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The Israeli regime sustains its heavy attacks against various areas across Syria as Western-backed militants, who ousted the country’s government earlier this month, strengthen their foothold.

On Monday, the regime’s warplanes struck vital facilities and military infrastructure along the country’s western coastline, including the cities of Tartus and Latakia, where they pounded missile bases and ammunition depots.

Massive explosions rang out across the cities during the attacks.

Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network said Israeli occupation forces had also advanced as far as 15 kilometers (9 miles) in the western Syrian province of Quneitra.

'An earthquake'

Russia’s Sputnik news agency also reported Israeli assaults against military facilities in Hama and Homs, two other western provinces, adding that attacks against Hama and Aleppo, which is likewise situated in western Syria, shook the targeted areas like an “earthquake.”

Local sources, meanwhile, reported that the regime’s warplanes had also hit the Military Airport in the eastern province of Deir al-Zawr.

The agency cited sources as saying that Israeli warships had launched a number of missiles towards the Syrian coast, especially targeting the Tartus Province.

According to them, this was the first time that the Israeli military was deploying “such missiles” against Syria’s military sites.

The reports came a day after the regime attacked the positions that used to belong to the country’s Republican Guard and the Syrian military’s Fourth Armored Division in the Tal Mneen area and the town of Hafir, north of the capital Damascus.

Also on Sunday, Israeli forces occupied three new villages across the country, namely the Jamla village in the western Syrian province of Dara’a as well as the Mazraat Beit Jan and Mughr al-Mir رillages in Rif Dimashq Province.

Israeli aircraft also bombed an air defense site in the town of Muhajja in the eastern countryside of Dara’a’s capital and attacked the warehouses of the Syrian military’s 18th Armored Division in the eastern suburbs of Homs.

The regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks against the country, especially targeting its military infrastructure, in the aftermath of its takeover by anti-Damascus militants, who are widely reported to have been receiving extensive military support and cooperation on the part of the Israeli regime and the West.

As part of its aggression, the regime has expanded its occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights, overrunning a buffer zone in the territory, and announced plans to ramp up the population of illegal settlers in the mountainous region.

Regional Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Iraq, have lashed out at Tel Aviv over the measures.

Angry BJP lawmakers stormed Assembly Speaker U T Khader’s chambers at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, escalating tensions after the ruling Congress turned the tables on the saffron party over the Panchamasali Lingayat community’s reservation issue.

The friction began when Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar, a Panchamasali Lingayat, was allowed to criticise the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government’s controversial decision to scrap the 4 per cent Muslim quota, reallocating it equally to Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Kashappanavar slammed the BJP’s move, accusing it of being a mere election gimmick.

“The previous BJP government created two new reservation categories, 2C for Vokkaligas and 2D for Lingayats, just before the 2023 Assembly elections,” Kashappanavar said. “When challenged in the Supreme Court, the BJP government admitted it would not implement the decision. They announced it for votes but backtracked in court, misleading Panchamasali seer Basava Jaya Mrityunjaya Swami.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Kashappanavar alleged that RSS members had incited violence during a protest for enhanced Panchamasali Lingayat reservation. This claim enraged BJP lawmakers, who demanded the comment be expunged. However, Speaker Khader permitted Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to read aloud the BJP government’s affidavit to the Supreme Court.

“If the Panchamasali Lingayat community has faced injustice, it is because of the BJP,” Gowda declared, sparking further protests from the opposition. BJP leaders accused Khader of being “one-sided” and disregarding a point of order raised by BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar.

When Khader adjourned the session for lunch, the confrontation boiled over. Opposition Leader R Ashoka, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, MLAs Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Sunil Kumar, and others barged into Khader’s chambers. Chaos ensued as shouting and hollering echoed through the halls, prompting marshalls to intervene.

“The Speaker was warned that if he continued behaving this way, we would boycott the session,” Narayan stated afterward.

Dhaka: Bangladesh's interim government said on Monday that it has sent a diplomatic note to India to send back deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Dhaka.

Hasina, 77, has been living in exile in India since Aug 5 when she fled the country amid the student-led protests that toppled her 16-year regime. Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and several former Cabinet ministers, advisers, and military and civil officials for "crimes against humanity and genocide".

“We have sent a note verbale (diplomatic message) to the Indian government saying that Bangladesh wants her back here for the judicial process,” Foreign Affairs Adviser or de facto foreign minister Touhid Hossain told reporters at his office.

Earlier in the morning, Home Advisor Jahangir Alam said his office has sent a letter to the foreign ministry to facilitate the ousted premier's extradition from India.

“We have sent a letter to the foreign ministry regarding her extradition. The process is currently underway,” he told reporters in response to a query.

Alam said an extradition treaty between Dhaka and New Delhi already exists and Hasina could be brought back to Bangladesh under the treaty.