Executive Summary

It's Tuesday, January 27th.On the 26th, at least 63 people died and 44 were wounded in armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, and political violence across 12 countries on January 26, 2026. Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo suffered the deadliest incident when ISIS-linked militants massacred 22 civilians in a village raid. Mexican cartel warfare killed 17 in Salamanca, Guanajuato across multiple coordinated attacks. Israeli forces violated active ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, killing 8 people including two Hezbollah commanders. The Minneapolis ICE shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti triggered mass protests and threatened federal government shutdown. Myanmar concluded military-controlled elections dismissed as illegitimate by international observers.

Israeli drone kills teenagers gathering firewood in Gaza

An Israeli drone struck a group of Palestinians gathering firewood near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on January 26, killing 13-year-old Salman al-Zawarah and his 15-year-old cousin Mohammed al-Zawarah. The attack occurred despite the active US-brokered ceasefire, with witnesses reporting the victims were collecting wood for heating amid winter temperatures. Israeli forces separately killed two Palestinians in the Tuffah neighborhood and wounded four civilians in a Gaza City drone strike.

The January 26 attacks brought Gaza ceasefire violations to 484 Palestinians killed and 1,325 wounded since the October 2025 truce took effect, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The continued military operations occurred as Israel recovered the remains of Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza, potentially clearing the path for the ceasefire's second phase and reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

Israeli airstrikes kill four in Lebanon including Hezbollah commanders

Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon killed four people on January 26, including two senior Hezbollah commanders. The deadliest strike targeted Muhammad al-Husseini, identified as Hezbollah's Head of Artillery, and weapons operative Jawad Basma. A separate airstrike near Khirbet Selm killed one person and wounded five others. The IDF launched at least ten airstrikes extending from the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon to southern coastal regions.

Lebanese authorities characterized all January 26 strikes as violations of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement. The Israel Defense Forces justified the operations as targeting Hezbollah military infrastructure in response to ceasefire violations, though UNIFIL monitoring reports have documented significantly more Israeli violations than Hezbollah breaches since the truce began.

USS Abraham Lincoln positions near Persian Gulf amid Iran tensions

The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group with over 5,000 troops positioned in the Indian Ocean on January 26 as the Trump administration signaled potential military action against Iran. Multiple international carriers suspended flights to Middle East hubs following President Trump's statement that the United States has a big force going towards Iran. The military buildup follows Iran's violent crackdown on economic protests that have killed thousands, though no hostile military action occurred on January 26.

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, BBC News, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now!, The Jerusalem Post, PressTV, Palestinian Health Ministry

Russian strikes kill one as Ukraine enters Day 1,432 of full-scale invasion

Russian forces killed one woman and injured three civilians in Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region on January 26, as attacks across multiple oblasts wounded at least 16 others including six children. The Sumy region absorbed strikes on 36 settlements. In the Mykolaiv region, four children were injured in a drone attack on Dmytrivka village. The Zaporizhzhia region recorded one injury from Russian attacks.

Over 1,300 apartment buildings in Kyiv remained without heating on January 26 following the previous week's infrastructure campaign, during which Russia launched 1,700+ attack drones, 1,380+ guided aerial bombs, and 69+ missiles at Ukrainian targets. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned that Ukrainian interception rates have declined to approximately 80 percent due to depleted defensive stocks, down from 90 percent in previous months.

Ukrainian forces strike Russia's Belgorod region with 45+ drones

Ukrainian forces attacked Russia's Belgorod region with over 45 drones on January 26, injuring three people including a child in Krasnaya Yaruga village. Russian air defense claimed to have intercepted most of the Ukrainian drones, though fragments caused damage to residential structures. The cross-border strikes represent Ukraine's ongoing strategy of targeting Russian border regions in response to attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Ukrainian General Staff, Russian Defense Ministry, Kyiv Independent, Ukrinform, TASS

Mexican cartel attacks kill 17 in Salamanca's bloodiest weekend

Multiple armed men opened fire on a social gathering at a soccer field in Loma de Flores, Salamanca, killing 11 people and wounding 12 on the night of January 25-26. The victims had just finished a football match at the Cabañas de la Comunidad field when gunmen arrived in three vehicles and unleashed over 100 rounds from high-caliber weapons. The massacre represents the deadliest single incident in an escalating territorial war between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the local Santa Rosa de Lima gang.

Guanajuato state recorded Mexico's highest homicide count in 2025 with over 3,000 murders, driven by violent competition for control of fuel theft operations and drug trafficking corridors. The weekend's violence extended beyond the soccer field: six additional people were killed in separate Salamanca attacks on Saturday, an explosive device was found at the gates of a state-owned Pemex refinery and safely deactivated by military personnel, and four bags containing human remains were discovered across the city.

Salamanca Mayor César Prieto Gallardo appealed directly to President Claudia Sheinbaum for federal intervention, calling the attacks deplorable and cowardly. The CJNG was newly designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration, intensifying US focus on Mexican cartel operations.

Minneapolis ICE shooting triggers national crisis

Federal immigration agents fatally shot Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System, during an anti-ICE protest on January 24. Video evidence shows Pretti was filming officers on his phone when he was tackled, pepper-sprayed, and shot ten times, contradicting federal claims he threatened agents. Though Pretti had a legal firearm permit, witnesses confirmed he never drew his weapon.

