Iran has made threats against Fort McNair, an Army post in the US capital, and against the Army's vice chief of staff, two senior US intelligence officials said.

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They said communications intercepted by the National Security Agency in January showed that Iran's Revolutionary Guard discussed mounting "USS Cole-style attacks" against the Army post, referring to the October 2000 suicide attack in which a small boat pulled up alongside the Navy destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden and exploded, killing 17 sailors.

The intelligence also revealed threats to kill Gen. Joseph M. Martin and plans to infiltrate and surveil the installation, according to the officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss national security matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Army post, one of the oldest in the country, is Martin's official residence.

The threats are one reason the Army has been pushing for more security around Fort McNair, which sits alongside Washington's bustling newly developed Waterfront District.

City leaders have been fighting the Army's plan to add a buffer zone of about 250 feet to 500 feet (75 meters to 150 meters) from the shore of the Washington Channel, which would limit access to as much as half the width of the busy waterway running parallel to the Potomac River.

The Pentagon, National Security Council and NSA either did not reply or declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.

As District of Columbia officials have fought the enhanced security along the channel, the Army has offered only vague information about threats to the installation.

At a virtual meeting in January to discuss the proposed restrictions, Army Maj. Gen. Omar Jones, commander of the Military District of Washington, cited "credible and specific" threats against military leaders who live on the Army post. The only specific security threat he offered was about a swimmer who ended up on the installation and was arrested.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district's sole representative in Congress, was skeptical. "When it comes to swimmers, I'm sure that must be rare. Did he know where he was? Maybe he was just swimming and found his way to your shore?" she said.

Jones conceded that the swimmer was "not a great example there, but our most recent example" of a security breach.

He said the Army has increased patrols along the shoreline, erected more restricted area signs and placed cameras to monitor the Washington Channel.

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Puzzled city officials and frustrated residents said the Army's request for the buffer zone was a government overreach of public waterways.

Discussions about the Fort McNair proposal began two years ago, but the recent intelligence gathered by the NSA has prompted Army officials to renew their request for the restrictions.

The intercepted chatter was among members of the elite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and centered on potential military options to avenge the US killing of the former Quds leader, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad in January 2020, the two intelligence officials said.

They said Tehran's military commanders are unsatisfied with their counterattacks so far, specifically the results of the ballistic missile attack on Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq in the days after Soleimani's killing. No US service members were killed in that strike but dozens suffered concussions.

Norton told the AP that in the two months since the January meeting, the Pentagon has not provided her any additional information that would justify the restrictions around Fort McNair.

"I have asked the Department of Defense to withdraw the rule because I've seen no evidence of a credible threat that would support the proposed restriction," Norton said. "They have been trying to get their way, but their proposal is more restrictive than necessary."

She added: "I have a security clearance. And they have yet to show me any classified evidence" that would justify the proposal. Norton pointed out that the Washington Navy Yard and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, which also have access to district waters, do not have restricted zones along their shorelines and have not requested them.

The proposed changes, outlined in a Federal Register notice, would prohibit both people and watercraft from "anchoring, mooring or loitering" within the restricted area without permission.

The notice specifies the need for security around the Marine Helicopter Squadron, which transports American presidents, and the general and staff officers' quarters located at the water's edge. The southern tip of Fort McNair is home to the National War College, where midlevel and senior officers gunning for admiral or general study national security strategy.

The Washington Channel is the site of one of the city's major urban renewal efforts, with new restaurants, luxury housing and concert venues. The waterway flows from the point where the city's two major rivers, the Potomac and Anacostia, meet.

It's home to three marinas and hundreds of boat slips. About 300 people live aboard their boats in the channel, according to Patrick Revord, who is the director of technology, marketing and community engagement for the Wharf Community Association.

The channel also bustles with water taxis, which serve 300,000 people each year, river cruises that host 400,000 people a year and about 7,000 kayakers and paddleboarders annually, Revord said during the meeting.

Residents and city officials say the restrictions would create unsafe conditions by narrowing the channel for larger vessels traversing the waterway alongside smaller motorboats and kayakers.

