operational.

Extending ships’ cruises repeatedly can cause cascading effects that deeply impact the future readiness of the force. This can result in critical power projection capabilities not being available in the future. It’s very much a steal from Peter to pay Paul kind of scenario.

You can read all about these issues and how they can manifest across the fleet in this past special feature of ours.

The constant presence needed in the Red Sea, and multiple other contingencies in the Middle East over the last few years, have also taken their toll on the fleet.

Though on a voyage approaching an eighth month, the Ford strike group’s current deployment is still far shorter than the one undertaken by the USS Nimitz strike group in 2020. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nimitz embarked what would become a 341-day deployment, returning home in March 2021. It marked the longest such deployment since the Vietnam War, Navy Times noted.

Regardless of any concerns about what it would mean to the ships and crews of the Ford CSG, Caudle said they will be ready for whatever mission Trump orders.

“I like to tell people the Navy can be anywhere in two weeks,” Caudle proffered. “We are, by our very nature, mobile, expeditionary, quick response option available. And so if the president needs options in the Middle East, you know, we can go build out what that looks like for him. And with the right planning and coordination with the, you know, the respective combatant commanders the Navy will be ready to provide options.”

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Three detained British activists who spent weeks refusing food have ended their hunger strike, citing a report that a United Kingdom-based subsidiary of a major Israeli weapons company was denied a UK government contract.

The Prisoners for Palestine group said in a statement on Wednesday that hunger-strikers Kamran Ahmed, Heba Muraisi and Lewie Chiaramello ended their strike after one of their “key” demands was achieved.

“Our prisoners hunger strike will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance; an embarrassment for the British state,” the group said.

Several people affiliated with the proscribed group Palestine Action had refused food in UK prisons since November in protest of their detention and the British government’s support for Israel as it wages a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.

More to come…

A U.S. plane with a civilian-style outward appearance and the ability to launch munitions from within its fuselage carried out the first controversial strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat, according to multiple reports. Questions have been raised about this line of reporting. However, there are very real discreet munition launch options available for aircraft that can retain a distinctly civilian outward appearance, enabled heavily by one specific system called the Common Launch Tube (CLT).

The New York Times was first to report yesterday on the use of the civilian-looking aircraft, which it also described as a “secret” capability, in the strike on the boat in the Caribbean Sea on September 2, 2025, citing anonymous sources. The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal published additional reports today, again citing unnamed sources, on the involvement of this as-yet unidentified plane.

“It is not clear what the aircraft was. While multiple officials confirmed that it was not painted in a classic military style, they declined to specify exactly what it looked like,” according to the story from the Times. “The aircraft also carried its munitions inside the fuselage, rather than visibly under its wings, they said.”

“Its transponder was transmitting a military tail number, meaning broadcasting or ‘squawking’ its military identity via radio signals,” that report added.

It was “a secretive military aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane,” according to the Post‘s report. “The munitions were fired from a launch tube that allows them to be carried inside the plane, not mounted outside on the wing.”

“The Pentagon has told lawmakers that it chose an aircraft painted in civilian colors to carry out a lethal Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean because the unit could be the quickest ready for the operation,” per the Journal. That report also included statements from the Pentagon and the White House that did not expressly confirm or deny the use of a civilian-looking plane.

All three pieces discuss whether the use of an armed aircraft with a civilian-style appearance may have violated international law in this instance, something that remains very much open for debate. The September 2 strike, which killed 11 people, has already been a subject of particular controversy over the decision to hit the boat twice, and whether doing so constituted a crime. Since then, the U.S. military has attacked dozens of boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, all alleged to be involved in drug smuggling, and this campaign has faced intense legal scrutiny and criticism. MQ-9 Reaper drones and AC-130J Ghostrider gunships are known to have participated in those subsequent attacks.

Much debate had already erupted about the details in The New York Times‘ piece after it was initially published. Many questioned whether the unnamed sources may have been confused about the aircraft in question and/or its appearance. Around the time of the September 2 strike, online flight tracking data had shown a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane in the area, which is primarily painted white rather than a more typical military gray and is based on a version of the Boeing 737 airliner. P-8As can carry munitions in an internal bay in the rear of the fuselage, as well as under their wings. It may potentially have the ability to dispense small munitions from inside the fuselage. We will come back to all of this later on. The Navy, as well as the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps, fly a number of other variations of the 737, primarily as transports, under the C-40 designation.

A truly secretive 737 with a civilian-type paint scheme is said to have been in the general area at the time of the strike, but is not known to be armed in any way, although that means little in this case. This particular aircraft, which is covered in unusual antennas, currently has the U.S. civil registration number N235JF. The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) public database shows the jet has been registered to “GWP LLC TRUSTEE”, which looks to be a shell company, since 2023, but it has been linked to the U.S. military since then. It notably appeared last year directly alongside one of the U.S. Air Force’s AC-130Js and a Navy P-8A at a known U.S. forward operating location in El Salvador.

One of the U.S. Air Force’s P-9A surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, also referred to by the nickname Pale Ale, is said to have been in the vicinity, as well. The P-9As wear overall white paint schemes and carry civilian registration numbers. They are based on the de Havilland Canada DHC-8 (or Dash-8), versions of which are also in service as airliners. They are also not known to be capable of employing munitions.

