Israeli military embellishes video of Iranian attack

The IDF inserted old footage of a Russian Grad missile launch in what was supposed to be a compilation of this weekend’s strikes

©X/Israel Defense Forces

Israel, as a producer of false information since World Wars I and II and even since the time of Old Persia, has again shown fake video footage of the Iranian drone attack incident. And it was issued by the IDF.

The Israeli military appears to have inserted seven-year-old footage of a Russian Grad launch into a purported compilation showing the Iranian missile and drone strikes over the weekend.

The video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption “Israelis’ reality in the last hours,” has raised many eyebrows online.

While most fragments of the footage show missiles flying over Israeli territory overnight, the final several seconds have nothing to do with either Israel or Iran but rather appear to be a piece of footage of the launch of a Russian Grad rocket system that was posted on YouTube back in 2017.

The discrepancy was noticed by X user Mohammed Zubair, who voiced his protest in a post and suggested that the fragment may in fact be as old as 2014.

The IDF has not responded to the user’s claim.

The last part of the video is as old as 2014. 👋🏽 pic.twitter.com/7BMVRKp82i

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 14, 2024

Netizens have been divided on Zubair’s findings, with some praising his fact-checking skills, while others pointed to the fact that the IDF clip is more motivational in nature and does not claim to be official footage.

Tehran fired a barrage of more than 300 missiles and kamikaze drones at Israel overnight on Saturday, according to estimates by the IDF. The attack came in retaliation for an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria earlier this month that killed several high-ranking Iranian military officials. Tehran blamed the attack on Israel.

The majority of Iran’s missiles were said to have been shot down before they reached Israeli airspace. However, unverified footage of the airstrikes circulating online purportedly showing several projectiles hitting targets on the ground in Israel.

The Times of Israel reported that West Jerusalem has yet to decide on whether to respond to the Iranian attack or how it would do so. However, Tehran warned Israel earlier against taking any retaliatory measures, as they would be met with a “much more extensive” response.

The host, the US, also did the same thing. Biden said the US countered Iran's drone attacks. This was conveyed to the public after meeting Netanyahu as his mentor. If it is true that the US did this, it is common practice for the White House to convey this directly after the incident.

Fake video information is also often carried out by Ukraine under the command of its director US. Since the first military operation by Russia, Hollywood directors were sent to Russia. The aim is to make a video drama of events that build up the hatred of the world community towards Russia. Up to the drama di Bucha, all of which are Fake video information is also often carried out by Ukraine under the command of its director US. Since the first military operation by Russia, Hollywood directors were sent to Russia. The aim is to make a video drama of events that build up the hatred of the world community towards Russia. Until the drama video in Bucha by director Sean Penn.

Narrative fake and video drama conducted by the US in Syria from 2011 to 2014

Russian Air Defenses Cracking NATO’s Best Missiles Like Nuts: Here’s How

©Sputnik/Алексей Куденко/Go to the mediabank

Sunday is Air Defense Forces Day, the professional holiday of Russia’s ground-based air defense troops. On the occasion, Lt. Gen Aytech Bizhev, the former deputy commander of the Commonwealth of Independent States’ integrated air defense system, told Sputnik what makes Russia’s multilayered air defense network unique in the world.

Russia shares Air Defense Forces Day with several post-Soviet republics, including Belarus, with the holiday, marked annually on the second Sunday of April, dating back to 1975, and formally reestablished in Russia by presidential decree in 2006.

This year, with the Russian military remaining engaged in operations against NATO-backed and armed forces in Ukraine, Air Defense Forces Day carries a special significance. With Kiev receiving more and more of the latest tactical, medium, and long-range strike systems from NATO’s arsenals, timely and effective air defenses in Donbass, along the 1,000 km front and throughout western Russia has become an absolute priority.

The Air Defense Troops have been involved in the conflict in Ukraine from its outset, the commander stressed, pointing to the round-the-clock deployment of air defense troops in the combat zone and along the border area, and the strengthening of defenses through new formations responsible for air defense over Donetsk, Lugansk, Melitopol, and Berdyansk – which have faced particularly intense air, missile, drone, and artillery shelling attacks by Ukrainian forces.

“The enemy is using new means to conduct armed struggle. The latest developments in weaponry supplied by Western countries require us to take certain measures. In this regard, weapons and equipment are being constantly refined and improved to increase the combat capabilities to fight modern strike weapons used by the enemy,” Semyonov said, adding that the air defense troops are “working closely” with the defense sector to upgrade their systems, and develop “truly unique equipment superior to Western analogues for many years to come.”

