Tag Archives: ISIS

America Ends Military Ground Mission in Afghanistan After 20 Years; State Dept.-led Effort Tries To Evacuate Remaining U.S. Citizens, Allies

America Ends Military Ground Mission in Afghanistan After 20 Years; State Dept.-led Effort Tries To Evacuate Remaining U.S. Citizens, Allies

Army Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug 30, 2021.

The U.S. has completed the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan after 20 years of troops on the ground, with the last military transport plane departing the country at about 3:30 p.m. East Coast time, the commander of U.S. Central Command said on Monday. Read More

UPDATED: U.S. Strikes ISIS-K in Afghanistan; Navy, Marines Identify Troops Killed in Kabul Attack

UPDATED: U.S. Strikes ISIS-K in Afghanistan; Navy, Marines Identify Troops Killed in Kabul Attack

U.S. service members killed in the Aug. 26, 2021 attack outside the Kabul Airport in Afghanistan as identified by their family members. USNI News Photo Graphic

This post and headline have been updated to include a U.S. Central Command statement saying that an ISIS Khorasan planner was killed in an unmanned aerial vehicle strike on late Friday and images and biographical information for the service members killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, Kabul explosion.

In retaliation for an attack that killed 13 U.S. troops outside the Kabul airport, the U.S. killed an ISIS Khorasan planner and facilitator in an unmanned aerial vehicle strike, U.S. Central Command announced late Friday. Read More

UPDATED: 10 Marines, Sailor Among 13 U.S. Troops Killed in Attacks on Kabul Airport; 18 Injured Being Medically Evacuated

UPDATED: 10 Marines, Sailor Among 13 U.S. Troops Killed in Attacks on Kabul Airport; 18 Injured Being Medically Evacuated

Paratroopers assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division conduct security as they continue to help facilitate the safe evacuation of U.S. citizens, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other at-risk Afghans out of Afghanistan as quickly and safely as possible from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 25, 2021. US Army Photo

This story has been updated to include a statement from the U.S. Marine Corps. This post has been corrected to indicate there was only one suicide bombing attack on Aug. 26.

Ten Marines and at least one Navy hospital corpsman are among the 13 U.S. troops dead following a suicide bomb attack on crowds struggling to get into the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, USNI News has learned. Read More

CNO Gilday: Pentagon Weighing Reducing Middle East Aircraft Carrier Presence After Afghan Withdrawal

CNO Gilday: Pentagon Weighing Reducing Middle East Aircraft Carrier Presence After Afghan Withdrawal

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday use the 1MC to address the crew aboard the Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Billings (LCS 15). Gilday visited Naval Station Mayport to engage with Sailors, speak to local Navy leadership and tour a number of commands in the area. US Navy Photo

The Pentagon is rethinking what naval presence in the Middle East will look like after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan later this year – in particular, carrier strike groups, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said on Thursday. Read More

CENTCOM Commander: U.S. 'Completely Focused' on Responsible Afghanistan Withdrawal

CENTCOM Commander: U.S. ‘Completely Focused’ on Responsible Afghanistan Withdrawal

A U.S. Marine with Task Force Southwest (TFSW) provides security for Marine advisors during an advising mission with 1st Brigade, Afghan National Army (ANA) 215th Corps as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces conduct Operation Maiwand 12 at Camp Shorserack, Afghanistan, March 12, 2018. US Marine Corps Photo

U.S. Central Command’s top officer stressed today that the military is “completely focused” on responsibly withdrawing from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, the 20th anniversary of the al Qaeda attack on the United States. Read More

Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Could Extend Stay in Middle East to Cover Afghanistan Withdrawal

Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Could Extend Stay in Middle East to Cover Afghanistan Withdrawal

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Setogiri (DD 156), back, operates alongside aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Arabian Sea on April 19, 2021. US Navy Photo

The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group current stop in the Middle East could be extended to help cover the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan, two defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Thursday. Read More

VIDEO: Eisenhower Strike Group Now in Middle East After Suez Canal Transit

VIDEO: Eisenhower Strike Group Now in Middle East After Suez Canal Transit

Sailors watch from the flight deck as the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) transits the Suez Canal, on April 2, 2021. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated with an April 3, 2021 statement from U.S. 5th Fleet.

The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is in the Middle East via a Suez Canal transit after operating in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, U.S. 5th Fleet announced on Saturday. Read More

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Launching Anti-ISIS Missions from Mediterranean, French Carrier Takes Helm of CTF 50

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Launching Anti-ISIS Missions from Mediterranean, French Carrier Takes Helm of CTF 50

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) sails behind the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57), March 3, 2021. US Navy photo.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is launching air missions as part of the international coalition’s anti-ISIS effort, the Navy announced on Wednesday. Read More

Pentagon Identifies Marine Raiders Killed in Iraq

Pentagon Identifies Marine Raiders Killed in Iraq

Capt. Moises A. Navas, 34, of Germantown, Md. (left) and Gunnery Sgt. Diego D. Pongo, 34, of Simi Valley, Calif. (right). US Marine Corps Photo

The Pentagon identified two North Carolina-based Marine Raiders who were killed in Iraq on Sunday as part of the ongoing campaign against ISIS, the Defense Department announced on Tuesday. Read More