It’s HIGHLY likely that a P-8 was mistaken as a civilian paint job, as one was out on the day in question and likely was involved in the strike. P-8s historically also go very close to the water, and its not uncommon for them to be mistaken as 737s: https://t.co/b9spRbqKHC pic.twitter.com/KNb4NEDOYN

— TieDye Intel (@TieDyeIntel) January 13, 2026

What other aircraft may have been present during the strike on September 2 last year is unknown. Not all aircraft that are flying at any one time, civilian and especially military, are visible via online flight tracking sites.

What we do know is that companies in the United States openly offer ways to discreetly arm a host of crewed fixed-wing aircraft, especially smaller turboprop-powered types, with precision-guided munitions. All of this has been made easier by the advent of the aforementioned CLT. Each one of these tubes can accommodate payloads up to 42 inches in length and 5.95 inches in diameter, and that weigh up to 100 pounds. Payloads can be fired forward or ejected backward, depending on their design. GBU-44/B Viper Strike and GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition (SGM) glide bombs, AGM-176 Griffin missiles, and ALTIUS 600 drones are just a few of the payloads known to be launchable via CLT. The tube’s flexibility makes it extremely probable that even more options exist in the classified realm.

It is worth noting here that The Washington Post previously reported that the September 2 boat strike involved the use of GBU-69s and AGM-176s. The P-8A is not known to be capable of employing either of these munitions, lending further credence to the new reporting that another aircraft was used, though not necessarily to it having had a civilian-like appearance. In the past, TWZ has laid out a case for turning the Poseidon into a multi-role arsenal ship with CLT launchers and other capabilities.

Originally developed by Systima Technologies, which was acquired by Karman Missile & Space Systems in 2021, CLTs have been in U.S. service for years now. Munitions launched via CLTs are part of the armament package for the AC-130J Ghostrider gunships, and this had also been a feature on the now-retired AC-130W Stinger IIs. The U.S. Marine Corps’ Harvest Hawk armament kit for its KC-130J tanker-transports also includes a CLT launch system. U.S. MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones are also capable of employing payloads via CLT using launchers loaded on pylons under their wings. As mentioned earlier, AC-130s and MQ-9s are among the aircraft known to have been involved in strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats since September 2 of last year.

The CLT’s diminutive size opens up a host of options for launching whatever payload is inside from somewhere within the internal structure of a wide swath of aircraft. Launchers can be readily set up to fire through parts of the fuselage. AC-130Js have an array of CLT launchers built into the upper portion of the aircraft’s rear cargo ramp. The latest iteration of the Marine’s Harvest Hawk kit has a so-called “Derringer Door” with two launchers that replaces one of he rear paratrooper doors on the KC-130J. This took the place of a launch system strapped to the aircraft’s rear cargo ramp, which had to be open for it to be employed, found on earlier iterations of Haverst Hawk.

Internal CLT launcher arrays are known to be available for Dash-8s and Cessna Model 208 Caravan fixed-wing aircraft, as well as MD Helicopters’ Explorer series helicopters, among many other types. The Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) losing entry in the Air Force’s Armed Overwatch competition was a heavily modified version of the Polish PZL M28 Skytruck, dubbed the MC-145B Wily Coyote, which would have come with eight CLT launchers in its main cargo bay, among other features, as you can read more about here.

Generally speaking, they could be adapted to fit onto pretty much any aircraft large enough to accommodate them, and do so in a very discreet way, only needing a small aperture for their weapons to exist the aircraft from.

CLT launchers mounted internally are typically reloadable in flight, offering magazine depth benefits and giving the crew more flexibility to select the most appropriate payload for the task at hand, as well as to just launch multiple payloads in relatively rapid succession. With launchers built into doors, it is also easier to add or remove this capability, as desired. This, in turn, can enhance its discreet nature, as the launchers might only be installed right before a mission and removed immediately afterward. In this way, there could be little to no obvious outward signs that an aircraft has this capability during routine movements or other day-to-day activities.

Launch systems built into certain parts of an aircraft might not even be readily apparent, to begin with. One company, Fulcrum Concepts, openly offers a launch system compatible with the CLT that fits into the rear of the engine nacelles on variants of the Beechcraft King Air, which is something the U.S. military has at least tested in the past.

Within the U.S. military, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) publicly operates various fixed-wing aircraft, such as its U-28A Dracos and C-146A Wolfhounds. The U-28As are intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, while the C-146s are light transports. AFSOC has also flown ISR-configured variants of the Beechcraft King Air over the years. Any of these types would be well-suited to these kinds of discreet CLT launcher installations on account of the space available in their main cabins. It’s highly probable that this is an option for some of them already. These planes also often have minimal U.S. military markings. Sometimes they wear civilian-type paint schemes, as is notably the case with the Wolfhounds today and has been observed on U-28s, or related types in U.S. service, in the past.

There are even more secretive aircraft in service in the classified ends of the U.S. special operations world, and with the U.S. Intelligence Community that could align with the descriptions found in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal stories, which might have a discreet ability to employ munitions, especially via internally-mounted CLTs. Covert and clandestine strike capabilities would also be well in line with the missions that those aviation elements are often tasked to carry out. On the military side, many of those aircraft are tied to the secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which was involved in the September 2 strike.