Russian Air Defenses Chew Through Everything NATO Throws At Them

“Since February 24, 2022, air defense systems in the special military operation zone have been carrying out the highly specific task of repelling attacks from aerospace weaponry. Our air defense systems have had the privilege of destroying and repelling modern means of aerospace attack, including everything in the arsenal of NATO countries,” former Commonwealth of Independent States Integrated Air Defense System deputy commander Aytech Bizhev said.

“Air defense crews have successfully mastered the destruction of HIMARS, ATACMS, and other high-precision weaponry that the West once propagated as being immune to Russian air defense systems,” Bizhev said.

This has been possible not only thanks to the high-tech equipment available to the air defense forces, but the unique, echeloned, “multilayer” approach of Russia’s air defense strategy, according to the former commander.

The capabilities and approach of Russian and Ukrainian air defenses are a case in point, Bizhev noted, saying the “strategy” pursued by each side provides important conclusions about the viability of each.

“Firstly, all of our complexes are integrated into a single automated system. They are integrated and use a single, unified information field, common capabilities, and under a common leadership,” Bizhev explained.

In the case of Ukraine, air defenses are limited to the local level. “Their [unified] radar field has been completely lost, and the automated control system has been lost. Their air defenses act locally: what they see, they shoot down. That is, there is no centralized leadership here, like we have with a central command post,” the veteran air defense commander added.

Invaluable Experience Dating Back to WWII

Bizhev says Russia’s air defense forces’ modern capabilities are rooted in the country’s vast historical experience, starting with the defense of Moscow, Leningrad and other cities during the Second World War, and the immense tactical, strategic and technical knowledge gained over the course of the following decades during the Cold War.

“The USSR provided assistance to fraternal countries, including military and technical assistance to Arab countries. Our air defense systems were purchased by these countries – half the world acquired our air defense systems. We took part in conflicts in Vietnam and the Middle East, which provided our air defense crews and commanders enormous experience. Equipment was tested in the hot climates of the Middle East and the humid climates of Vietnam, Korea and so on. Our air defense school is unlike that of any other country in the world. Western countries, including the United States, never paid such close attention to air defenses. Why? Because they are situated on a separate continent beyond the seas and oceans. They thought it was too difficult for enemies to reach them at distances of 10,000 km,” Bizhev said.

Accordingly, even with the advent of anti-ICBM missile defenses, the US never attained a Soviet/Russian-style capability of deeply echeloned, automated and multilayered air defenses, radar coverage, etc., the observer stressed. “Our country is the successor to the Soviet Union in the field of air defense. No country has the resources we do in this area,” Bizhev said.

But an air defense system would be nothing without projectiles capable of shooting down enemy air and missile targets. For these purposes, Russia has an array of systems in its arsenal, including legacy Soviet equipment, newer designs and deep modernization work to improve existing systems, including but not limited to:

• The Tor – a series of short-range, mobile, tracked missile systems whose missiles have an operational range of up to 16 km, and which can detect up to 48 targets and track ten simultaneously.
  
  
  
  TOR-M2U missile system operating at the Alabino range in the Moscow region. File photo.



• The Pantsir – a mobile, self-propelled combined short-to-medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system whose missiles can attack targets at a range of up to 20 km, and detect them up to 75 km away.
  
  
  
  A Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system and a S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft system during combat duty drills of a surface-to-air missile regiment in the Moscow region



• The Buk – another series of self-propelled, tracked medium-range SAM systems with the ability to detect enemy aircraft at a range of up to 140 km, and to engage them up to 42 km away (and missiles at ranges up to 20 km). The Buk’s capabilities against NATO equipment were demonstrated in Syria in 2018, when the system destroyed more than 85 percent of all US Tomahawk cruise missiles launched into the country.
  
  
  
  Russian Armed Forces Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system operating in the Kharkov area of the special military operation in Ukraine.



• The S-300 – a series of long-range surface to air missile systems first rolled out in the late 1970s, but upgraded regularly and widely considered to be among the most effective air defense systems in the world today. The S-300 can be equipped with missiles with a range of up to 400 km, and can simultaneously engage up to 24 aircraft of 16 ballistic or maneuvering missile targets. A modification of the system known as the S-350 Vityaz, introduced in 2019, provides medium-range defense coverage up to 120 km against aircraft, or 30 km against missiles.
  
  
  
  Russian S-300 missile system seen working in the Kharkov area. File photo.



• The S-400 and S-500 – comprehensive upgrades to the S-300 series of long-range air defense systems, with a maximum target range of up to 400 and 600 km, respectively, and, in the case of the S-500 – the ability to target satellites in space.
  
