Africa / Middle East

What?  Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations said it arrested 10 suspects, including one minor, in coordinated raids across seven cities — Casablanca, Agadir, Taroudant, El Hajeb, Tetouan, Fquih Ben Salah, and Safi — after uncovering a cell pledged to ISIS and guided by an ISIS affiliate in the Sahel that was building toward a suicide-bombing or vehicle-ramming attack on "sensitive targets and facilities." Investigators recovered a modified 4x4 with an altered fuel tank, pressure cookers packed with nails and wired for detonation, bladed weapons, military uniforms, and bomb-making manuals.

What?  Liberian security agencies at Roberts International Airport seized 237.6 kg of cocaine — compressed into 198 plates and worth more than $19 million — concealed inside cargo falsely declared as Maggi seasoning cubes and traditional lappa textiles. Five individuals and a logistics company were indicted in July under Liberia's 2023 Controlled Drugs Act; one named consignee is based in the UK.

What?  Zimbabwe's Anti-Corruption Commission and tax authority intercepted two of six trucks carrying lithium ore at the Forbes Border Post on May 20, arresting Kunshan Mineral Consultancy director Tsitsi Manyumwa; a foreign national and a clearing agent named in the case remain at large. The syndicate allegedly used a cloned, expired export permit originally issued to other firms to disguise 204 tonnes of unbeneficiated lithium ore as approved petalite concentrate bound for China; roughly 34 tonnes had already crossed before the remaining trucks were stopped. Manyumwa was remanded on bail to July 23; the seized ore was valued at $100,000.

What?  UKMTO reported a distress call at 0720 UTC Sunday from a bulk carrier roughly 30 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah: an armed skiff opened fire before retreating to a larger vessel with its AIS switched off, and the ship's security team returned fire. No casualties were reported and the vessel proceeded safely; no group has claimed the attack. It follows a July 4 warning from Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki that the coalition would strike Hodeidah port, the Ras Isa terminal, as-Salif port and Sanaa airport if Houthi provocations continued — the Houthis instead launched a separate ground offensive on July 5 that killed 14 to 16 government troops.

What?  UNICEF said Monday that at least 330 children were killed or injured in Sudan in the first half of 2026, with Darfur and Kordofan hardest hit; since May, drone strikes and other attacks in and around el-Obeid (North Kordofan) have caused more than 35 child casualties, including at least 18 deaths, with drone strikes alone accounting for 60 percent of the toll. UNICEF's Sudan representative said children are being killed "in their homes, on the roads, in markets, and while attempting to access essential services."

What?  Saudi-led coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said July 4 the coalition would respond with "unprecedented" force and, for the first time in the conflict, named specific Yemeni infrastructure — Hodeidah port, the Ras Isa oil terminal, as-Salif port, Sanaa International Airport, power stations, and industrial facilities — as targets for retaliation should Houthi provocations continue. The statement followed a July 3 incident in which Saudi warplanes attempted to intercept an Iranian civilian flight approaching Sanaa carrying a Houthi delegation bound for Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral; Houthi air defenses drove the jets off, and Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree threatened a "comprehensive response" against Saudi airports and vital interests.

What?  Fighters attacked army positions in five towns — Anefis, Aguelhoc, and Gao in northern Mali, Sévaré in the center, and Kénièroba in the south — in coordinated predawn assaults on July 4. The army said it repelled the attacks, killing 20 fighters in Sévaré and six in Gao, and described the situation as "totally under control." No group claimed the full, multi-town operation, though a spokesman for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, said its fighters entered Anefis, where Malian army and allied Russian forces are based following the FLA's April offensive.

What?  Saudi warplanes reportedly entered Yemeni airspace July 3 to block an Iranian civilian aircraft carrying mourners toward Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral from landing at Sana'a; Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree threatened a "comprehensive response targeting airports and vital interests on land and sea," and the Saudi-led coalition warned of "unprecedented force" in return. The confrontation lands as Khamenei's casket lay in state in Tehran July 4 ahead of a days-long state funeral, four months after his February assassination and the elevation of his son Mojtaba as Iran's new Supreme Leader.

What?  Italian interior ministry data cited by Agenzia Nova show 14,464 sea arrivals in Italy from January 1 to July 3, 2026, versus 30,598 over the same period in 2025 — a 52.7% decline. Libya remains the dominant departure point, accounting for roughly 83% of arrivals, itself down about 56% year-on-year, which Italian officials attribute to increased Libyan Coast Guard interceptions and continued Italy-Libya cooperation.

What?  A roughly 1-kilogram improvised device packed with metal shrapnel detonated at a café on al-Nasr Street near Damascus's Palace of Justice on July 2; the death toll was revised upward to 10 killed (including six lawyers) and 21 injured as victims were buried July 3. No group has claimed responsibility; Syrian officials blame unnamed "bad actors" seeking to destabilize the transitional government, and the courthouse itself — currently hosting trials of former Assad-era security officials — may have been the intended target.

What?  The UN's International Organization for Migration says roughly 6,005 people fled the town of Kulbus and three nearby villages in Sudan's West Darfur after Rapid Support Forces members threatened residents over their perceived support for the Sudanese army; most crossed the border into Chad. The Sudanese army has since claimed it retook Kulbus — a rare gain in western Darfur since El-Fasher's fall.

What?  Member states led by Denmark, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece are focusing outreach on Rwanda and Uzbekistan to host the EU's first "return hubs" for rejected asylum seekers under the newly approved Returns Regulation, after Libya and Egypt were dropped from consideration. Greece's prime minister said the goal is to conclude initial agreements this year for a 2027 start; rights groups warn both candidate states lack human-rights guarantees.

What?  Liberian National Police interdicted the shipment at the country's main international gateway.

What?  Amnesty International has accused three Rapid Support Forces commanders of war crimes, including allegations of ethnic cleansing in El Fasher, as UN officials separately warn of continuing risk of mass-atrocity violence across Sudan.