All this being said, we still do not have anywhere near enough information to identify the aircraft referenced in the recent reports. At the same time, the versatility of the CLT means that essentially any aircraft can be converted to a strike platform that can be armed with small and highly accurate precision munitions capable, including ones capable of hitting targets on the move. Unassuming aircraft equipped in this way, and with liveries atypical of what is usually seen on military types, would be able to get even closer to their objectives with much less chance of raising suspicions. Equipping transport and/or corporate aircraft, and especially one like a 737 with its jet speeds and long-range, in such a way could allow it to strike, even by executing the preverbal ‘hammer toss’ as it flies over a target, while hiding in plain sight, potentially anywhere commercial aircraft can fly.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

North Korea on Tuesday denounced a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Russia’s recent air strike on Ukraine, defending Moscow’s action as a just exercise of the right to self-defense.

Kim Song, North Korea’s permanent representative to the U.N. issued a statement condemning the UNSC meeting Monday (New York time) after Russia launched a barrage of missile attacks on Ukraine last week.

“It is just an extension of the customary practice of the Western cavilers who used to groundlessly slander the just exercise of the right to self-defense of a sovereign state,” read the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

The North’s envoy denounced Ukraine’s military action against Russia as a “terrorist act” as Moscow earlier warned of a response against Ukraine following Kyiv’s drone attacks in early January.

“The terrorist act targeting the absolute sovereignty of a country can never be justified, and retaliation of justice can never be demonized by any assertion,” Kim said.

North Korea has sent thousands of troops and weapons to support Russia’s war with Ukraine amid deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Almost 15,000 nurses walked off the job in New York City, demanding better working conditions, marking the largest nurses’ strike in the city’s history as contract negotiations failed to gain traction.

Workers walked off the job early on Monday morning across three private hospital systems in the largest city in the US, Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the New York State Nursing Association said in a statement on Monday.

“Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits,” the nursing group added.

NewYork-Presbyterian reported a net income of $547m in 2024. Mount Sinai reported $114m, while Montefiore reported $288.62m, according to ProPublica’s nonprofit tracker, which monitors the finances of nonprofit organisations, which these three hospitals are.

Striking nurses claim hospital management has threatened to cut healthcare benefits. The union alleges that hospitals are attempting to roll back safe staffing standards. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the validity of these claims.

In 2021, New York state signed into law a requirement that hospitals establish committees at every facility to outline staffing plans by division, including a minimum one-to-two nurse-to-patient ratio in critical care units, as strains on the healthcare system became amplified during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You can’t divorce this from the experience of COVID in New York. COVID tested our healthcare system and tested nurses in particular. They last went on strike in 2023 and continue to face chronic understaffing, leaving them feeling overextended,” Lindsey Boylan, a community activist at the picket line on Monday morning, told Al Jazeera.

In 2023, after a three-day strike, nurses successfully pushed hospital systems, through arbitration, to enforce those standards across all hospital units.

The union alleges that hospitals are walking back the standards and that hospital management has failed to agree to requests to strengthen protections for workers amid a rise in workplace violence. Union representatives told Al Jazeera that the requests include installing metal detectors at hospital entrances.

The strike comes amid heightened concerns about hospital safety following an active shooter incident at a Mount Sinai hospital in November and a fatal shooting at a NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Brooklyn last week.

Mount Sinai has also allegedly disciplined nurses who raised concerns about alleged union-busting, resulting in a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board in October.

Al Jazeera reached out to NewYork-Presbyterian, Montefiore and Mount Sinai hospitals for comment.

“We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognises the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment. We have proposed significant wage increases that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the city,” a spokesperson for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital told Al Jazeera in a statement.

When pressed for specifics, the hospital did not respond. The union told Al Jazeera the hospital offered nurses $4,500 in single lump-sum payments that could be used towards healthcare benefits, staffing, or wages.

Representatives for Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore did not reply to requests for comment.

Unified nurses

“The fact that the people who provide healthcare need to be asking for healthcare is ironic and infuriating,” Alex Bores, a state assembly member and congressional candidate in New York’s 12th district, told Al Jazeera. Bores was at the picket line in the early hours of Monday.

“The energy was incredible. It was 6am and still dark, but people were marching and chanting. Everyone was energised and ready for the fight. There was no hesitation and no fear. It was clear the nurses were unified and prepared to go the distance,” Bores added.

The strike comes at the height of a severe flu season in New York, with hospitalisations reaching record highs. During the week of December 20, nearly 9 percent of emergency room visits were for the flu. Rates have since begun to decline, according to city health data.

“This [the severe flu season] leads to an increase in the number of people who need to be seen in emergency rooms and hospitals. As a result, staffing needs are actually higher, making this a particularly difficult time to not have all healthcare professionals available,” said Bruce Y Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy.

For the week of January 3, the most recent data available, flu cases fell to 5 percent of emergency department diagnoses.

Healthcare demands may give nurses added leverage in negotiations.

“I think there’s a lot of leverage at this time. New Yorkers understand the role nurses played during COVID and beyond, and with a very difficult flu season now under way, we are all aware of how important nurses are, and how overextended they are,” Boylan added.

The political test

The strike poses a major political test at both the city and state levels. Governor Kathy Hochul is up for re-election, and pro-labour Zohran Mamdani’s recent mayoral win in New York City has increased pressure on the governor to side with progressives across the state.

“My top priority is protecting patients and ensuring they can access the care they need. At the same time, we must reach an agreement that recognises the essential work nurses do every day on the front lines of our healthcare system,” Hochul said in a statement on Sunday night.

