Cairo: An al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Mali has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 10 UN peacekeepers from Chad on Sunday in the north of the country, the group said in statement posted on Telegram.

The Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen group said the attack was a response to Chadian President Idriss Deby's revival of diplomatic relations with Israel.

The group's claim of responsibility echoed a statement released last week by al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda chapter in East Africa, after the shooting at a hotel in Nairobi that killed 21 people. The Nairobi attack, al-Shabab claimed, was carried out under the orders of al-Qaida and was in retaliation for President Donald Trump's decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Chad at the time of the attack.</s>Cairo: An al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Mali has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 10 UN peacekeepers from Chad on Sunday in the north of the country, the group said in statement posted on Telegram.

The Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen group said the attack was a response to Chadian President Idriss Deby's revival of diplomatic relations with Israel.

The group's claim of responsibility echoed a statement released last week by al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda chapter in East Africa, after the shooting at a hotel in Nairobi that killed 21 people. The Nairobi attack, al-Shabab claimed, was carried out under the orders of al-Qaida and was in retaliation for President Donald Trump's decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Chad at the time of the attack.</s>Cairo: An al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Mali has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 10 UN peacekeepers from Chad on Sunday in the north of the country, the group said in statement posted on Telegram.

The Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen group said the attack was a response to Chadian President Idriss Deby's revival of diplomatic relations with Israel.

The group's claim of responsibility echoed a statement released last week by al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda chapter in East Africa, after the shooting at a hotel in Nairobi that killed 21 people. The Nairobi attack, al-Shabab claimed, was carried out under the orders of al-Qaida and was in retaliation for President Donald Trump's decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Chad at the time of the attack.</s>Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would not deny Israeli responsibility for an air strike in Syria on Sunday.

Speaking with reporters during his visit to Chad, PM Netanyahu only affirmed the standing policy: “We have a permanent policy to hurt the Iranian entrenchment in Syria, and everyone who is trying to hurt us,” Netanyahu said, in the Chadian capital N’Djamena, before returning to Israel.

“This policy doesn’t change, whether I am in Israel or on a historic visit in Chad. It’s permanent,” he said, according to the Times of Israel.

Syria’s claim that Israeli planes had attacked was backed up by the Russian military, which said it was blocked by the country’s air defenses.

The strike came hours after a Syrian cargo plane landed at Damascus International Airport from Tehran, according to publicly available flight data. Israel and American defense officials have charged that Iran and Syria have been using civilian cargo planes as a cover for transporting advanced weaponry to Hezbollah and other terror groups.

Another flight, flown by Tehran’s Mahan Air carrier, was headed for Syria on Sunday afternoon, but turned back following the reported Israeli strikes, according to flight data. Mahan Air is suspected of carrying war matériel from Iran to Syria. As a result, it has incurred sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department.</s>But speaking after at least four Syrian soldiers were been killed in the raids carried out by Tel Aviv, during which Iranian forces operating within the country have been targeted, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netahyahu hit back, warning he will hit back against "anyone who tries to harm us". Speaking today, the head of Iran's air force said on Monday the country was impatient to fight Israel and destroy it, a state-linked news website said. Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh was quoted as saying by the Young Journalist Club, a website supervised by state television: ”The young people in the air force are fully ready and impatient to confront the Zionist regime and eliminate it from the Earth."

Israel struck in Syria early on Monday as part of its increasingly open assault on Iran's presence there, shaking the night sky over Damascus with an hour of loud explosions in a second consecutive night of military action.



The threat of open confrontation between arch-enemies Israel and Iran has long simmered in Syria, as the Iranian military has established a presence there since early in its civil war in support of President Bashar al-Assad against rebels.



Israel, which regards Iran as its biggest threat, has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets and those of allied militia, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, in Syria, aiming to push them far from its frontier.



The Israeli military said its fighter jets had attacked the Iranian targets early on Monday, including munition stores, a position in the Damascus International Airport, an intelligence site and a military training camp.

Israeli jets then targeted Syrian defence batteries after coming under fire, the Israeli military said, and the Defence Ministry of Russia, Assad's strongest ally, said four Syrian soldiers were killed and six wounded.



The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 11 people had been killed.



Syrian air defences, supplied by Russia, had destroyed more than 30 cruise missiles and guided bombs, the Russian Defence Ministry said, according to RIA news agency.



Syrian state media, citing a military source, said the country had endured "intense attack through consecutive waves of guided missiles, but had destroyed most "hostile targets".



Israel's target was the Iranian Quds Force, a special unit in charge of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps overseas operations, the Israeli military said.



It followed a previous night of cross-border fire, which Israel said was prompted by a rocket fired at a packed ski resort in the Golan Heights, close to the frontier with Syria.



An Israel military statement said: “Yesterday, Iranian Quds forces operating in Syrian territory launched a surface-to-surface rocket from Syrian territory aimed at the northern Golan Heights.”



Syria said it was Israel that had attacked, and its own air defences that had repelled the assault.

Speaking during a visit to Chad in West Africa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is hoping to win a fifth term in an April 9 election, said: "We have a permanent policy, to strike at the Iranian entrenchment in Syria and hurt whoever tries to hurt us.”