  
  
  A view shows S-400 Triumf missile defence systems at the Russian Northern Fleet's base of Gadzhiyevo in the Murmansk region, Russia
  
  
  
  
  S-500 missile system

“All crews of the air defense troops have passed through the special operation,” Bizhev said, “from the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile to all available means and crews of short, medium and long-range systems.”

Eurasian Air Defense

In addition to protecting its own airspace, Russia’s ground-based air defense forces assist in the protection of neighboring countries via the Joint CIS Air Defense System, which along with Russia includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia, and provides the Eurasian region with credible defenses against aerial attack.

“The CIS air defense system was created more than 30 years ago. It is operating successfully, being improved, rearmed, and operates as a single information field, under the unified command of the Central Command Post of the Aerospace Forces. Crews are trained at our training grounds, CIS air defense officers graduate from our academies, our military schools. We conduct joint exercises. We speak and study in the same language, using the same equipment and textbooks, in the same classes. Therefore, mutual comprehension and understand has reached total efficiency,” Bizhev said.

Thousands protest in Niger demanding withdrawal of U.S. troops

At a protest in Niamey, a man holds up a sign demanding that soldiers from the United States Army leave Niger [AFP]

Thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets of Niger's capital of Niamey on Saturday, calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, following the government's decision to terminate a military agreement with the United States.

Braving the heatwave, young men and women holding signs staged a peaceful protest. "U.S. army, you leave, you move, you vanish," read the signs.

Marching arm in arm through central Niamey on Saturday, the crowd waved Nigerien flags in a demonstration that recalled anti-French protests that spurred the withdrawal of France’s forces from Niger last year after the army seized power in a coup.

“We’re here to say no to the American base, we don’t want Americans on our soil,” protester Maria Saley told the Reuters news agency on the sidelines of the march.

The crowd was also heard chanting “Down with American imperialism” and “The people’s liberation is on the march.”

Mohamed Alkabir, who is in charge of synergizing Nigerien civil society organizations, said that this mobilization aims to urge the U.S. side to promptly announce its timetable for withdrawing its troops from Niger.

In March, the nation halted its military pact with the United States.

A White House report to Congress indicated that approximately 650 U.S. personnel were in Niger in December.

Ties with Russia

Meanwhile, France also agreed to withdraw its troops last September in the wake of the July coup that overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

The new authorities in Niger joined military-run governments in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso in ending military deals with one-time Western allies, quitting the regional political and economic bloc ECOWAS and also fostering closer ties with Russia.

The arrival on Wednesday of Russian military instructors and equipment was further evidence of the military government’s openness to closer cooperation with Moscow, which is seeking to boost its influence in Africa.

A few Russian flags were visible at the protest, but some citizens told Reuters on Friday they did not want the welcome Russian defence assistance to lead to a permanent presence in Niger.

“We must not subsequently see the implementation of Russian foreign military bases,” said Abdoulaye Seydou, the coordinator of the M62 coalition of civil society groups that led anti-French protests last year.

His concerns were echoed by student Souleymane Ousmane: “This is how the French and the Americans and all the other countries settled in Niger – from military cooperation, they ended up occupying large parts of our country,” he told Reuters.

It is still unclear, however, if or when the US troops will leave.

Ecuador’s Ex-Vice President Glas on Hunger Strike, Tried to Commit Suicide - Ex-President

CC BY-SA 2.0/Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador/Jorge Glas

Former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who was arrested last week as result of the storming of the Mexican embassy in Quito, tried to commit suicide, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said on Wednesday, adding that Glas is currently on a hunger strike.

On Monday, Glas was transferred from prison to a military hospital, Ecuadorian media reported.

"Finally, his children and their attorneys were able to contact Jorge Glas through Zoom. We confirmed that the medical emergency was a suicide attempt. He is not eating anything and is on a hunger strike. We hold [Ecuadorian President] Daniel Noboa responsible for Jorge's physical and emotional safety. I remind Noboa that he has clearly committed a crime under Article 125 of the Criminal Code [of Ecuador]," Correa said on X.

Ecuadorian police forcibly entered the Mexican Embassy in Quito on the night of April 6 and took away former Vice President Jorge Glas, convicted of corruption. He had been sheltering at the diplomatic mission since last December. Mexico granted him political asylum on April 5. Ecuador called the decision illegal and demanded the politician's extradition. Ecuadorian police, as reported by the Mexican Foreign Ministry, entered the territory of the diplomatic mission in two armored cars, some law enforcers climbed over the walls. Diplomats were injured in the storming of the embassy building. Mexico severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador the same night.

