The United States and Arab allies began a series of airstrikes on the terrorist group ISIS.
The strikes happened inside Syria near the town of Raqqa, the self-proclaimed “capital” for the terrorists.
“I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIS terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack missiles,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters. “Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time.”
In addition to U.S. forces, aircraft from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Intelligence reports say that most of the 30,000 ISIS terrorists are inside Syria and without strikes inside that country it would be impossible to break the ISIS command structure.
The strikes come just days after 60,000 Syrian Kurds fled to Turkey because of advances from the terrorists.
A U.S. drone strike targeted the leader of an Islamic terrorist group in Somalia on Monday.
Pentagon officials confirmed the U.S. targeted the head of Al-Shabaab, a Al-Qaeda related group that had been fighting against the Somalia government.
“We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said.
Somali officials say that Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of al-Shabaab, might have been killed in the strike and they’re working to confirm his death. The air strike came after al-Shabaab attacked a high security prison in an attempt to free several terrorists. All terrorists were reported killed in the assault along with three government soldiers and two civilians.
The U.S. has periodically carried out air strikes in Somalia against terrorist headquarters and training centers.
Al-Shabaab is mostly active in rural areas of the country after losing control of major cities in 2011 after an offensive from Somali and African Union forces.
On Thursday night, President Obama authorized U.S. military action against the Sunni extremist advance on the Kurdish capital of Erbil leading to the first of many strikes that hit Islamic State artillery positions in northern Iraq.
Five hundred pound bombs were dropped by U.S. F-18 fighters just outside of Erbil according to the Pentagon.
President Obama claims the goal of these strikes is to stop militants from seizing Erbil and aiding the Yazidis, a religious minority.
Washington has considered direct military involvement in the past, but has delayed action for two reasons: the slowing of the Sunni militants advance in the past and to pressure Iraqi lawmakers to form a new government that might counter the militants.
China’s Defense Ministry has confirmed long rumored development of a new hypersonic aircraft that could attack thousands of miles from its launch point.
The hypersonic glide vehicle would be launched using an intercontinental ballistic missile and could travel at speeds of Mach 10. The device would be very difficult to detect by warning systems because unlike the missiles the glider would not enter space.
Military affairs analysts told the Washington Free Beacon the weapon is part of weapons called an “assassin’s mace.” Those weapons are designed to be used by a weaker military force to gain an advantage against a superior foe.
A Pentagon spokesman said that they were aware of the Chinese test.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and two subcommittee chairman called the test concerning and that it showed a fast technological leap by the Chinese military.
The Pentagon told FoxNews Tuesday that as long as the government is shut down they would be stopping death benefits to the families of troops killed in combat.
“Unfortunately, as a result of the shutdown, we do not have the legal authority to make death gratuity payments at this time,” Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a Defense Department spokesman, told Fox. “However, we are keeping a close eye on those survivors who have lost loved ones serving in the Department of Defense.”
House Speaker John Boehner said that the House of Representatives would be holding a vote Wednesday to restore funding for the payments.
“I think it’s disgraceful that they’re withholding these benefits,” Boehner said.
Five troops died over the weekend in Afghanistan. Four of the bodies will be returned to Dover Air Force base Wednesday. However, the families of the dead will have to pay their own travel to Dover because the Pentagon says they can’t pay those bills. The Defense Department usually pays for that travel and for transporting the family and remains to home states for private funerals.
On the heels of the discovery of a Pentagon training document calling the founding fathers of America “extremists” and labeling conservative organizations as hate groups, a training document has been uncovered calling evangelical Christians and Catholics as an “extremist” group in the same category as al-Qaeda and Hamas.
The document also lists Mormons on the extremist list along with Sunni Muslims. Strangely, Shia Muslims were not listed as an extremist group. Continue reading →
The Air Force is seeking recommendations on their official guide to religious tolerance from an anti-Christian group that said Christian evangelism is the same as rape and is advocating that any Christian in uniform who shares their faith should be court martialed.
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said he and others from their organization met with Pentagon officials on April 23rd to discuss how they could stop a “tidal wave of fundamentalists.” Continue reading →
The Pentagon has announced a huge expansion of their Cyber Command division as the number of attacks on U.S. government computer networks skyrocket.
The news comes amid reports of a successful attack on a Saudi oil company that destroyed 30,000 computers. Continue reading →
