WASHINGTON – Several wars remain open this week, from the Strait of Hormuz to Kyiv, Sudan, Gaza, and Myanmar. None has a working ceasefire that holds.
United States and Iran
The United States and Iran fought their biggest exchange of fire since July after U.S. Central Command said American forces completed a wave of strikes on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets, including air defenses, radar, maritime sites, mine-laying gear, and communications. Centcom said the strikes followed recent IRGC attempts against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American troops in the region.
The Iranian Red Crescent said shrapnel from a missile hit a family wedding at a home in Kuhestak, in Sirik County on the Hormuz coast, killing four people, including two children, and injuring dozens. Iranian media, citing the Hormozgan governorate, named the dead as Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; Kolsum Mallahi Nazhdnia, 43; Mohammad Mallahi, 16; and Amirali Karimi, four. Iranian authorities said another 14 people were killed in other strikes. A Centcom spokesperson, Capt. Tim Hawkins, told the BBC the U.S. military “never targets civilians.”
Iran answered with ballistic missiles and drones toward U.S. sites in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, Iranian forces said. Jordan said it engaged 13 ballistic missiles, destroying 10; three fell in remote areas. Reuters cited U.S. officials saying there were no U.S. casualties. Kuwait reported a drone started a fire at a residential complex with no deaths. The IRGC said two tankers hit mines while being guided through Hormuz by the U.S. military. Saudi Arabia’s national shipping company said two Filipino sailors were killed in a security incident involving its tanker SIDR on Monday.
The fight resumed after a roughly month-long pause. The war opened Feb. 28 with a U.S.-Israeli air campaign. A June memorandum of understanding that called for a halt and a reopened strait collapsed within weeks. The waterway usually carries about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments. President Trump said he was “not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table.”
Russia and Ukraine
Russian air attacks killed 12 people in Kyiv and the surrounding region on Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities told Reuters, the sixth straight day of intense strikes on the capital. Moscow has used swarms of drones, including faster jet-powered models that are harder to intercept. Ukraine’s air force said overnight attacks involved ballistic, cruise, and anti-radar missiles plus more than 200 drones and decoys.
The war is also spilling onto NATO territory. Germany on Tuesday formally blamed Russia for an Aug. 4 explosives-laden drone found near Ukrainian cargo planes at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the attack followed the “well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe.” President Vladimir Putin accused Germany of planting evidence. Moscow’s embassy called the charge “absurd.” Berlin said it would close Russia’s Bonn consulate and end the Russian House cultural center in Berlin. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance “stands in full solidarity with Germany.”
Separately, NATO jets scrambled after drones briefly entered Estonian airspace, Estonia’s foreign minister said.
Sudan
Sudan’s war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, continues on several fronts. The UN humanitarian office said local authorities reported nearly 22,000 people may have been displaced in the past week by fighting in Geissan locality in Blue Nile state, with many sheltering in schools or moving toward Ed Damazine. UN estimates put the war’s displacement at about 13 million. Fighting has also continued in North, West, and South Kordofan.
Gaza
A ceasefire declared Oct. 10 has not ended the killing. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry told the BBC that more than 900 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there this year, bringing the total since the ceasefire to more than 1,300, including 301 children. UNICEF has also reported more than 300 children killed since the ceasefire. The conflict monitor ACLED has recorded around 200 Israeli strikes during the ceasefire that reportedly killed Hamas operatives or other armed fighters.
Myanmar
Myanmar’s military, five years after the 2021 coup, has been clawing back towns it lost in 2023 and 2024. Al Jazeera, citing the think tank ISP-Myanmar, reported the junta has retaken 22 of 101 lost towns. Analysts point to mass conscription, an air campaign, and Chinese-brokered ceasefires that pulled some ethnic armed groups out of the fight.
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Sources: Reuters; BBC; Reuters; BBC; BBC; Al Jazeera; UN News.
