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Palestinian terrorists fired mortars Wednesday at United Nations officials as they toured the proposed site for a pier that is to be constructed in the Gaza Strip to assist with the delivery of humanitarian aid. The Times of Israel reported: Members of a terror group in the Gaza Strip launched mortars at an under-construction pier for a US-led project to bring aid into the Palestinian enclave yesterday, the military says. The mortar attack occurred as United Nations officials were touring the site with Israeli troops on the coast of central Gaza, the IDF says in response to a query on...

Approximately seven mortar rounds landed in the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad during an attack early on Friday, a U.S. military official told Reuters, in what appeared to be the largest attack of its kind in recent memory. U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria were also targeted with rockets and drones at least five more times on Friday; three times at separate bases in Syria, and twice at the Ain al-Asad airbase west of Baghdad, a U.S. defense official said. The attacks were the most recorded against U.S. forces in the region in a single day since mid-October, when Iran-aligned...

One of the mortars in the first round of fire early Tuesday struck the yard of a kindergarten, drawing angry responses from Israeli leaders, although no children were in the preschool at the time. Within hours, Israel’s military responded with airstrikes on sites across Gaza. It said the targets were military training bases belonging to both Hamas, the militant Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group that Israel said was responsible for Tuesday’s salvo. The sound of sirens and reports of Iron Dome taking down mortars from the skies over southern Israel continued...

The U.S. Army plans to issue contracts this year for development of a next-generation laser-guided 120mm mortar system. The new precision high explosive guided mortar, which will replace the current system, eliminates the need to typically fire several rounds to adjust fire for accurate strikes and also incorporate threat counter-measures and enhanced mobility.

Air raid sirens sounded across the Golan Heights on early Tuesday afternoon, warning of possible incoming rockets from Syria or Lebanon. Initial reports indicate local residents heard explosions in the area following the sirens, which were triggered around 12 pm. It is believed that two mortars landed near the Ein Zivan kibbutz, Channel 2 reported. After a brief investigation, the IDF concluded that rocket fire was spillover from the civil war in Syria and was unintentionally shot towards Israel. The Golan Regional Council said in a statement: “As a result of spillover from fighting between rebels and the Syrian army,...

Israel Army Scores 'Direct Hits' On Syrian Source Of Mortars Fired Into Golan Heights Agence France PresseNovember 11, 2012 Israeli troops fired tank shells into Syria on Monday in retaliation for a mortar round that struck near an army post in the Golan Heights, scoring "direct hits" on the source of the fire, the army said. "A short while ago, a mortar shell hit an open area in the vicinity of an IDF (army) post in the central Golan Heights, as part of the internal conflict inside Syria, causing no damage or injuries," it said. "In response, IDF soldiers fired...

So the Syrian government, has been unable to break the back of a populist uprising using snipers, RPGs, tanks and aircraft has turned to lobbing massive 240 mm mortars into the city of Homs, killing dozens. This sounds like an old fashioned leave no one alive siege. In case there were any doubts, this shows that the Syrian dictatorship of Bashar al Assad is at war with his own people. Syrian troops are firing Soviet-made M240 breech loading mortars into the city. These fire the largest mortar rounds in the world, according to the Christian Science Monitor. To put things...

Rocket fire from Gaza resumed as expected Thursday evening in an onslaught that started with last week’s deadly bus-attack that left 8 Israelis dead. At lest sixteen Qassam rockets and mortar shells were fired from Gaza on Thursday evening exploding in open fields in Eshkol, the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, and south of Ashkelon. The "Color Red" warning siren was sounded in the areas under attack. Shortly after 7pm another rocket was fired that struck near the Erez crossing. The IAF reported that warplanes struck a separate terror cell preparing a launch just before the Erez attack and scored a...

Southern Israeli cities came under rocket fire again for a fifth night despite claims by Gaza terrorists they were committed to a “ceasefire.” Residents in the coastal city of Ashkelon found themselves racing for cover several times throughout the night Monday as the Color Red air raid siren blared its warning, starting in the early evening. Two medium-range Grad Katyusha missiles, fired by terrorists in northern Gaza, exploded in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council district at around 7:40 p.m. local time. Both landed in open areas, although one set off a large brush fire in a field that quickly ignited...

Thousands of residents of southern Israel spent Shabbat in bomb shelters, as Hamas terrorists from Gaza continued firing rockets at Israeli targets in the Negev. Since Thursday, Arab terrorists have fired over 100 mortar shells and Kassam rockets at Israeli targets, with fifty fired since early Saturday. The rockets hit not only areas near the border, but areas further inside Israel, including the Ashkelon area. Four Grad-style Katyusha rockets hit areas near the city, but there were no injuries or damage reported. However, several people were hospitalized for shock, and as of Saturday night, three were still in the hospital....

