Andrew Kerr Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was planning “imminent attacks” that could have killed hundreds of Americans prior to being killed in an airstrike near Baghdad’s airport Friday, a senior U.S. official said. The planned attacks would have targeted American facilities and workers in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and other…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Jacob Bojesson The Russian defense ministry claims to have killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a May 28 airstrike in Raqqa, Syria. Russian forces in Syria launched the airstrike after receiving intelligence that ISIS leaders were planning a meeting in the outskirts of Raqqa. “According to the information that…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Ryan Pickrell A tragic friendly fire incident in the southern Philippines has cast doubts over military assurances that a victory in the ongoing fight against Muslim militants in Marawi is close at hand. Eleven government security forces were killed Wednesday in an airstrike in Marawi when two bombers missed their intended…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Kody Fairfield The U.S. military says a misdirected airstrike this week killed 18 allied fighters battling the Islamic State group in northern Syria, according to the Associated Press (AP). U.S. Central Command said Thursday that coalition aircraft were given the wrong coordinates by their partner forces, the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces,…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Kody Fairfield The world is on notice following President Donald Trump’s decision to authorize an airstrike on a Syrian airfield in response to the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons on their own people. While Trump has stated, the he is not afraid to hit Syrian President Bashar al-Assad again, it appears…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Saagar Enjeti Less than 1 percent of the nearly 18,000 U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria yielded reports of possible civilian casualties, according to the Pentagon’s monthly civilian casualty assessment. Of the less than one percent of strikes that resulted in possible civilian casualties, only a…
Jonah Bennett A U.S. airstrike obliterated an Islamic State bank in Mosul, Iraq, destroying millions of dollars of much-needed cash. The airstrike consisted of two 2,000-pound bombs and was somewhat unusual because of the facility’s proximity to civilian areas. Mosul is full of normal residents. The U.S has exhibited extreme reticence when it comes to…
Jonah Bennett The U.S. is finally taking the fight to one of Islamic State’s main revenue generators: oil. As part of a new campaign called Tidal Wave II, a group of four A-10 jets and two AC-130 gunships struck hundreds of trucks used to transport oil in eastern Syria Monday. The plans for the strike…
Richard Pollock Doctors without Borders confirm that their hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, did not display any internationally recognized markings showing it was a hospital when a U.S. gunship attacked the facility on Oct. 3, killing 22 and injuring hundreds, according to the group’s interim report released Thursday. The report may also open the group to…