Israel, which appointed a new military chief last week, also appeared keen to signal zero tolerance for Sunday's rocket launch, which it said had been foiled by its Iron Dome interceptor system.



The Israeli army said the Mount Hermon ski resort in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights would be shut for the day. It added that otherwise things remained "routine" along the frontier with Syria.



Netanyahu last week acknowledged an Israeli attack on what he called an Iranian arms cache in Syria, where Tehran provides Damascus with vital support.



He told his cabinet Israel had carried out "hundreds" of attacks over the past years of Syria's war to curtail Iran and its ally Hezbollah. In a speech today, he said the air strikes had mainly targeted military positions set up by Iran, which he warned would face consequences for threatening to destroy Israel. He addedL "We are operating both against Iran and against the Syrian forces that are abetting the Iranian aggression. "We will strike at anyone who tried to harm us. Whoever threatens to eliminate us, bears full responsibility." Iran has said it has no plans to quit Syria, where it has helped Syria's President Bashar al-Assad fight off an eight-year rebellion against his rule. Most of the country is now back under Damascus' control, and Assad's alliances with both Iran and Russia remain very strong. Last summer, he took back rebel-held territory in southwest Syria, near the Golan Heights, in a campaign that was supported by Iran-backed militias.</s>But speaking after at least four Syrian soldiers were been killed in the raids carried out by Tel Aviv, during which Iranian forces operating within the country have been targeted, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netahyahu hit back, warning he will hit back against "anyone who tries to harm us". Speaking today, the head of Iran's air force said on Monday the country was impatient to fight Israel and destroy it, a state-linked news website said. Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh was quoted as saying by the Young Journalist Club, a website supervised by state television: ”The young people in the air force are fully ready and impatient to confront the Zionist regime and eliminate it from the Earth."

Israel struck in Syria early on Monday as part of its increasingly open assault on Iran's presence there, shaking the night sky over Damascus with an hour of loud explosions in a second consecutive night of military action.



The threat of open confrontation between arch-enemies Israel and Iran has long simmered in Syria, as the Iranian military has established a presence there since early in its civil war in support of President Bashar al-Assad against rebels.



Israel, which regards Iran as its biggest threat, has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets and those of allied militia, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, in Syria, aiming to push them far from its frontier.



The Israeli military said its fighter jets had attacked the Iranian targets early on Monday, including munition stores, a position in the Damascus International Airport, an intelligence site and a military training camp.

Israeli jets then targeted Syrian defence batteries after coming under fire, the Israeli military said, and the Defence Ministry of Russia, Assad's strongest ally, said four Syrian soldiers were killed and six wounded.



The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 11 people had been killed.



Syrian air defences, supplied by Russia, had destroyed more than 30 cruise missiles and guided bombs, the Russian Defence Ministry said, according to RIA news agency.



Syrian state media, citing a military source, said the country had endured "intense attack through consecutive waves of guided missiles, but had destroyed most "hostile targets".



Israel's target was the Iranian Quds Force, a special unit in charge of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps overseas operations, the Israeli military said.



It followed a previous night of cross-border fire, which Israel said was prompted by a rocket fired at a packed ski resort in the Golan Heights, close to the frontier with Syria.



An Israel military statement said: “Yesterday, Iranian Quds forces operating in Syrian territory launched a surface-to-surface rocket from Syrian territory aimed at the northern Golan Heights.”



Syria said it was Israel that had attacked, and its own air defences that had repelled the assault.

Speaking during a visit to Chad in West Africa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is hoping to win a fifth term in an April 9 election, said: "We have a permanent policy, to strike at the Iranian entrenchment in Syria and hurt whoever tries to hurt us.”



Israel, which appointed a new military chief last week, also appeared keen to signal zero tolerance for Sunday's rocket launch, which it said had been foiled by its Iron Dome interceptor system.



The Israeli army said the Mount Hermon ski resort in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights would be shut for the day. It added that otherwise things remained "routine" along the frontier with Syria.



Netanyahu last week acknowledged an Israeli attack on what he called an Iranian arms cache in Syria, where Tehran provides Damascus with vital support.



He told his cabinet Israel had carried out "hundreds" of attacks over the past years of Syria's war to curtail Iran and its ally Hezbollah. In a speech today, he said the air strikes had mainly targeted military positions set up by Iran, which he warned would face consequences for threatening to destroy Israel. He addedL "We are operating both against Iran and against the Syrian forces that are abetting the Iranian aggression. "We will strike at anyone who tried to harm us. Whoever threatens to eliminate us, bears full responsibility." Iran has said it has no plans to quit Syria, where it has helped Syria's President Bashar al-Assad fight off an eight-year rebellion against his rule. Most of the country is now back under Damascus' control, and Assad's alliances with both Iran and Russia remain very strong. Last summer, he took back rebel-held territory in southwest Syria, near the Golan Heights, in a campaign that was supported by Iran-backed militias.</s></s>Cairo: An al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Mali has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 10 UN peacekeepers from Chad on Sunday in the north of the country, the group said in statement posted on Telegram.

The Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen group said the attack was a response to Chadian President Idriss Deby's revival of diplomatic relations with Israel.

The group's claim of responsibility echoed a statement released last week by al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda chapter in East Africa, after the shooting at a hotel in Nairobi that killed 21 people. The Nairobi attack, al-Shabab claimed, was carried out under the orders of al-Qaida and was in retaliation for President Donald Trump's decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Chad at the time of the attack.</s>A U.S.-based monitoring group says Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Muslimeen, known as JNIM and formed in 2017, says it carried out the attack in response to Chad renewing diplomatic ties with Israel.

DAKAR, Senegal — SITE Intelligence Group says Mali’s al-Qaida branch has claimed responsibility for an attack on a United Nations peacekeeping mission that killed at least 10 peacekeepers and wounded 25 others in northern Mali’s Kidal region.

The U.S.-based monitoring group says Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Muslimeen, known as JNIM and formed in 2017, says it carried out the attack in response to Chad renewing diplomatic ties with Israel. It suggested this was the first of many “responses” to Chad’s relations with Israel.

The renewed ties were announced after a recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Chad.

Sunday’s attack targeted the base in Aguelhoc, which houses Chadian peacekeepers. Peacekeepers from Chad, a strong contributor to regional security efforts, have suffered repeated assaults in Mali.</s>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Chad, Sunday morning for a visit of about seven hours, during which he and Chadian President Idriss Déby are expected to announce the resumption of bilateral ties.

After arriving in the country, Netanyahu was greeted by Chad Foreign Minister Mahamat Zene, the second-highest official in the country, a local source told The Times of Israel.

At the presidential palace in N’Djamena, the country’s capital city, Netanyahu met with Chad’s President Idriss Déby for a one-on-one talk, with another scheduled together with their expanded staff.

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He and Déby are expected to issue a formal declaration about the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, which were severed 47 years ago.

If Chad formally resumes ties with Israel, the number of countries that have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state would reach a record 160, part of an intense drive by Netanyahu to expand Israel’s diplomatic reach. In November, Déby made a surprise visit to Israel, during which he said he was interested in restoring full diplomatic ties.

Before taking off, the prime minister called the visit a “historic breakthrough.”

“Chad is a huge Muslim country that borders on Libya and Sudan. It’s part of the revolution we are doing in the Arab and Muslim world,” he said from the tarmac.

Netanyahu claimed that Iran and the Palestinians were trying to prevent Israel’s diplomatic push.

“It greatly worries, even greatly angers [them],” he said.

The last country to renew diplomatic ties with Israel was Nicaragua, in March of 2017. The Central American country had severed diplomatic relations seven years earlier, in protest over an incident during which violent pro-Palestinian activists and IDF troops clashed aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship.

At the time, Netanyahu did not fly to Nicaragua for a ceremony.

In N’Djamena, Netanyahu is widely expected to boost defense deals and other trade ties with Chad. For that purpose, he is joined by senior officials from the defense and finance ministries, Israel’s Kan broadcaster reported on Saturday.

After delivering a statement to the press, Netanyahu is scheduled to leave for Israel around 3 p.m.

Chad is located in a potentially strategically important place for Israel, as it could enable Israeli aircraft to shave off several hours in flight routes to Latin America (though for this to happen Israel would also need to get overfly rights from Sudan, which does not appear imminent).

Netanyahu’s flight, which must skirt Sudan, is expected to take eight hours, despite N’Djamena being only 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) from Tel Aviv.

The Republic of Chad cut diplomatic ties with Jerusalem on November 28, 1972, at the behest of Libyan dictator Muammar Ghaddafi.

Nearly 15 million people live in Chad, 55 percent of them Muslim. About 40% are Christian.

Israel and Chadian leaders have acknowledged that clandestine contacts continued even after relations were severed.

“The relations between our countries were cut in 1972 for specific historic reasons, but our special relations continued all the time,” Déby, who has ruled Chad since 1990, said in Jerusalem in November.

“The resumption of diplomatic relations with your country, which I desire, does not make us ignore the Palestinian issue,” Déby continued. “My country is profoundly attached to the peace process and has shaped the Arab peace initiative, the Madrid principles and existing agreements.”

At an event at the Jerusalem residence of President Reuven Rivlin, Déby said Israel is “an important partner” for Chad.

“Of course, peace has not yet come to the region. Peace is what every people needs to live a good life. I want to say to you that diplomatic relations with Israel would not make the Palestinians disappear. This is a critical issues that must be dealt with,” he said.

Netanyahu has traveled to Africa three times in the last two years, visiting Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Liberia.

He regularly vows to expand ties with all countries on the continent, including those that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

In July 2016, the Republic of Guinea, a small, overwhelmingly Muslim country in West Africa, renewed diplomatic relations with Israel, after it had cut ties with the Jewish state in 1967.

Since then, Netanyahu has met with leaders of additional African Muslim-majority states, such as Mali and Somalia.
Chad and Israel restore diplomatic relations with each other after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Chadian President Idriss Déby in N'Djamena. Chad severed ties with Israel in 1972.