Guy Shields, a retired Army infantry colonel and member of the Capitol Yacht Club who opposes the restrictions around Fort McNair, said during the meeting that waterway restrictions wouldn't boost security.

"Those buoys aren't going to do anything to enhance security. It will increase congestion in an already congested area," Shields said. "And I'll say, signs do not stop people with bad intentions."

It's unclear whether the new intelligence will change the city's opposition to the Army's security plan. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday. Iranian state media did not immediately acknowledge the AP report.

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For years, nearly none of Israel Police Staff Sgt. Maj. Shlomit Natan, who is in charge of community policing in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem, knew she had been hurt in a terrorist attack.

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This year, Natan told her commander and colleagues about her experiences when she suggested taking part in an annual project by the nonprofit group One Family – Overcoming Terror Together to distribute Purim parcels to families affected by terrorism.

It has been 17 years since the suicide bombing at Hillel Café in Jerusalem, which claimed the lives of seven Israelis and left 57 wounded, including Natan, who was 35 at the time.

Recalling the horrific event, Natan says she was standing outside the café by the car belonging to Dr. David Appelbaum, then head of the emergency room at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, whose daughter Nava was killed in the bombing.

"Suddenly, I heard shouts. I saw someone shove the security guard, and in a second everything exploded. I was lying on the ground and the first thing I thought about was who would be my children's mother," she recalls.

One Family, founded to support families of Israeli wounded or killed in terrorist attacks, helped Natan during her rehabilitation.

"When Purim arrived, they asked if they could come by with a 'mishloah manot.' It was amazing," she says.

This year, Nata decided to take one step forward and take charge of the organization's distribution of Purim parcels nationwide. She brought community police commanders in on the project. Along with One Family volunteers, they handed out 3,000 parcels.

"It helps me make peace with what happened. I healed myself through activity and giving," she says.

One Family CEO Chantal Belzberg said that the police officer "warmed the families' hearts."

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A twin suicide bombing killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 30 in a Baghdad market on Thursday in the first such attack in years, security and medical sources said.

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There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Suicide bombings have been rare in the Iraqi capital since the defeat of Islamic State in 2017. The last took place in January 2018.

The Iraqi military said two attackers wearing explosive vests blew themselves up among shoppers at a crowded market in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad, adding that several people had been killed.

An interior ministry spokesman told Reuters the death toll was at least 13, saying that number was expected to rise as some wounded were in critical condition.

Baghdad has witnessed almost no such attacks since Iraqi forces and a US-backed coalition drove the Islamic State group from territory it controlled in Iraq in 2017.

The last deadly suicide blast in the Iraqi capital took place in January 2018, also at Tayaran Square, killing at least 27 people.

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The reasons are mostly psychological, obviously, but we should nevertheless address the lessons learned from the events that began 20 years ago after then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount. The date itself was random: PLO leader Yasser Arafat wanted a bloody battle, and if Sharon hadn't gone to the Mount, Arafat would have found another excuse.

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Arafat was looking for a "war of liberation." He rejected the (generous) proposals made to him at Camp David, and sought a state for his people that would be built on a foundation of fire and blood. He believed that a few days or weeks of fighting in which Israel sustained wounded and casualties would prompt Israel to make additional concessions. But there was one critical thing that Arafat failed to take into account: a few months earlier, Israel had withdrawn from the security zone in southern Lebanon. The Arab world saw that withdrawal as a panicked retreat. Hassan Nasrallah compared Israeli society to a spider web and used the eruption of violence in Judea and Samaria to kidnap three IDF soldiers on Mount Dov.

Israel could not, and did not want to, give in again and in responded mercilessly to the Palestinian attacks. Every event ended in a resounding victory for the IDF. Instead of changing tactics, Arafat kept his back against the wall. He spurned every attempt to relaunch the peace process, and raised the stakes of the violence. He started with shooting attacks, and even allowed members of Fatah's Tanzim branch to take part in them, and then let the worst Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists out of PA prisons.

The flood of veteran terrorists into the field was felt immediately. The number of terrorist attacks, particularly suicide bombings, spiked, as did the number of Israelis wounded and killed. Ehud Barak lost the prime ministership to Ariel Sharon, who adopted a brave and coolheaded policy when he decided to let Israel rack up credit at home and abroad before giving the green light for an operation that would wipe out terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank.

