The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.
North Korea confirms for first time that it sent troops to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine
North Korea confirms for the first time that it sent troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.
US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence officials have said North Korea dispatched about 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia last fall. But North Korea hadn’t confirmed or denied its reported troop deployments to Russia until today.
Leader Kim Jong Un decided to send combat troops to Russia under a mutual defense treaty, the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party says in a statement.
It cites Kim as saying the deployment was meant to “annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces.”
“They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honor of the motherland,” Kim said, according to the statement sent to state media.
In March, South Korea’s military said North Korea sent about 3,000 additional troops to Russia earlier this year, after its soldiers deployed on the Russian-Ukraine fronts suffered heavy casualties. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs assessed that around 4,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier put the number of killed or wounded North Koreans at 4,000, though US estimates were lower at around 1,200.
Netanyahu says Israel stopped Iranian aircraft from reaching Syria in the days leading up to fall of Assad
Israeli warplanes last year intercepted Iranian aircraft headed toward Syria, preventing them from delivering troops meant to assist the country’s embattled president at the time, Bashar al-Assad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.
The remarks in a speech give a new glimpse into Israel’s thinking in the final days in power for Assad, a longtime enemy who was overthrown by Islamist-led insurgents last December.
Speaking to a conference hosted by the Jewish News Syndicate, Netanyahu claims that arch-rival Iran wanted to save Assad after watching the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in neighboring Lebanon suffer heavy losses in fighting with Israel.
“They had to rescue Assad,” Netanyahu says, claiming that Iran wanted to send “one or two airborne divisions” to help the Syrian leader.
“We stopped that. We sent some F-16s to some Iranian planes that were making some routes to Damascus,” he says. “They turned back.”
He gives no further details.
US says more than 800 targets in Yemen hit since mid-March, hundreds of Houthi fighters killed
The United States has hit more than 800 targets in Yemen since mid-March, killing hundreds of Houthi rebel fighters, including members of the group’s leadership, the US military says.
Washington’s forces have hammered the Iran-backed Houthi rebels with near-daily air strikes since March 15 in an operation dubbed “Rough Rider,” seeking to end the threat they pose to vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and reestablish US regional “deterrence.”
“Since the start of Operation Rough Rider, USCENTCOM has struck over 800 targets. These strikes have killed hundreds of Huthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders,” the military command responsible for the Middle East says in a statement.
“The strikes have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, and advanced weapons storage locations,” CENTCOM says.
Despite the strikes, the Houthis — who control large swaths of Yemen and have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognized government since 2015 — have continued to claim attacks against both US vessels and Israel.
CENTCOM says that “while the Houthis have continued to attack our vessels, our operations have degraded the pace and effectiveness of their attacks. Ballistic missile launches have dropped by 69 percent. Additionally, attacks from one-way attack drones have decreased by 55 percent.”
“Iran undoubtedly continues to provide support to the Houthis. The Houthis can only continue to attack our forces with the backing of the Iranian regime,” the military command says.
“We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedom of navigation and American deterrence in the region,” it adds.
Houthi media reports eight killed in US strikes on Yemeni capital
The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah television network reports that US strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa have killed at least eight people and wounded others.
“Eight martyrs, including children and women… as a preliminary toll of the American aggression on the Thaqban area in Bani Al-Har Directorate” in the north of Sanaa, the station reports.