World roundup: April 28 2025

Stories from Yemen, Pakistan, South Sudan, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

April 28, 224: This is the date generally given for the Battle of Hormozdgan, which effectively ended Parthian rule over the Persian Empire and installed the Sasanian dynasty in its place. Then-Emperor Artabanus IV was responding to the rise of the Sasanids under Ardashir V, king of Pars. Ardashir’s smaller but better armed and better prepared force met the Parthians at Hormozdgan—the location of which remains unconfirmed but was probably near the Iranian town of Ram-Hormoz—and won a decisive victory, killing Artabanus in the process. Ardashir V of Pars soon became Ardashir I of Persia, and the Sasanians ruled the empire until the Arab invasion swept them (and the Persian Empire in general) aside in the 7th century.

April 28, 1192: The newly elected king of Jerusalem, Conrad of Montferrat, is assassinated in the city of Tyre.

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIA

Islamic State fighters attacked Syrian Democratic Forces personnel in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province on Monday, killing at least five people. This appears to be the most substantial attack IS has launched against the SDF in quite some time. The New York Times reported earlier this month on indications that IS has been “attracting fighters and increasing attacks” in Syria of late and there are mounting concerns—particularly with the Trump administration planning a military drawdown—that the group could strike at facilities where the SDF is holding thousands of IS fighters and their families captive.