Israeli sources tell CBS News that Israel was ready to shoot down flydubai Flight 1073 with all passengers onboard after the Omani copilot attacked the captain, scrambling fighter jets before calling them off as the plane went to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
The sources say that as part of a protocol for a potential 9/11-style incident, the Israeli Air Force sought to contact the cockpit after the plane made a sharp plunge, but didn’t receive an answer. A committee formed in advanced was then swiftly convened and a command center was set up, as fighter jets were scrambled and Israel closed its airspace, according to the report.
The warplanes were called back however once Israel realized that the plane was turning to Saudi Arabia, which had scrambled its own fighter jets.
The sources add that if the flight got closer, Israel would have dispatched planes into Jordan’s airspace to investigate. The IAF pilots would have then sought to get as close to the cockpit as they could in an effort to establish visual contact and size up the situation, before doing likewise for the cabin to determine if there was any panic among the passengers.
After checking in on the plane, the IAF would update the committee, which the sources say would in turn contact the defense minister and prime minister if the plane had been hijacked and the terrorists weren’t responding. Ultimately, the decision to shoot down the plane would rest with the prime minister, an outcome the sources quoted by CBS News say would’ve been preferable than having it crash into Ben Gurion Airport, the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv or another “high-value target.”
Key Update
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen say they struck the international airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh, an Aramco refinery and sites across the kingdom’s south.
The attacks, which included drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, “targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh,” says Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, adding that “the Aramco refinery in Rabigh” was also hit along with military sites and smaller airports in the south.
Key Update
At least one Iraqi federal policeman was killed and four others wounded on Monday when Islamic State militants attacked a federal police site southwest of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, two security sources tell Reuters.
The attackers used semi-automatic machine guns and sniper fire against the federal police regiment stationed near Hawija, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, the sources say.
There is no immediate claim of responsibility. But security and army sources said Islamic State militants, who are still active in the area, were involved in the attack.
The attack is the first reported assault by Islamic State militants on Iraqi security forces since US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq on September 30, ending the military mission in the country.
The United States had led a coalition that supported Iraqi forces in the fight against Islamic State, including efforts to prevent the militant group from regrouping.
Washington said it would continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support after the withdrawal, while Iraqi forces would take full responsibility for the country’s security and for suppressing Islamic State remnants.
Despite the defeat of Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate nearly a decade ago, the group retains sleeper cells in Iraq, Iraqi security officials told Reuters ahead of the US withdrawal.
The withdrawal had raised concerns that a security vacuum could provide an opening for Islamic State to regain strength, with some officials warning that Iraqi forces would now have to contain the group without the coalition’s military presence.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says on Monday that naval forces carried out a military operation in the Hodeidah governorate, as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces launch a major offensive against the Iran-backed Houthis.
Key Update
The US Treasury Department says it is alerting foreign financial institutions that continue to do business with Iran or its financial sector to let them know that they may be sanctioned by Washington without advance notice.
“Foreign financial institutions continuing to transact with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions could be targeted at any time without advance notification and should take immediate action to terminate such activity and relationships,” the Treasury Department says in its alert.
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