Representatives for the governor did not respond to requests for additional comment after nurses officially began striking.

The strike comes early in Mamdani’s administration and marks a significant political test for the city’s new mayor, who has historically been pro-labour.

“There were so many people, it was flooding both sides of the street,” Boylan added.

In response to a request to the mayor’s office for comment, senior spokesperson Dora Pekec referred Al Jazeera to a post that Mamdani published on X on Sunday evening, ahead of the strike.

“No New Yorker should have to fear losing access to health care — and no nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits or less dignity for doing lifesaving work. Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani wrote.

On Monday, the mayor joined picketers outside a hospital in Manhattan.

“This strike is not just a question of how much nurses earn per hour or what health benefits they receive, although both of those issues matter deeply. It is also a question of who deserves to benefit from this system,” Mamdani said at a news conference.

The spokesperson did not respond to our request for further comment.

Medical estimates put survival without food at 45 to 61 days. Three Palestine Action activists in the UK are now pushing beyond that boundary.

Three British activists from the proscribed Palestine Action group are on hunger strike seeking bail and a fair trial, with friends and relatives warning they are close to death but determined to continue until their demands are met.

Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed have refused food for 70 and 63 days respectively as part of a rolling hunger strike that began in November. A third prisoner, Lewie Chiaramello, is also refusing food on alternating days due to type 1 diabetes.

Five of the eight people who took part in the protest have ended their hunger strikes due to health concerns.

They are held in different jails over their alleged involvement in break-ins at the United Kingdom subsidiary of Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems in Bristol, where equipment was damaged, and at a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, where two military aircraft were sprayed with red paint.

They deny all charges.

The group is demanding:

• Bail and the right to a fair trial, and the reversal of the UK government’s July designation of Palestine Action as a “terrorist organisation”, placing it alongside ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda.
• Closure in the UK of all Elbit sites, which are facilities operated by Israel’s largest defence company, manufacturing military technology used by the Israeli armed forces and other governments.
• An end to what they describe as censorship inside prison, including the withholding of mail, phone calls and books.

All eight will have spent more than a year in custody without trials, exceeding the UK’s usual six-month pre-trial detention limit.

What does prolonged hunger do to the body?

In the early stages of starvation, after several days without food, the body begins breaking down muscle to produce energy.

As the fast continues, metabolism slows down. The body loses its ability to regulate temperature, kidney function deteriorates, and the immune system weakens, reducing the body’s ability to heal from injury.

Once the body’s reserves are depleted, it can no longer prioritise nutrients for vital organs. The heart and lungs become less efficient, muscles shrink and profound weakness sets in.

Eventually, as protein stores are depleted, and the body begins to break down its own tissues. At this stage, death may be imminent.

Scientific research on prolonged starvation is limited due to ethical reasons; however, estimates suggest that a healthy, well-nourished adult could survive without food for between 45 and 61 days, which means the three activists have now reached, or exceeded, that threshold, placing them in extreme, life-threatening danger.

International concern

Hunger strikes have long been used as an extreme, non-violent form of protest, relying on moral pressure to compel those in power to act. Historical records trace the practice to ancient India and Ireland, where people would fast at the doorstep of someone who had wronged them as a form of public shaming.

In modern times, hunger strikes remain powerful political statements, often drawing international attention to cases of imprisonment, injustice or repression, even at the cost of the striker’s life. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners incarcerated without any charges by Israel have resorted to hunger strikes to bring attention to their cases.

United Nations experts said hunger strikes are “often a measure of last resort by people who believe their rights to protest and effective remedy have been exhausted”. They added that the state’s duty of care towards hunger strikers is heightened, not diminished, and that authorities must ensure timely access to emergency and hospital care, refrain from pressure or retaliation, and respect medical ethics.

Kerry Moscogiuri, director of campaigns and communications at Amnesty International UK, called the situation alarming. She said it was “shocking that these activists have been forced to resort to such desperate measures to bring attention to their plight”, adding that the crisis reflects a “gross misuse of counterterrorism powers”.

Jan. 10 (UPI) — The U.S. military and allied forces carried out “large-scale” retaliatory strikes on ISIS targets in Syria as part of the military’s ongoing Operation Hawkeye Strike campaign.

The aerial strikes were carried out against multiple targets at 12:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said in a news release.

“The strikes today targeted ISIS throughout Syria as part of our ongoing commitment to root out Islamic terrorism against our warfighters, prevent future attacks and protect American and partner forces in the region,” CentCom officials said.

“U.S. and coalition forces remain resolute in pursuing terrorists who seek to harm the United States,” they added. “Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice.”

More than 90 precision munitions carried by more than 24 aircraft were used to strike more than 35 targets throughout Syria, CNN reported.

CentCom launched Operation Hawkeye on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the ISIS attack on U.S. and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria, on Dec. 13.

The attack killed two Iowa National Guard members and their U.S. civilian interpreter, and Operation Hawkeye Strike is named after the nickname of the soldiers’ home state of Iowa.

Iowa residents Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, were part of an 1,800-member troop deployment to Syria when they were ambushed and killed.

Also killed was interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, 54, of Macomb Township, Mich., and three other soldiers were wounded.

The U.S. military has hundreds of personnel deployed in Syria amid an effort to eradicate ISIS there.

Scotland’s resident doctors have called off a planned four-day strike over pay.

