Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces have launched a major counter-offensive against the Houthis after weeks of gains made by the Iran-backed group. The renewed fighting has added another risk to global oil markets as Iran reiterates that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until its conditions for reopening the waterway are met. Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, said: “Today, I announce the start of military operations to retake the remaining territory of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory.” He said government forces would continue fighting “until…

The US has withdrawn all of its bombers deployed to RAF Fairford, the UK military base at the centre of an incident being investigated by counter-terror police. A Pentagon official confirmed that the US had removed all 12 B-1 bombers from the base and returned them to their home stations in America. The US did not give a reason for the withdrawal, but it follows a major incident on 27 September when police were alerted to three “suspicious vehicles” near the airbase. Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terror offences near the base and subsequently released on bail.…

By Ben Farmer Ethiopian government forces have recaptured the capital of a rebel stronghold, less than a fortnight after the country tipped back into a conflict many fear heralds a wider war in the Horn of Africa. Leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) withdrew from the Tigrayan capital of Mekelle over the weekend, saying they wanted to spare it bombardment by approaching government forces. The recapture represented a significant blow to the TPLF and six other rebel groups, which last month formed a Coalition of Survival vowing to oust Ethiopia’s Nobel Prize-winning leader, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The…

A British-Iranian man has been arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts in connection with the security incident near RAF Fairford. The 27-year-old was detained in Westminster on Thursday as counter-terrorism police investigate possible foreign state involvement in the incident, which led to five British men being arrested near the US-used airbase on Sunday. A second man, a 26-year-old British national, has been questioned under caution but has not been arrested. Police have also searched two properties in Westminster. The British-Iranian suspect was arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. The…

A new Ukrainian dataset maps Russia’s sabotage, drone and cyber campaign against Europe since 2022. The numbers are rising, the attacks are getting more dangerous, and the pattern points to preparation for a next phase of military aggression. By André Pienaar Russia is at war in Europe and with NATO, although much of the European public does not know it. That is the finding of the most comprehensive open-source record yet compiled of Russia’s campaign against the continent, by the Kyiv-based Sahaidachnyi Security Center. The Center’s tracker, “The Everywhere War”, has now logged 522 incidents since 24 February 2022 that…

A New York judge has drawn a line- helping a terrorist sponsor evade sanctions is no longer just a compliance failure; it can make a company liable for the terrorist attacks that follow. The cases brought by more than 500 families of American soldiers against South African telecom company, MTN, under the US Anti-terrorism Act continues. On 25 September, Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York refused MTN Group’s request to reconsider her earlier rulings in Zobay v. MTN Group, and declined to let the company take the case to the…

MI5 has warned British universities that their research is being used to improve China’s spying capabilities. The security service said more than 100 UK-linked academics have contributed to projects funded through the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI). MI5 said the institute, also known as the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT), has “very strong ties” to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). It said the “primary purpose” of CGTRI “is to fund academic research that directly improves MSS technical capability for espionage”. MI5 said: “In some cases, academics may not be aware that CGTRI is funding the Chinese research…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to use nuclear weapons against the West if NATO attempts to isolate the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. Russia set out the warning in an informal diplomatic document sent to NATO as tensions rise over the heavily militarised territory. The document said: “Russia will be ready to use the entire arsenal of ​forces and capabilities at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, in order to defend its territory should NATO countries undertake any attempt aimed at ​isolating the Kaliningrad Region from the rest of the country.” It also raised the possibility “of Russian strikes against decision-making…

A Flydubai co-pilot stabbed the captain of an Israel-bound passenger jet and “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board”, Benjamin Netanyahu has said. The Israeli prime minister said passengers and crew intervened to overpower the alleged attacker during the dramatic emergency on flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Netanyahu said: “During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.” He said their intervention had prevented a “major disaster”. The Boeing 737 MAX plunged from about 34,000ft…

National Security News is republishing the following Op-Ed by L. Brent Bozell III, US Ambassador to South Africa. It was originally published by the US Embassy in South Africa. The Cost of Doing Nothing On September 15, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a new visa restriction policy targeting South African nationals responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, and/or the incitement of imminent violence against any minority ethnic or racial group in South Africa. What changed between our two countries to bring the United States…

By André Pienaar For eighty years, Japan has been the only major power in the world without a standalone civilian intelligence service. That era ended on 31 July, when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi chaired the first meeting of a new National Intelligence Council and formally launched the National Intelligence Bureau beneath it. It is the first centralised intelligence body Japan has had since the Allied occupation dismantled the Imperial apparatus in 1945. Two months on, Tokyo has shown no sign of pausing. On 28 September, Takaichi convened a seventeen-member expert panel to begin drafting the country’s first national intelligence strategy,…

France is stepping up protection of critical infrastructure and defence sites against Russian drone and cyber-attacks as the threat to Europe intensifies. President Emmanuel Macron has ordered a new protection plan for critical infrastructure and sensitive defence sites. Macron said: “In recent weeks, the threat – particularly the Russian hybrid threat – facing Europeans and France has intensified.” He added: “We are not intimidated, because we know that our security today and tomorrow is at stake in Ukraine.” The move follows a meeting at the Élysée Palace involving French political leaders and the heads of the country’s principal security and…