German chancellor demands swift justice for Munich car attack perpetrator German Chancellor Olaf #Scholz says that the driver who plowed his car into a crowd of demonstrators in the city of #Munich must be punished and expelled from the country. "The perpetrator should not expect mercy. He must be punished, and he must leave the country," the Focus news outlet quoted Scholz as saying. The chancellor also called for punishing the attacker to the full extent that the law allows "for cases of terrorism." The Afghan citizen who drove his car into demonstrators in Munich had earlier applied for asylum in Germany but his application was rejected, Joachim Herrmann, interior minister in the German state of Bavaria, said. According to him, the man did, however, have the right to stay in the country. He has a criminal record for shoplifting and drug-related crimes, "but according to investigators, he does not have a prior record of violence," the political said, as reported by Focus.

Y2024: 18365 #Terror Attacks in Israel

Eyal Zamir to become IDF’s 24th chief of staff The new military chief will step into the shoes of Herzi Halevi, who has commanded the military during the 15-month war against Hamas in Gaza. Eyal #Zamir has been designated to replace Lt. Gen. Herzi #Halevi as the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Saturday night. Zamir, 59, the current director general of the Defense Ministry, will be the first IDF chief who started his career in the Armored Corps since David (Dado) Elazar in the 1970s. Zamir previously served as deputy chief of staff (2018 to 2021), and before that, he led the Southern Command from 2015 to 2018. During that time, he helped formulate war plans focused on Hamas and contemplated scenarios in which the terrorist faction might be replaced in Gaza, though subsequent Southern Command leaders did not properly update these plans. While at the helm of the Defense Ministry, Zamir has spearheaded efforts over the past year to greatly ramp up domestic weapons production to reduce reliance on imports, working with local defense companies to do this. Zamir will replacing Halevi, who said he will step down on March 6.

House Intelligence Committee Chair – ‘There are individuals in the US working with ISIS to harm Americans’ House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike #Turner spoke on CBS’s Face the Nation and revealed that there are active #terror cells in the U.S. homeland working in partnership with #ISIS to harm #Americans.

Cybertruck Bomber Sends Mysterious Email An email that appears to be time-stamped December 31, 2024 — ONE DAY before the Las Vegas attack — citing "Matt Berg" or "Matthew Livelsberger" has been obtained by former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Sam Shoemate and aired on the show hosted by Shawn #Ryan. The email purports that there are "drones" that are powered by "gravitic propulsion" that are an alleged threat to national security. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believes that the suspected driver of the Tesla #Cybertruck that exploded near President-elect Donald Trump's hotel in Las Vegas (Nevada) did not harbor animosity towards him, Reuters reported, citing an FBI spokesman. According to him, Matthew #Livelsberger, the suspect in the bombing, probably suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, he had "no animosity" toward Trump. An FBI spokesman also confirmed that investigators have no indication of a link between the terrorist attacks in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Las Vegas.

President Trump Statement on New Orleans Terror Attack "When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!"

[Report] Fighting erupts on border between Afghanistan, Pakistan The Afghan television channel Ariana News reported that fighting broke out on the border between Afghanistan and #Pakistan. "Some points <...> including centers and shelters of criminals and their supporters, from which attacked were made on #Afghanistan, were attacked in retaliation from the country’s southeast," said a statement from the Afghan Defense Ministry controlled by the #Taliban. According to sources, light and heavy weapons were employed in the skirmishes, Ariana News reported. On December 24, the Taliban Defense Ministry announced that Pakistan struck an area in the Paktika province of Afghanistan. The ministry condemned the attack, saying it violated international law. The ministry warned that the incident will not go unanswered. At least 50 people were killed and 40 others injured in the Paktika bombing. That was the second time that Pakistan carried out airstrikes on targets in Afghanistan after a similar attack on terrorist bases in March. The latest strikes came hours after Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq held a meeting in Kabul with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Relations between the countries took a turn for the worse amid increased clashes along the border and ongoing terrorist attacks in Pakistan by Afghanistan-based militants. #AfghanistanPakistan

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger take armies to maximum alert Leaders of #Burkina Faso, #Mali and #Niger, which all are members of the Sahel Alliance, decided to take their defense and security forces to the highest alert, says the joint statement of the three countries’ leaders, signed by Interim President of Mali, Chairman of the #Sahel Alliance conference Assimi Goita. "The College of national leaders closely follows the deceiving maneuvers, initiated by the French junta, who declares the shutdown of its military bases only to replace them with another, less visible mechanism, which pursues the same neo-colonial goal," says the statement, published by the AES info website. "These actions are accompanied by operations on reorganization and regrouping of terrorist groups in the Lake Chad basin, in Sahel and in some border areas, including borders between Niger and Nigeria, Niger and Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso. These groups receive various support from foreign states, including funds and equipment, intended for destabilization of the Sahel Alliance," the statement read. Faced by these circumstances, the College of national leaders ruled to "take the defense and security forces to maximum alert, and make the confederacy’s territory a single theater of military operation, which coexists with the current national war theaters.".

Expansion of the ISIS Threat in Syria In addition to the factors already mentioned that prompted the US to increase its grouping in #Syria, the activation of ISIS should also be noted. Until mid-December, there were isolated mentions of an increase in the militants' capabilities, but now their potential is beginning to take shape. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein stated that ISIS militants have seized Syrian army weapons and are now reorganizing their units, expanding control in eastern and central Syria. ❗️ In reality, the situation with ISIS has become threatening. So far, these are isolated sorties or shelling, but the terrorist group's militants are penetrating deeper not only into the Syrian Desert, but also into the Raqqa province - a significant region for #ISIS. Over the past few days, shelling of SDF positions has been recorded in Marrat near Deir ez-Zor, in Dabib in the south of Raqqa province, and crucially in Abu Khashab at the junction of the Deir ez-Zor, Hasakah and Raqqa provinces. The militants have not attacked so deeply for a long time. And this time they managed to kill three SDF members, confirming the concerns of the Iraqi Foreign Minister. The latter, by the way, also reported the escape of some ISIS prisoners from the largest prison for ISIS militants, Al-Hol on the border with Iraq, and ISIS plans to organize an attack on the facility. 🔻Against this background, French servicemen have arrived in the border areas with Iraq from the vicinity of Khan al-Jabal (the Kurds call it Khana-Sere). They were present in the northeast of Hasakah province, as some oil fields were under their control.