They had been set to go on the first national walkout staged by NHS workers on Tuesday, having accused ministers of going back on promises over pay.

But after further negotiations, the British Medical Association union is to suspend the strike and put a fresh pay offer to members – and is recommending that it is accepted.

Health secretary Neil Gray said it was “great news” which would avoid disruption to patient care.

Resident doctors – who used to be called junior doctors – make up about 42% of all Scotland’s doctors and range from newly qualified doctors to those with 10 years or more experience.

Members will now consider an offer of a 4.25% pay rise in 2025-26, followed by a 3.75% increase in 2026-27.

The pay deal offered by the Scottish government matches one already accepted by nurses and other healthcare staff, and was previously rejected by the BMA last year.

However it now comes alongside a separate package of contractual reform.

Gray said the deal had been struck following “days of intensive and constructive talks” between the government and the union.

He added that total investment in the offer – covering both pay and contract reform over the two-year period – will be £133m.

Dr Chris Smith, who chairs BMA Scotland’s resident doctors committee, said just before Christmas that discussions between the union and the government had been “useful” and welcomed a “constructive approach”.

Scotland has been the only part of the UK to have avoided strike action by NHS workers.

A previous proposed strike in Scotland in the summer of 2023 was called off at the last minute after a deal was agreed.

Multiple video clips offer strong evidence that kamikaze drones were among the capabilities the U.S. military brought to bear during the operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro over the weekend. This may have been the first real-world use of a new slate of U.S. long-range one-way attack drones and loitering munitions. After years of being outpaced by lower-end drone developments overseas, there is now a significant new push across America’s armed forces, and the special operations community in particular, to dramatically step up the acquisition and fielding of various tiers of uncrewed one-way strike aircraft.

Bystanders on the ground in Venezuela captured various videos of the U.S. assault on Saturday, which was officially dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve. In multiple clips, as seen in the social media post below, distinctly terrorizing high-pitched buzzing can be clearly heard, which are then followed immediately by explosions and/or other visual or auditory signs of munitions impacting the ground, all consistent with the use of one-way attack drones.

U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) declined to offer any comment when asked for additional details about the use of drones, in general, during Operation Absolute Resolve. TWZ has reached out to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and the White House for more information.

Similar high-pitched buzzing sounds, which were followed by impacts and detonations, are featured in a mountain of existing confirmed videos of various types of kamikaze drones powered by small piston engines driving single pusher propellers hitting their targets. The distinctive acoustic signature, in particular, has been consistently present in footage of attacks involving these kinds of uncrewed aerial systems that have emerged from multiple conflict zones globally in the past five years or so. Ukrainian forces have even established a network of acoustic sensors to help spot incoming Russian drone attacks across their country to capitalize on this acoustic signature.

This is the footage of the russian Shahed drone attacking an oil mill belonging to the American company Bunge.

As the result, more than 300 tons of oil was spilled, causing serious damage to the mill and environment. pic.twitter.com/JflSn2NkBd

— Oleksiy Goncharenko (@GoncharenkoUa) January 5, 2026

Footage released by Ukraine’s military show electronic warfare units disabling a Russian Shahed attack drone and forcing it to descend intact into the Black Sea, rather than detonating on impact. pic.twitter.com/PQfVscqBIM

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 14, 2025

In 2021, Azerbaijan’s Border Guard even released a video, seen below, focused on the sounds produced by the Israeli-made Harop loitering munitions that it had actively employed in a conflict with Armenia the previous year. At that time, TWZ highlighted the knock-on psychological effect this would have. Direct comparisons have also been drawn to the iconic sound of World War II-era dive bombers, and Nazi Ju-87 Stukas, in particular, swooping down onto their targets.

Qarabağ Azərbaycandır!

As mentioned, the U.S. military finally launched a new, concerted effort to expand the use of various types of one-way attack drones last year. The special operations community, which was front and center in this weekend’s operation in Venezuela, has been heavily involved in executing this initiative and has already been at the forefront of fielding other kinds of kamikaze drones within America’s armed forces for years now.

Just last October, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) disclosed the first known operational fielding of long-range one-way attack drones by a task force in the Middle East led by special operations forces. That unit, officially named Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS), is equipped with multiple versions of the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS), a design notably reverse-engineered from the Iranian-designed Shahed-136. However, LUCAS drones can operate collaboratively in a fully networked swarm and beyond-line-of-sight links that enable them to attack targets, including ones that might suddenly pop up, in real time and far from their operators. This makes them far more capable than Iran’s original design, as well as variants and derivatives that Russia is now actively using against Ukraine.

In December, TFSS, together with the U.S. Navy, also demonstrated the ability to launch LUCAS drones from ships. Other elements of the U.S. military have at least been experimenting with LUCAS, and those drones and/or other similar designs may already be in wider service within America’s armed forces.

“Bravo Zulu. U.S. Navy forces in the Middle East are advancing warfighting capability in new ways, bringing more striking power from the sea and setting conditions for using innovation as a deterrent.” – Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM Commander https://t.co/TgQ4WLbph3 pic.twitter.com/WUiAVojTht

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 18, 2025

The extent to which other relevant developments are ongoing in the classified realm is unknown, but this is certainly something that has been occurring in recent years. This includes the Phoenix Ghost kamikaze drones that emerged publicly after examples were delivered to Ukraine, but which trace back to a classified project under the Air Force’s Big Safari special projects office.

