Jordan Says Shot Down Drone in its Airspace
The Jordanian military announced it had shot down a drone of unknown origin in its airspace on Wednesday. No casualties were reported.
"This morning, the Jordanian Armed Forces engaged with a drone of unknown origin that entered Jordanian airspace and was brought down in Jerash Governorate, without any injuries," the military said of an area located around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the capital Amman.
French ISIS Suspects Stand Trial in Iraq
Six French nationals went on trial on Sunday, as Iraq moves to prosecute thousands of suspected ISIS members.
Iraq's prisons, already packed with ISIS suspects, have received thousands more detainees transferred since last year from Syria.
The trial of the six French nationals began on Sunday morning.
An AFP correspondent in the courtroom reported that the judge set the next hearing for October 5.
During the nearly three-hour session, the judge read the investigation findings, which were also shown on a screen, including the suspects' testimonies.
The investigation found that they joined ISIS after travelling first to Turkey and then Syria.
The judge then inquired about their legal representation before setting the new hearing date.
The suspects include Charlie Sun, Kamel Ben Mbarak, Najib Megherbi, Mehdi Ismael and Ibrahim Azahaf, who arrived in Syria when he was 14 years old, according to their French lawyers.
Among them was also Noureddine El Mansouri, who was stripped of his French nationality in June 2026, though the decision is still under appeal.
The suspects are part of a group of 47 French citizens transferred from Syria last year.
The larger group includes Adrien Guihal, who claimed responsibility for the 2016 Nice attack for ISIS.
The group swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery.
French lawyers on Thursday urged the repatriation of the French nationals detained in Iraq, warning that they could face the death penalty.
In February, over 5,700 ISIS detainees from more than 60 countries were transferred to Iraq by the United States, after years held in Syrian prisons overseen by Kurdish-led forces.
Among them were at least five French nationals, some of whom were minors when their parents joined ISIS.
Earlier this month, Iraq's judiciary said it had completed their interrogation and that the cases would proceed to trial.
It added that more than 450 Syrians would be released after investigations found no evidence warranting legal action against them.
In April, Iraq handed over two detained foreigners, from Finland and the United States, to their countries after they were cleared of suspicion.
Israeli Man Critically Wounded in West Bank Shooting
A 30-year-old Israeli man was critically wounded in a shooting attack in the northern West Bank on Sunday morning, hours before the Yom Kippur holiday, which is widely considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
The Israeli military said the attacker opened fire from a vehicle and then fled on foot.
The military set up several roadblocks in the area.
Prior to the attack, Israeli troops carried out a large counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank town of Al-Mughayyir. Palestinian officials said at least 28 people were detained.
Tensions have surged in the West Bank and extremist Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have increased exponentially, emboldened by right-wing, ultra-nationalist politicians in Israel's government.
The Sept. 30 withdrawal of US forces will mark Iraq’s shift toward full security self-reliance and remove any justification for armed activity outside state control, the spokesman for the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s armed forces said on Saturday.
The transition would “eliminate any justification for operating outside state institutions and give those institutions the security and legitimacy needed to disarm unofficial groups,” Sabah al-Numan told the state news agency.
“The professional performance of the Iraqi armed forces has proven that they are the impenetrable shield protecting political decision-making and the primary guarantor of Iraq’s unity and national stability,” he said.
But the upcoming withdrawal has stirred fears in Baghdad, rattling markets and reviving concerns over the fate of armed factions. Sources close to the government say the warnings circulating publicly are exaggerated.
The Iraqi government and allied political forces are preparing to declare the withdrawal date a “day of Iraqi sovereignty.”
Much of the unease, however, centers on the possible repercussions of bringing weapons under state control — an initiative that Iraqi politicians say may be recast as a “plan to regulate and manage weapons.”
Qasim al-Araji, the prime minister’s national security adviser, said the government would regard anyone who continued to carry weapons illegally after the process was completed as an outlaw.
“Strict measures will be taken against them, potentially including treating them as terrorists,” al-Araji said in televised remarks.
He denied reports that the committee overseeing the process had been given a deadline, saying no timeframe had been set.
Al-Araji said the committee, formed by the Coordination Framework alliance, was working under the prime minister’s direct supervision.
Legal action against those carrying illegal weapons would begin only after the committee had completed its work and arms had been brought fully under state control, he added.
Government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi called Sept. 30 “a sovereign milestone” that would shift Iraq’s relationship with international coalition members toward bilateral ties based on respect for sovereignty and mutual interests.
