❗️ The Israeli military has reported the elimination of Hezbollah preventive security unit commander Nabil Qaouk

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❗️ Russia struck a Ukrainian Security Service building in Zaporozhye with NATO officers, killing 15 foreigners, the coordinator of the pro-Russian resistance told Sputnik

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirm death of senior commander in Israeli airstrike on Beirut

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced that Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, a veteran commander and military adviser in Lebanon, was killed in an Israeli "terrorist attack," Iran Press reported.

"Brigadier General Nilforoushan's contributions to national security, defense of the holy shrines and the broader resistance front were a testament to his unwavering faith and sacrifice for the cause of liberating Al-Quds (Jerusalem)," the IRGC said in a statement.

Nilforoushan served during the Iran-Iraq War and had since held several senior roles within the IRGC, including deputy operations commander of the Ground Forces and director of the IRGC’s Defense Sciences Academy, the outlet said.

In the same statement, the IRGC expressed its condolences to the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Nilforoushan's family, his colleagues, and the people of Isfahan, his home province.

The IRGC strongly condemned the Israeli attack, saying it would not go unpunished.

General Abbas Nilforoushan was killed along with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut on the evening of Friday, September 27.

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❗️Russia’s Armed Forces have liberated the settlement of Makeyevka in the Lugansk People's Republic - Russian Defense Ministry

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❗️Ukraine lost up to 450 militants in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone;

🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

◻️ The Russian Battlegroup Sever destroyed four Ukraine vehicles, with the enemy losing up to 70 militants;

◻️ Russian air defense forces destroyed 172 Ukrainian drones;

◻️ Losses for Ukraine in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone amounted to up to 620 militants, one tank, and two armored vehicles;

◻️ The Russian Yug Battlegroup repelled three Ukrainian counterattacks;

◻️ Ukraine lost up to 610 militants in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone;

◻️ Ukraine lost up to 135 militants and one tank in the Russian Vostok Battlegroup's combat zone;

◻️ Ukraine lost up to 80 militants in the Russian Dnepr Battlegroup's combat zone.

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Europe’s struggle to boost arms production mired in red tape & bottlenecks as Ukraine drains stocks

European efforts to boost arms production are mired in bureaucracy, bottlenecks, nimbyism, and lack of cash, according to The Wall Street Journal. The continent’s weapons makers have been long on promises to churn out more weapons to restock inventories drained by NATO’s proxy conflict in Ukraine, yet short on action.

“European defense industries have atrophied, factories have been dismantled and the supply of materials for artillery such as chemicals and casing has dwindled,” the publication noted.

It offered a litany of cases where defense contractors have faced significant hurdles:

▪️ After tossing all of its artillery into the Ukraine support sinkhole, Denmark had to buy back a decommissioned ammunition plant to resurrect its production of artillery shells last year. However, the factory remains empty as the formal tendering process is mired in political wrangling over the tendering process.

▪️ A leading European tank maker, KNDS, had to hit the pause button on plans to expand a Munich testing range after complaints from local residents.

▪️ Diehl Defense in Troisdorf faced similar community resistance when seeking permission to expand an explosives factory in the German city.

European defense companies are also short of investment, with some banks outright refusing to lend, the newspaper claimed.

Accordingly, European governments have instead been buying from US suppliers. EU countries spent 78% of their procurement outside the bloc, including 63% on American companies, according to statistics covering June 2022 to June 2023, that allowed US weapons makers enjoy a profit-making bonanza.

*the picture is AI-generated

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Who is Hashem Safieddine, Hezbollah’s potential next leader?

After Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, several media outlets and experts named Hashem Safieddine as Nasrallah’s most likely successor.

What is known about Hashem Safieddine?

▪️ Hashem Safieddine heads the Executive Council, which coordinates Hezbollah's political affairs and civilian activities, including communications, education, health, economics, and trade unions.

▪️ Safieddine also sits on the Jihad Council, which manages the group's military operations.

▪️ Overall, he has been part of Hezbollah's structure since the group's founding in 1982.

Early years and studies

▪️ Safieddine, a maternal cousin of Nasrallah, was born in 1964 in the town of Deir Qanoun En Nahr in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district.

▪️ Just like Nasrallah, Safieddine is recognized as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, which grants him the noscript of sayyed and the right to wear a black turban.

▪️ He studied theology in Iraq and Iran alongside Nasrallah, and was summoned back to Beirut in 1994 to head the Executive Council.

▪️ Safieddine’s son is married to Zeinab Soleimani, the daughter of the late Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.

Prominent statements

Safieddine has appeared openly at political and religious events, as well as funerals of slain Hezbollah fighters. His public statements have reflected the Lebanese group’s commitment to the Palestinian cause.

“Our history, our guns and our rockets are with you. Everything we have is with you,” Safieddine said in October 2023 in Dahiyeh.

Safieddine weighed in on how Hezbollah views its leadership succession in a July speech, saying: “In our resistance … when any leader is martyred, another takes up the flag and goes on with new, certain, strong determination.”

Safieddine was designated as Hezbollah’s next leader in the event that "the Zionists succeed in assassinating Hassan Nasrallah" at a general meeting in 2008, Iranian newspaper Khoursid reported.

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📹 Israeli operation to assassinate Hezbollah leader reconstructed by Arab media

A video made by the TV channel Al Arabiya has recreated the chronology of events from the arrival of Hezbollah’s leadership to the moment of their liquidation. Six buildings and the bunker beneath them were razed to the ground.

Israel reportedly dropped more than 80 bombs weighing one ton each to eliminate Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah. Lebanese media earlier showed what the site where Nasrallah was killed now looks like.

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