It is worth noting that the Shahed-136 was itself directly influenced by Israeli kamikaze drones like the Harop, which were originally designed with an explicit focus on targeting enemy air defenses. Iran has shown Shaheds being employed in this role in exercises, as seen in the video below, though the drones have now proven themselves in real-world attacks on a much wider array of targets on land and at sea.

Баражуючий іранський боєприпас «Shahed 136»

In Venezuela this past weekend, U.S. forces could well have used long-range one-way attack drones, launched from ships off the coast or forward locations on land in the region, as part of the broader suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD) mission, which we know was central to the operation.

“As the force began to approach Caracas, the Joint Air Component began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems in Venezuela, employing weapons to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters into the target area,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine said during a press conference on Saturday. “The goal of our air component is, was, and always will be to protect the helicopters and the ground force and get them to the target and get them home.”

Caine also said that “numerous remotely piloted drones” were among the U.S. assets employed during Operation Absolute Resolve.

Long-range kamikaze drones would have also offered a way to stimulate enemy air defenses, helping to expose their exact locations and provide emissions to hone in on, after which they could then be struck by other platforms or avoided entirely. The U.S. spent months cataloging Venezuela’s electronic order of battle from standoff distances, but road mobile systems are something of a wild card. If they radiate, they could be rapidly geolocated and destroyed. Similar drones could have been employed purely as decoys or for stand-in (close proximity) jamming of key radars and communications systems, depending on their exact configuration.

Strikes on other targets in Venezuela during the operation that were clearly intended to prevent or disrupt the country’s security forces from responding effectively could also have involved the use of long-range kamikaze drones. Light armored vehicles and other assets on the ground at the sprawling Fuerte Tiuna base in Caracas were destroyed in the course of the mission. This is reportedly where Maduro and his wife were captured. Key communications nodes in the country were also unsurprisingly targeted.

Damaged Venezuelan Dragoon 300 APC at Fort Tiuna following US airstrikes, January 3, 2026.

Note that the vehicle has been modified into similar configuration to Cadillac Gage V-100 Commandos.

2026 United States strikes in Venezuela pic.twitter.com/ThfPnqdC5m

— Buschlaid (@BuschModelar) January 3, 2026

The 312th “Ayala” Armored Cavalry Battalion of the Venezuelan Army appears to have had all of its equipment and most of its armored vehicles entirely destroyed in last night’s strike operation by the United States, which heavily targeting the Fuerte Tiuna Military Complex in the… pic.twitter.com/VXmVHRK4ha

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 3, 2026

Parte de los sistemas de telecomunicaciones destruídos en la zona del Cerro El Volcan a las afueras de Caracas, en la vía Oripoto de Los Guayabitos, Sector El Volcán, Baruta –Edo. Miranda ??
Coordenadas 10.416374,-66.849306 pic.twitter.com/Iyo8UObH42

— ??????? (@Arr3ch0) January 3, 2026

There is the additional possibility that what is seen and heard in the videos are smaller loitering munitions, which U.S. forces could have utilized more dynamically in response to threats as they approached their objectives. The U.S. military now commonly uses the term “launched effect” to refer to these munitions, as well as other uncrewed aerial systems configured for other tasks, all of which are designed to be fired from aircraft, as well as ground and maritime platforms.

The U.S. Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), better known as the Night Stalkers, elements of which were at the very core of the operation to capture Maduro, have at least been experimenting with employing launched effects from their MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for years now, though this is not an operational capability, at least that we know of at present. This is a capability also planned for the Army’s conventional Black Hawk fleet, but it would not be surprising for the Night Stalkers to receive it first. With launched effects, MH-60s, or other platforms the 160th operates, would have a new way to react to air defenses, either striking them if they pop up along the way or jamming them. They could also strike small mobile targets if need be.

The video below, which the Army released in 2021, includes footage at around the 0:34 mark in the runtime of one of 160th SOAR’s MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters carrying a tube for a ‘launched effect’ under its right stub wing.

The U.S. Army Futures Command’s Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team (FVL-CFT)

At the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual conference last October, the current head of the 160th SOAR, Col. Stephen Smith, also talked explicitly about the current and future use of uncrewed systems, including launched effects, to lead the way for crewed helicopters, especially in higher-threat environments.

Other elements of SOCOM have been touting the expected importance of air and surface-launched effects in future operations in recent years. These are capabilities that conventional forces across the U.S. military have been working to field, as well.

All this being said, the sounds and subsequent impacts heard and seen in the videos from Venezuela do seem to point more to the use of kamikaze drones that are larger than the ones that typically fall into the category of launched effects, especially air-launched types.

Regardless, the video clips do offer clear evidence of a possible first-of-its-kind use of U.S. kamikaze drones during Operation Absolute Resolve, and more details about their employment may emerge as more becomes known about the mission overall.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Evidence that the United States employed AGM-114 Hellfire or AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) in a covert strike on a target in Venezuela has now emerged. The U.S. military also recently disclosed an attack on what it says was a trio of drug-smuggling boats sailing in a convoy. Just earlier this week, TWZ highlighted exactly these potential scenarios in the broader context of recent sightings of U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones flying over the Caribbean with unusually heavy weapons loads.