Israel launched five airstrikes at the Gaza Strip on Monday, two days after Hamas militants fired dozens of mortar shells and rockets at Israel, witnesses and militant groups said.

"Rocket fire prompts IDF strike on Gaza" SNIPPET: "IAF targets two weapon caches in northern, southern Strip following ongoing rocket fire on Israel's south" SNIPPET: "Israel Air Force jets struck two Gaza targets overnight, following yet another day of continuous rocket fire on Israel's south. Fighter jets targeted two weapons warehouses in southern and northern Gaza in the early hours of Thursday morning. The IDF Spokesman's Unit said the pilots confirmed hitting their targets before safely returning to their base. No injuries were reported among the Palestinians at this time."

The US Army is pushing to get precision mortars developed and deployed to the field in Afghanistan as soon as possible. Mortars are lighter and can be towed by a HMMWV or MRAP, or carried and fired from inside M113 or Stryker APCs, making them easier to deploy than heavier cannon artillery. When indirect fire support is needed against enemies who are dug in along mountain ridgelines and other high positions, or in an urban area where which building you hit matters a great deal, getting the job done requires precision artillery. That capability has already come to MLRS rockets...

The U.S. Army, in what could signal a direction in combat missions, has launched mortars from unmanned aerial vehicles. The U.S. Army and General Dynamics (GD) have conducted tests of a so-called Air-Dropped Guided Mortar from UAVs in what could transform reconnaissance aircraft into attack platforms. The tests were meant to determine whether mortars fired from tactical UAV platforms could strike moving ground targets. In a test in early 2010, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems was said to have struck a stationary ground target with an 81mm UAV-launched mortar. The mortar, launched at the army's test grounds at Ft....

A few weeks back we wrote about a new Army program, the Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative (APMI), a response to an urgent request from Afghanistan to get troops precision mortar fire. While we tend to focus on big ticket items, it’s often the smaller weapons that make huge differences to troops in the field, particularly those chasing fleeting Taliban around Afghanistan’s harsh mountainous terrain. By providing prompt, precise, indirect fire support to the individual rifle squad, the precision mortar is one such weapon. I spoke to Maj. Jeffrey Hilt, the program lead for the Army from PEO Mortars, to get...

A man from China decided to keep fit using two old mortars before a friend noticed the devices were still live. Former army officer Xie Long, 87, said: "A colleague told me they were defused and because they were heavy and in the right shape I took two home to use as dumbbells. "Even my two sons used to use them as well for training. I can't believe we trained with them for 30 years with nothing happening." The mortars were discovered by chance when a friend from the local police force who also specialised in explosives visited Long at...

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2009 – Coalition and Iraqi forces detained a suspect and seized weapons in Iraq, and a U.S. commander refuted charges against American troops in the past three days, military officials said. During a joint operation in Baghdad’s Mansour district yesterday and May 17, troops detained a suspected criminal on a warrant and discovered nearly 30 mortar rounds of various sizes. Military officials said the suspect was held for questioning and that an explosive ordinance team moved the weapons for further investigation. Also on May 17, a senior U.S. commander in Mosul appeared on a local television talk...

A US congressman has had a narrow escape on a visit to Mogadishu after Somali insurgents fired mortars towards his plane as it was about to take off. Airport officials told the BBC one mortar had landed near the airport as Donald Payne's plane was due to fly and five others after his plane departed. Mr Payne had just met leaders of Somalia's government in the capital. He had discussed ways that the international community might be able to help war-torn Somalia. The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says Mr Payne had just left a half-hour news conference at...

An Iraqi Soldier demonstrates the proper way to insert a 60mm mortar round into an indirect fire weapon system during a familiarization training class at Forward Operating Base Garry Owen, Feb. 5. Photo by Kevin Wolf, Multi-National Division – Center. FOB GARRY OWEN — Iraqi Army (IA) troops participated in mortar-familiarization training with U.S. Soldiers here, Feb. 5. “Every day we are learning [new skills] about the mortar indirect fire system and how to read a map,” said Iraqi Cpl. Ali Huthoof. The two-week course focused on map reading and the fundamentals of mortar-indirect fire accuracy on enemy targets. The...

(IsraelNN.com) The cabinet has voted to accept a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza. Two ministers voted against the proposal and one abstained from voting.