Drone War Grows in Eastern Congo
The group commissioned 9,318 of them as "commandos" graduating from its Tchanzu training camp on July 20 — its fifth such announcement since mid-2025. Critical Threats says it cannot confirm the figure.The conflict has also become one of Africa's most drone-heavy fronts. Congolese forces fly Chinese CH-4 and Turkish Bayraktar TB2 and Anka drones to cut M23's supply lines. A leaked Congolese army memo, reported by Africa Intelligence and cited by Critical Threats, estimated Rwandan-linked TB2 drones have carried out about five strikes a day in the Kivus since mid-June.More than 120 armed groups remain active in the region. Fighting has forced 4.3 million people from their homes since M23's 2024 return, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies — with the worst-hit areas overlapping the same mineral-rich territory the war is being fought over.The new recruitment and rising drone activity suggest neither side is preparing to stand down,…
Myanmar Courts Neighbors as Civilian Killings Rise
Myanmar’s military government is expanding its diplomatic outreach across Asia even as conflict monitors report a sharp rise in attacks on civilians, exposing an increasingly stark gap between regional engagement and conditions on the ground.According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, the military recorded more than a dozen mass killings during the first half of 2026, resulting in more than 450 civilian deaths. Nearly 40% of those fatalities occurred in Myanmar’s central dry zone, known as the Anyar region. Reuters reported that the escalation coincided with a restructuring of the military leadership in March.The transition restructured the junta’s top command rather than simply reshuffling titles. Min Aung Hlaing moved into the presidency while operational military authority passed to General Ye Win Oo. ACLED said the military’s repression and aerial bombing campaign had intensified under the new leadership, including the regular use of groups of fighter aircraft conducting…
Houthis Deny Plan to Charge Ships in Red Sea
Yemen's Houthi-run maritime authority denied on Saturday that it plans to charge commercial ships for passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, saying transit "remains free of charge." The Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), which oversees vessel movement through the strait, said its safe-passage service is voluntary, and that anyone demanding payment "does not represent" Yemen or the HOCC, according to Al Jazeera.The denial followed a Reuters report that regional sources said the Houthis discussed a fee plan with Iranian officials during a July visit to Tehran for the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iranian advisers are reportedly helping the Houthis set up a separate authority to regulate and collect the fees — distinct from the HOCC. The plan would reportedly exempt Chinese vessels, which Beijing has separately arranged safe passage for directly with the Houthis; sources told Reuters the initiative is intended to "normalize the practice" of charging for…
Israel Rejects Gaza Deal Signed by Hamas
Hamas signed a 15-point disarmament framework with the U.S.-led Board of Peace in El-Alamein, Egypt, on July 30 — the first time it has committed in writing to give up its weapons. The deal is phased and reciprocal: Hamas disarms district by district as Israel withdraws in step. That structure clashes directly with Israel's longstanding position that demilitarization must be complete before any withdrawal. Within a day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the framework fell short of that demand, according to the Times of Israel.The rejection is as much about arithmetic as ideology. Netanyahu's coalition majority depends on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's Otzma Yehudit and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism, and both have said they would bring down the government over a real withdrawal. With elections due by October 27, that gives the far-right an effective veto over ceasefire policy — Netanyahu cannot accept the…
Ukraine’s Overnight Strikes Rock Russia Again
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian airbase in Engels and an oil refinery in Saratov overnight Saturday, according to unverified monitoring-channel reports, part of a campaign that has hit Russian fuel-production and military-aviation infrastructure in tandem for weeks. Refineries such as Saratov and Volgograd feed Russia's military fuel supply chain; airbases such as Engels have historically hosted long-range bombers. Striking both together degrades sustainment and strike capacity simultaneously, rather than in isolation.The Telegram channel Exilenova Plus first reported the strikes, cited by the Kyiv Independent. Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin confirmed two deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure in both cities but did not confirm military or industrial damage — a pattern common to regional officials' disclosures after reported strikes, which typically lag Ukrainian and open-source intelligence (OSINT) claims.The campaign runs alongside two weeks of strikes on Wildberries, Russia's largest retailer. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said its warehouses store drone-production…
Tanker Hit Off Oman Revives Hormuz Security Fears
A tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile about 11 nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman, on Friday, disabling its engine room and leaving it briefly not under command, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). No casualties or pollution were reported, and the vessel later restored propulsion and resumed its voyage. Hours later, UKMTO logged a second incident in which another tanker, sailing 21 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, reported a large splash followed by an explosion nearby. That vessel sustained no damage.Neither incident has been attributed to a state or armed group. Even so, the strike profile – disabling a vessel without causing casualties or sinking it – resembles the kind of grey-zone maritime activity that security analysts say is designed to disrupt shipping and raise costs while remaining below the threshold likely to trigger a direct military response. A similar projectile strike was reported off…
