Dubai, UAE — A US helicopter fired missiles at a Panama-flagged cargo ship after its crew allegedly ignored repeated warnings from American forces, according to US Central Command.
The MH-60 helicopter struck the engine room of the M/V Vela Nova and disabled the vessel, CENTCOM said. The ship had been attempting to reach Iran in violation of the US blockade of Iranian ports.
It was the third vessel the United States has forcibly halted since reinstating the blockade on July 14.
CENTCOM said US forces had redirected 55 ships attempting to breach the blockade and boarded two others as of Tuesday.
The United States previously blockaded Iranian ports from April 13 to June 18. CENTCOM said those operations disabled nine ships and redirected more than 140.
Drones strike Kurdish opposition camps
Four drones struck three Iranian Kurdish opposition camps near Erbil in Iraq, with no casualties reported, security sources told Reuters.
Kurdish news site Rudaw reported that Iran fired missiles and drones at locations in the Alana Valley, about 90 kilometres north of Erbil.
The strikes targeted positions linked to the Komala and Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran. Drone strikes were reported in Soran, Khalifan and Harir districts.
Two drones crashed in Khalifan, while another struck a civilian home in Soran. A fourth crashed in Harir, causing a fire in brushwood and grasslands on Mount Bani Harir.
Pakistani nationals killed in Red Sea attack
Three Pakistani nationals were killed and another injured in a Houthi attack on a vessel in the Red Sea, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said.
Dar condemned the attack on what he described as a non-combatant commercial vessel.
Pakistan is in contact with Saudi authorities and Yemen’s internationally recognised government to establish further details and the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Yemen’s coastguard said a day earlier that Houthi strikes on a vessel in the Red Sea had killed at least six people.
US strikes in Yemen kill 153 civilians
US military operations in Yemen killed 153 civilians and wounded 243 in 2025, according to a US official citing Pentagon assessments.
The figures represent a sharp increase from 2024, when Pentagon assessments attributed two civilian deaths and two injuries to US military operations in Yemen.
Trump describes secret plane switch
US President Donald Trump said he secretly switched planes in Turkey last month after the US Secret Service received an assassination threat.
Following a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military aircraft using a catering truck in an operation aimed at concealing his movements.
The White House did not disclose the switch. The operation became public after The Washington Post reported it on Monday.
Some commentators questioned whether the deception left Trump’s aides and accompanying journalists exposed aboard the aircraft believed to be carrying the president.