The killing triggered a general strike with over 50,000 protesters marching downtown Minneapolis on January 26. The NBA postponed the Timberwolves-Warriors game. Senate Democrats threatened to block Department of Homeland Security funding in appropriations negotiations, while 120 House Democrats sponsored a bill to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. President Trump signaled consideration of invoking the Insurrection Act in response to the protests. The incident represents the second fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis in three weeks.

Sources: CBS News, ABC News, CNN, NBC News, Wikipedia, Democracy Now!, PBS NewsHour, Al Jazeera

ISIS massacre kills 22 in eastern Congo village raid

Islamic State Central Africa Province militants raided a village in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo on January 26, killing at least 22 civilians and abducting an unknown number. The attack continues a pattern of mass-casualty insurgent raids that have destabilized the region for years, with ISCAP operating across northeastern DRC and conducting systematic attacks on civilian populations.

Ethnic violence kills 12 Banyamulenge in South Kivu

At least 12 members of the Banyamulenge community were killed and 56 others detained by Burundian and Congolese forces in South Kivu Province on January 26 as they traveled from Minembwe to Mikenge market seeking basic necessities. The incident represents a serious escalation of ethnic targeting in the tri-border region where the Banyamulenge, a Tutsi ethnic group, have faced systematic violence and discrimination.

DRC-Rwanda fighting continues despite peace agreement

Fighting along the Ruzizi Plain continued for the fourth consecutive day on January 26, with residents of Luvungi fleeing amid reports of airstrikes and drone attacks. The Congolese Armed Forces conducted drone strikes against M23 rebel positions at Buleusa and Kikuku in North Kivu. The violence persists despite the DRC-Rwanda peace agreement signed earlier in January 2026.

Al-Shabaab kills local chief and teacher in Kenya border attack

Al-Shabaab militants killed a local chief and teacher in Hulugho near the Somali border in Kenya on January 26, prompting security force pursuit operations. The attack exemplifies the group's ongoing campaign against local administrators and educators in northeastern Kenya, where Al-Shabaab seeks to undermine government authority and prevent secular education.

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, BBC News, Al Jazeera, Voice of America, regional security monitoring organizations

Myanmar concludes junta elections dismissed as illegitimate

Myanmar's military junta concluded the final phase of its month-long general election on January 26, with the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party claiming an overwhelming majority despite receiving just six percent of votes in 2020. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains imprisoned, and the National League for Democracy was barred from participating. Elections were not held in contested areas where civil war continues.

Fortify Rights released a report on January 26 documenting 304 paramotor and gyrocopter attacks by the junta on civilians since December 2024, targeting schools, hospitals, monasteries, and homes. A January 4 attack killed a hospital's chief physician and two staff in Salingyi Township. The report provides evidence of systematic air attacks on civilian infrastructure using low-cost aircraft as terror weapons.

Philippines warns China over South China Sea rhetoric

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs formally warned China on January 26 that escalating diplomatic rhetoric could unnecessarily derail efforts to manage maritime tensions in the South China Sea. The warning followed weeks of intensifying verbal exchanges between the two nations over territorial disputes.

The United States and Philippines conducted their first joint maritime exercise of 2026 near Scarborough Shoal on January 26, deploying air and naval assets in disputed waters claimed by both the Philippines and China. The exercise demonstrated continued US commitment to freedom of navigation operations in contested maritime zones.

Taiwan monitors Chinese military leadership changes

Taiwan's defense minister announced heightened monitoring of what he characterized as abnormal changes to China's military leadership on January 26, following the investigation of Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia. The leadership turmoil within China's Central Military Commission raises questions about command stability as cross-strait tensions remain elevated.

Sources: NPR, Fortify Rights, ABC News, Bloomberg, U.S. News & World Report, Reuters

Indian Army soldier injured in Kashmir landmine explosion

One Indian Army soldier was injured by an accidental landmine explosion in Rajouri District near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir on January 26. The incident occurred amid heightened security for India's Republic Day celebrations, during which Delhi deployed 30,000 police personnel and AI surveillance in a multi-layered security operation.

Pakistan conducted counter-terrorism operations in Balochistan on January 25, killing three militants allegedly linked to Fitna al Hindustan. The operation represents Pakistan's ongoing efforts to eliminate militant networks operating along the Afghanistan border.

Sources: Greater Kashmir, India TV News, New Kerala, BankBazaar, Pakistani military sources

Ten ransomware groups claim 23 victims in single day

Ten different ransomware groups claimed 23 victims on January 26, including attacks on critical infrastructure. The Play group led with nine claims targeting US and Canadian manufacturers. WorldLeaks, the rebranded Hunters International group, released 1.4 terabytes of Nike data including Jordan Brand design schematics and manufacturing partner details. Healthcare software provider zHealthEHR and Kenya's Namico.go.ke government entity also appeared on leak sites.

Space Force accelerates reconnaissance satellite program

The US Space Force announced plans on January 26 to award contracts for the RG-XX program, a fleet of maneuverable satellites designed to monitor activity in geosynchronous orbit. The acceleration follows daily or near-daily signal jamming and cyberattacks from China and Russia targeting US space assets, according to Space Force officials.

Sources: Dark Web Informer, Cyber News Centre, Air & Space Forces Magazine, Defense News