Spanish-language television network Telemundo, headquartered in Miami, Florida, first broadcast imagery of U.S. missile fragments, which we will come back to in a moment, that it said were recovered in Venezuela’s far northwestern Alta Guajira region. What looks to be the full video clip that those images were taken from is also now circulating online. NBC News had previously reported that members of Venezuela’s Wayuu indigenous community had witnessed a mysterious explosion in Alta Guajira on December 18. U.S. President Donald Trump had first disclosed that the U.S. government had carried out a covert U.S. strike on Venezuelan soil on December 26, but it remains unconfirmed exactly where or when that occurred. Other details, including that the operation targeted a “port facility” or “dock” and that it was carried out by a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) drone, have been reported since then, as you can read more about here.

Returning to the missile fragments reportedly found in Alta Guajira, they are relatively small, but have distinctive “WARNING” and “52.0” markings that are clearly visible. This is fully consistent with the markings seen on AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM), as well as some variants of the AGM-114 Hellfire. Similar fragments have been seen on many occasions following confirmed and reported U.S. drone strikes around the world, including ones tied to the CIA and the U.S. military’s secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

The AGM-179A is derived directly from the AGM-114R variant, and both missiles share an identical rear body. JAGM’s main area of improvement over its predecessor is its new dual-mode seeker, with laser and millimeter-wave radar guidance modes, which gives it more flexibility to engage targets, as you can read more about here. Every JAGM and Hellfire has a label at the tail end that says “WARNING” and “2-MAN LIFT,” and lists their weight in kilograms and pounds. Each JAGM is roughly 115 pounds (52 kilograms). The stated weight of the baseline R model Hellfire is approximately 110 pounds (49 kilograms). However, there are many subvariants of the AGM-114R, some of which have very different configurations from the standard type. This includes the R9X version, which features an array of pop-out sword-like blades instead of a traditional high-explosive warhead.

MQ-9s armed with AGM-114s have been flying from Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla in Puerto Rico since September 2025, ostensibly in support of expanded counter-drug operations in the Caribbean. Starting last month, local spotters noticed Reapers operating from the airport carrying steadily larger loads of Hellfires, up to as many as 10 at a time. The drones have not been seen with JAGMs, or any other munitions, under their wings. The U.S. military still does not appear to have officially confirmed the integration of JAGM onto the MQ-9, but adding the missiles to the Reaper’s arsenal is at least planned, and there has been evidence in the past that it has already occurred.

Jan. 4 (UPI) — British and French aircraft conducted a joint strike on Saturday night on an underground facility in Syria used by ISIS to store weapons and explosives.

Royal Air Force Typhoons and a Voyager refueling tanker joined the French aircraft to strike the mountain facility north of Palmyra as part of ongoing patrols to prevent the terrorist group from resurging and regaining ground in Syria, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in a press release.

“This action shows our U.K. leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to stamp out any resurgence of [ISIS] and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East,” John Healey, U.K. defense secretary, said in the release.

The Saturday evening strike targeted access tunnels into the facility using Paveway IV guided bombs, with the ministry noting that initial indications show the mission was successful as a more detailed assessment is conducted.

The area around the site is “devoid of civilians habitation,” the ministry said, and there is no indication the bombing posed risks to civilians.

In a post on X, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces posted video from the strikes and said Operation Inherent Resolve, which includes ongoing patrols of the region, is essential to the region’s stability.

“Preventing the resurgence of [ISIS]: a major issue for the security of the region,” the French ministry said in the post. “The fight against terrorism remains a priority for France and the partner countries of the Coalition.”

The British personnel who conducted the mission were deployed over Christmas and the New Year, Healey said, continuing various patrols in Syria, and specifically Palmyra, that have been conducted by an international coalition that includes the United States.

In a lone gunman ambush on a patrol in Palmyra last month, two Iowa National Guard members and a civilian interpreter were killed, in addition to three other U.S. soldiers and two Syrians being shot. The gunman was identified as a member of ISIS.

Officials with Operation Inherent Resolve said in a statement on X that although ISIS no longer controls territory, “it continues to operate through residual cells, particularly in remote desert areas.”

The UK’s Ministry of Defence says an underground facility likely storing ISIL weapons was the target of the attack, but the area was ‘devoid of any civilian habitation’.

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence has said its aircraft joined France in striking an underground facility in Syria that had likely been used by the ISIL (ISIS) group to store weapons, as the group appears to be resurgent after a period of relative dormancy in the region.

“Royal Air Force aircraft have completed successful strikes against Daesh in a joint operation with France,” the ministry said of the Saturday night attack in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.

The statement said the area, north of the ancient site of Palmyra, was “devoid of any civilian habitation”.

The United States military in late December said it had killed or captured about 25 ISIL fighters in a wave of attacks over nine days in Syria.

The Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the US military’s Middle East operations, issued a statement on Tuesday marking the conclusion of the operations last month.

The campaign followed the killing of two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter by an ISIL attacker in Syria on December 13, and widespread US strikes against the group six days later.

In the meantime, Turkiye’s government said on Wednesday it had detained more than 100 ISIL suspects in nationwide raids, as the group shows signs of intensified regional activity after a period of relative dormancy.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the arrests, saying Turkish authorities rounded up 125 suspects across 25 provinces, including Ankara.

The operation was the third of its kind in less than a week during the holiday season, and follows a deadly shootout on Tuesday between Turkish police and suspected ISIL members in the northwestern city of Yalova.