Ecuadorian tribunal deems arrest of former Vice President Glas illegal

The defence team for former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas has hailed a decision declaring his arrest inside Mexico’s embassy in Quito illegal.

Still, on Friday, lawyer Sonia Vera Garcia pledged to appeal the ruling, which upheld her client’s continued detention.

“We thank the international community,” she wrote on the social media platform X. “Its support led to the detention being declared arbitrary, a step forward.”

“However, Jorge remains detained. We will appeal until we achieve his freedom.”

The ruling comes after Francisco Hidalgo — a member of Glas’s left-wing political party, Citizen Revolution — submitted a writ of habeas corpus earlier this week on the former vice president’s behalf, arguing he had been unlawfully detained.

Glas’s arrest had been the subject of ongoing international tensions. On April 5, Ecuadorian police stormed the Mexican embassy, scaling its fence and pointing a gun at a top diplomat who sought to bar their entrance.

In its ruling on Friday, a three-member tribunal in Ecuador found that the arrest on embassy grounds had indeed been “illegal and arbitrary”.

Judge Monica Heredia wrote that “without authorisation from the head of the Foreign Ministry and political affairs at the Mexican embassy in Ecuador, the detention became illegal”.

International law protects embassies and consulates from the interference of local law enforcement. This “rule of inviolability” theoretically allows diplomats to conduct sensitive work without fear of reprisal from their host country.

But embattled public figures like Glas have also turned to embassies to seek temporary refuge from arrest, knowing that local police are not supposed to enter without permission.

Glas was twice convicted on corruption-related charges. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 and eight years in 2020.

In the hours before his arrest, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry announced it had granted political asylum to Glas, who had been sheltering in its embassy in Quito since December.

But the embassy raid ignited a full-blown spat between Mexico and Ecuador.

In its wake, Mexico severed diplomatic ties and recalled its embassy staff from Ecuador. Countries around Latin America, as well as the Organization of American States (OAS), have also denounced the police raid.

But the government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has sought to defend the raid as authorised by executive decree.

In addition, it argued that Glas should not be eligible for political asylum, as his convictions were not the result of persecution.

But the three-member tribunal on Friday said the government’s defence of the raid “lacks legal basis”.

Still, while the tribunal ruled that the arrest itself was illegal, it decided Glas should remain behind bars, given his prior convictions.

“This tribunal cannot modify the sentence,” Judge Heredia said.

Glas is currently serving his prison term in Guayaquil, where he is conducting a hunger strike in protest. He was hospitalised earlier this week.

On Thursday, Mexico filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice to expel Ecuador from the United Nations over the embassy raid — at least until the country delivers a formal apology for its violations of international law.

Mexican Embassy Raid - Jorge Glas is ‘Ecuador's Julian Assange’

©AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa

Last week, Ecuadorian security forces barged into the Mexican embassy in Quito and seized former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, drawing condemnation from UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Mexico has since severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador and requested that the UN expel the country from the international body.

In many ways, Jorge Glas is the Ecuadorian equivalent to Julian Assange, Ecuadorian journalist and editor of The Cradle Esteban Carrillo told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Thursday.

“This man who was being persecuted, who has been made to be the ultimate evil in Ecuador, humiliated, dehumanized, [is] our own Julian Assange in many ways,” Carrillo contended.

Glas reportedly attempted suicide last week and is now on a hunger strike. He was transferred to a hospital on Tuesday and is now said to be in stable condition. Glas served as vice president of Ecuador from 2013 to 2017. He was released from prison in 2022 after serving more than four years. Glas has long maintained that the corruption charges against him are politically motivated.

Ecuador, under a previous administration, gave Julian Assange asylum in the country’s embassy in the UK, before the UK government convinced the then-Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno to revoke his asylum.

Though the situations differ significantly: Assange is a journalist while Glas was a public official and Ecuador’s recognized government approved the UK operation to arrest Assange, the Ecuadorian connection and the fact that both events include police storming an embassy make the parallels difficult to ignore.

“[The storming of the Mexican embassy] can leave [no] doubt that Jorge Glas is being persecuted politically. He is a political prisoner of the [Ecuadorian President] Daniel Noboa government, and he was a political president of [former Ecuadorian presidents] Guillermo Lasso and Lenin Moreno governments,” Carrillo explained.

“Why? Because when he was vice president, in Ecuador, we had an earthquake, a very bad earthquake, he led the reconstruction efforts in [the] province where the earthquake hit worst,” Carrillo began. “He built a park that didn’t exist before. He built a park on top of a hole in the ground. And this, according to the attorney general’s office, is corruption.”