There were two main events along the way to that operation. The first was the suicide bombing at the Dolphinarium nightclub in Tel Aviv in June 2001 (21 people killed), which caused the Bush administration to lose faith in Arafat and basically cut him off; and the suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanyahu on the eve of Passover in 2002 (30 people killed). After the seder night bombing, Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield. Along the way, the 9/11 attacks hit New York, and terrorism lost its legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Rather than understanding that, the Palestinians dug in. They are still paying the price for that.

When Israel retook control of Area A, security forces gained the freedom to operate throughout Judea and Samaria, but mostly, it restored Israel's self-confidence. Since then, it has depended mainly on itself. This is particularly noticeable when compared to what is taking place in the Gaza Strip, where there are heavy restrictions to IDF activity, especially since the 2005 disengagement, which was also a belated response to the wave of terrorism that started in Sept. 2000.

Still, Israel opted – and has opted ever since – not to cancel the Oslo Accords. Moreover, despite the lack of political contact with the Palestinian Authority, the two sides' security apparatuses have been cooperating for 15 years, often intimately, saving the lives of many people on both sides. They even worked together against major challenges like an intifada comprised of "lone wolf" stabbing attacks. PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who in the meantime has turned out not to be a partner in peace, is the one leading a path that is different from that of his predecessor, which opposes the Israeli occupation through mostly non-violent means.

It is unclear how long Israel will continue to enjoy quiet in Judea and Samaria (and Gaza). The Palestinian problem is here to stay. Israel has made a lot of progress since 2000, but the Palestinians are stuck far behind. They have lost on every front: diplomatic, security, economic, and social. If they aren't given some prospect, at some point, they might rouse themselves and look for a violent way out.

So Israel would do well to implement the main lesson of the Second Intifada: to take the initiative. To control events, rather than being dragged into them; to mark a target and go after it. Since then, Israeli society has proven that it is willing to pay the price needed for that to happen. It will do the same in the future if it needs to, and truth be told – in the present, if the leadership gives it a clear way to fight the battle against COVID.

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The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack even as the insurgents and US officials have been negotiating a deal on a US troop withdrawal in exchange for Taliban security guarantees.

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"At least 10 civilians have been killed and 42 injured were taken to hospitals," said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the interior ministry. The NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement that a Romanian and a US member of the force were killed in action in Kabul. It did not provide any more details.

A senior Afghan interior ministry official said the two soldiers were killed in the suicide bomb attack and their vehicle was the main target.

The death of the US service member brings the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 16, including three last month. Several cars and small shops were torn apart by the blast at a checkpoint on a road near the NATO office and US embassy. Police cordoned off the area.

Witnesses said the suicide bomber blew himself up as people were standing nearby or crossing the road.

There has been no let-up in violence in Afghanistan even though both the Taliban and US officials have reported progress in negotiations aimed at securing a deal on US withdrawal.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accepted the resignation of the head of Afghanistan's powerful security agency NDS on Thursday over a separate incident overnight in the eastern city of Jalalabad. The NDS had said it killed four men suspected of ties to Islamic State, but some local officials reported that four brothers with no ties to terrorists had been killed.

Rahimi, the interior ministry spokesman, said government forces killed a senior Taliban commander, more than 20 fighters and the man the hardline insurgent group planned to impose as regional governor, in another clash on Thursday in central Maidan Wardak province.

And in the eastern province of Loghar, Taliban fighters said they detonated a car bomb near a security meeting. Government officials said four civilians were killed.

On Monday, a Taliban suicide truck bomber attacked a compound used by international organizations in Kabul, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 100. A Romanian was among those killed and one was seriously wounded in the attack on the compound, known as the Green Village.

The Taliban now controls more territory than it has since 2001 when the United States launched a military operation against the group for harboring the al-Qaida operatives responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

There are some 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan. Despite ending their combat role in 2014, an estimated 20,000 US and NATO troops remain in the country to train, advise and assist Afghan forces.

Khalilzad is expected to meet Afghan and NATO officials to explain the draft agreement, which still must be approved by US President Donald Trump before it can be signed.

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