That clash killed three Turkish police and six suspected ISIL members, all Turkish nationals. A day later, Turkish security forces arrested 357 suspected ISIL members in a coordinated crackdown.

In 2017, when the group still held large swaths of neighbouring Syria and Iraq before being vanquished on the battlefield, ISIL attacked an Istanbul nightclub during New Year’s celebrations, killing 39 people. Istanbul prosecutor’s office said Turkish police had received intelligence that operatives were “planning attacks in Turkiye against non-Muslims in particular” this holiday season.

On top of maintaining sleeper cells in Turkiye, ISIL is still active in Syria, with which Turkiye shares a 900km (560-mile) border, and has carried out a spate of attacks there since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad last year.

Syria has faced mounting security challenges after more than 13 years of ruinous civil war that ended late in 2024 with the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Sao Paulo, Brazil – Venezuela has temporarily closed its border with Brazil following the United States’s early morning attack on Caracas, in which US forces also “captured” President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

The border crossing between the Brazilian city of Pacaraima and Santa Elena de Uairen in Venezuela had been closed on the Venezuelan side for about five hours, blocking citizens from entering Brazil, a Brazilian military official told Al Jazeera.

“There was no formal protocol from Venezuela regarding entry and exit criteria. The fact is that Brazilians are allowed to leave, while Venezuelans face restrictions. But this could change at any time,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak on the matter.

The head of Brazil’s Federal Police also announced the temporary closure, and the governor of the state of Roraima told Reuters that the border had been reopened after the brief closure.

Brazil’s government said it is monitoring the border and has sent military personnel to the region to bolster security.

“The Minister of Defense indicated that there is no abnormal activity on the border between Brazil and Venezuela, which will continue to be monitored, and that he is in contact with the Governor of Roraima,” read a statement from Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Venezuelans make up Brazil’s largest foreign population, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The state of Roraima alone is home to 77,563 immigrants from the country. In all, some 8 million Venezuelans have fled their homes in the past decade, with more than 6 million resettling in other Latin American countries.

“I think it’s very possible that there will be an exodus of Venezuelans to Brazil, and, in fact, we are already seeing concrete signs of it,” Jessica Leon Cedeno, a Venezuelan journalist who lives in Sao Paulo, told Al Jazeera.

“Millions of people have left the country in search of better living conditions and opportunities.”

Lula says US attacks could ‘destabilise’ the region

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump’s actions inside Venezuela were “unacceptable”.

“The bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line,” wrote Lula on X. “These acts represent a grave affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and yet another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community.”

Brazil’s leader has urged restraint for months amid an increased US military buildup off Venezuela’s coast.

Analysts worry that Maduro’s removal could plunge Venezuela into chaos, potentially resulting in another wave of mass migration, as it witnessed in 2019 after a failed attempt to remove Maduro.

Joao Carlos Jarochinski Silva, a professor of international relations at the Federal University of Roraima, said that a potential wave of migration would depend on multiple factors, including whether Washington continues its military campaign inside the country and whether what remains of Maduro’s regime will put up a fight.

“What is the resilience capacity of Chavismo within Venezuela?” Jarochinski Silva said, referring to the political movement named after former President Hugo Chavez. “This could have consequences that are truly worrying, but given the current scenario, there is no context of fear.”

He added that Trump has so far focused on applauding his military’s action inside Venezuela and has not addressed key humanitarian concerns. Earlier this year, the Trump administration cut funding to the US government’s main agency for foreign aid, USAID, which heavily affected Venezuela’s neighbours, Brazil and Colombia.

“The United States has been cutting humanitarian resources lately,” he said, adding that there will be consequences to the US military actions inside the country. “For example, refugees, other people who may be affected by this. He doesn’t commit to this agenda at any point.”

Jan. 2 (UPI) — Saudi Arabia’s military struck United Arab Emirates-backed separatists in Yemen on Friday, prompting an unofficial declaration of “war” from the Southern Transitional Council.

Representatives of the separatist Southern Transitional Council in Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate accused Saudi forces of bombing their fighters while they were near Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia.

They say a state of war exists in the province, but no casualty reports were provided for the military strike that involved Saudi ground and air forces.

The Hadramout province is situated in eastern Yemen and about 500 miles east of Yemen’s capital city of Sanaa, with Saudi Arabia to its north and the Gulf of Aden to its south.

Hadramout Gov. Salem al-Khanbashi dismissed the STC’s war declaration and said the military operation by Saudi Arabia sought to “peacefully and systematically” regain military bases controlled by the STC, Al Jazeera reported.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have become involved in the internal conflict in Yemen, with the Saudis backing the Yemeni government and the UAE the STC.

Saudi and Yemeni officials have accused the UAE of arming STC separatists and encouraging them to seize parts of southern Yemen’s Hadramout and al-Mahra provinces.

STC representatives have said they intend to hold a voter referendum in two years to decide if an official declaration of an independent state will be delivered.

Yemen already is in a deadly civil war that started in 2014, and the STC’s planned vote could make the fighting more frequent and intense and worsen conditions in what is considered one of the world’s most impoverished nations.

The civil war has created famine conditions within the nation that already has experienced many deadly conflicts since the civil war began.

The US says a search is underway for survivors after it bombed what it said was a suspected drug trafficking convoy. The attack is believed to have taken place off the coast of Venezuela.