At least four United States soldiers have lost their lives in retaliatory strikes by Iran. The US Central Command, CENTCOM, disclosed this in a statement posted on its X account on Monday. The US military emphasized that the identities of the deceased will remain undisclosed until their families have been notified. CENTCOM stated that four US service members were earlier confirmed killed in action, adding that the fourth individual, who sustained serious injuries from Iran’s initial attacks, ultimately succumbed to the wounds. “Major combat operations are ongoing, and we will withhold names for 24 hours post notification of families,” it added. In related news, President Donald Trump has vowed to retaliate for the deaths of American personnel following the joint US-Israeli operations against Iran.

The United States and Israeli forces said they have eliminated the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, Hussein Makled. The Israel Defense Forces, IDF, disclosed this in its official X account on Monday. The IDF said Makled was eliminated in a ‘precise strike’ in Beirut, capital of Lebanon. “ELIMINATED: Hussein Makled, the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, was eliminated in a precise strike in Beirut,” the IDF said. Makled’s death adds to the list of Iranian-linked leaders eliminated so far by the US-Israel military amid the war with Iran. Recall that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders were eliminated by the US-Israel strike on Iran. Iran has long carried out several retaliatory strikes against US-Israel allies in the Middle East. The US confirmed at least four of its soldiers have been killed by the Iran strike. At Saudi Arabia’s largest refinery, the Saudi Aramco facility in Ras Tanura, a section went up in flames after being hit by an Iranian drone on Monday.

The Department of State Services, DSS, has arrested a 26-year-old man suspected of being involved in the recent attack on the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr. Peter Obi, in Benin City, Edo State. Obi, alongside former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Oyegun, and several leaders and members of the opposition African Democratic Congress, ADC, narrowly escaped death on February 24 when armed men opened fire during a political meeting in Benin. Shortly after the attack, a man identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to his X handle, @stevetom788, claiming responsibility and issuing further threats against Obi. Stephen stated online that Obi was lucky to have escaped in Benin and vowed that the former presidential candidate would not be as fortunate next time. “We warned Obi against his entrance into Edo State, but he mistook our resolve for his Obidiots online noise. Thank his stars he (Obi) survived this one… “I learnt he’s going to my Rivers State… Na my men go handle that one and dem no dey miss target… Speak no peace to a bastard and wish him no long life, for he’s destined to die,” Stephen posted. A counter-insurgency and security expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, revealed that the man has been arrested. Makama made this known in a post via its official X handle on Monday. According the post, a top security source revealed that immediately after the threat was issued, DSS operatives launched a covert investigation, deploying forensic tools to trace and apprehend the suspect. According to the source, Stephen is a teacher at Jessica High School in Eliozu, located in the Umuehere Community, Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. “I strongly believe that the outcome of the agency’s forensic investigations implicated the suspect,” the source stressed. “You know that, as a responsible security organisation saddled with the task of counter-espionage, VIP protection, among other asset protection duties, the DSS is always alive to its responsibility of investigating credible intelligence, irrespective of tribe or religion. “They swiftly deployed operatives and the man who threatened Peter Obi was nabbed and is in custody,” the source said according to Makaka. He added that Stephen would soon be charged to court.

A 99-year-old woman, Mrs Sarah Nwanyisunday Oparaocha from Etitinabu Na Ndagbo in Afaraukwu, the hometown of Nnamdi Kanu, has appealed to the Federal government to ensure that the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu is released. Mrs Oparaocha, who spoke to newsmen and other media houses on Saturday at her residence in Afaraukwu, said that it was her ultimate wish to see the face of Nnamdi Kanu in Afaraukwu now that she was still alive. The aged woman spoke on the same day that the people of the community held a meeting to ask for the release of their son, Nnamdi Kanu. Speaking in undiluted Igbo language with laces of proverbs, Mrs Oparaocha said that she had been praying and crying every morning to God to touch the hearts of Nigerian leaders to release Kanu so he can return to his people. “I will soon clock 100 years. I weep every morning during my prayers because of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. “I am pleading with the Nigerian government to release him so I can see him before God calls me. “I am now 99 years old and will soon be 100 years but my prayers now is to see Nnamdi Kanu with my eyes before God will eventually call me. “Nobody knows when God will call but I will be happy if I see Kanu before that time,” she said. She used the opportunity to advise the young people to eat natural native foods to live long, warning that unwholesome food consumption could damage the body system.