Glas was accused of corruption and bribery related to those construction efforts. Prosecutors alleged and convicted Glas of taking bribes from a Brazilian construction company. Glas maintains that the case against him was built on “lies.” Glas was a part of the leftist Rafael Correa government.

Moreno, who was once an ally of both Correa and Glas, turned sharply right after entering office and removed Glas' powers as vice president before eventually having him arrested. Successive Ecuadorian leaders have come from the political right in the country.

“This is a man who, just like Julian Assange is hanging on by a thread, is holding onto a hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and now, thankfully, you have international actors,” working on behalf of Glas, Carrillo explained. “You have Mexico saying ‘We still consider him an asylee. We still consider that he has asylum with us. You [also] have the [Organization of American States] OAS saying the Ecuadorian government needs to give him safe passage to Mexico because that is what international conventions say. You violated his rights, his human rights, he needs to be in Mexico where they granted him political asylum.”

“Jorge Glas is a trophy. He was vice president for Rafael Correa during his 10 years of a leftist government in Ecuador that did so much for the country,” much in the same way Assange is for the US security state, Carrillo explained.

Video Perkelahian Brimob Vs TNI di Pelabuhan Laut Sorong

Beredar video dengan narasi terjadinya perkelahian antara anggota TNI Angkatan Laut (AL) dengan anggota Brimob di Terminal Pelabuhan Laut Sorong, Provinsi Papua Barat, hari Minggu, 14/04/2024.

Dari video yang beredar, terlihat ada beberapa orang anggota Brimob maupun TNI mengalami luka-luka. Dari informasi yang beredar di kalangan wartawan, peristiwa perkelahian tersebut terjadi di Terminal Pelabuhan Laut Sorong pada hari ini sekitar pukul 09.30 WIT.

Dari informasi yang beredar itu, disebutkan bahwa peristiwa terjadi ketika Kapal Sinabung sandar di Pelabuhan Laut Sorong dengan dilakukan pengamanan oleh anggota Pomal. Saat itu disebutkan bahwa seorang anggota Brimob berpakaian tidak dinas datang hendak masuk ke kapal untuk mengantar keluarganya.

Anggota Brimob itu disebut meminta izin kepada anggota yang jaga. Setelah anggota Brimob menaikkan keluarganya, dia meminta izin kembali. Saat itu, ditegur anggota Pomal yang jaga dan terjadi kesalahpahaman.

Tidak lama setelah kejadian, disebutkan bahwa Dir Polair, Danyon Marinir, Danyon B Brimob, Danden Pomal Lantamal, KSOP, dan Kapolsek Kawasan Pelabuhan Sorong langsung tiba di lokasi kejadian untuk menenangkan keadaan.

Kepala Kepolian Daerah Papua Barat Inspektur Jenderal Johnny Eddizon Isir mengatakan konflik antara anggota polisi dari kesatuan Brimob dan prajurit Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut (TNI AL) di Pelabuhan Sorong, siang ini, sudah mereda.

Salah satu anggota TNI yang terkapar dengan bagian kepala terluka buntuk perkelahian dengan Brimob di Pelabuhan Sorong.-tangkpan layar facebook@GustySagrim

"Kalau sekarang situasi sudah terekendali," kata Johnny saat dihubungi pada Ahad sore, 14 April 2024.

Dia mengatakan masing-masing kesatuan dari dua kelompok yang bertikai sudah mengendalikan para anggotanya supaya tidak kembali bentrok.

"Kami lagi duduk ngobrol dengan Bapak Danpasmar (Komandan Pasukan Marinir) sama kawan-kawan TNI, Pak Danrem (Komandan Korem)," ujar dia menjelaskan situasi keamanan pascakonflik tersebut.

Dia menyatakan informasi detail bentrokan TNI dan polisi itu akan diumumkan malam ini.

Seorang anggota lain terduduk dengan napas tersengal. Prajurit dengan tanda sebagai anggota Provost TNI AL ini juga mengalami luka di bagian kiri telinganya. "Ini bukti, ya. Ini bukti," kata seorang pria dalam video, yang berkerumun di antara dua anggota terluka itu.

Di sepotong video sepanjang 11 detik, tampak seorang anggota polisi berjalan di tengah jalan. Seorang anggota lain merekam video pria itu dengan didekati tiga anggota polisi. Terlihat darah mengalir dari sisi kanan telingannya.

"Izin bantuan, Komandan. Saat ini kami diserang anggota TNI," ujar seseorang dalam video tesebut. Dalam video lain terlihat seorang tentara terkapar di tanah sembari dilindungi seorang anggota berpakaian dinas polisi.