US army says Somalia air raids target al-Shabab, kill 37 fighters

Late last year, the military also carried out its first air raid against a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, known as ISIS) group in northern Somalia.
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Since the expanded operations, two US military personnel have been killed in Somalia.

A soldier died in May 2017 during an operation about 64km west of the capital, Mogadishu. In June, another US soldier was killed and four others were wounded in an "enemy attack" as Somali and Kenyan forces came under mortar and small-arms fire in Jubaland.

The US currently has about 500 military personnel in the Horn of Africa nation.

Al-Shabab was pushed out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in recent years but continues to control rural areas in the south and central regions.

The al-Qaeda-linked group has been carrying our bomb and gun attacks for more than a decade.
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November 20, 2018

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US to cut troop figures in Africa by 10 percent

Currently, about 7,200 US military personnel are based in dozens of African countries.

The US army will withdraw hundreds of troops conducting counterterrorism operations across Africa over the next several years, the Pentagon has said, in a move that comes amid efforts to prioritise resources "for long-term competition with China and Russia".

Currently, about 7,200 US military personnel are based in dozens of African nations, with notable footprints in countries such as Somalia, Nigeria and Libya.

Commander Candice Tresch, Pentagon spokesperson, said on Thursday that figure would be reduced by about 10 percent over the next few years.

Tresch did not specify which countries would see a drawdown but said the cuts would leave "counter-violent extremist organisation" activities largely untouched in several countries, including Somalia, Djibouti and Libya.

In other parts of the continent, including West Africa, the emphasis would shift from "tactical assistance to advising, assisting, liaising and sharing intelligence", Tresch added.

A US official, speaking to the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, said the reduction of troops would likely take place over three years and could include countries such as Kenya, Cameroon and Mali.

The role of the US military on the African continent has received increased attention after an ambush last year in Niger, claimed by a local Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) affiliate, which killed four US soldiers and several members of Nigerien partner forces.

The announcement by the Pentagon comes as it works on implementing President Donald Trump's sweeping National Defense Strategy, which highlights a new era of "Great Power competition" with Moscow and Beijing.

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November 16, 2018

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Military and Defense

Raytheon's new AN/SPY-6(V) radar tracks ballistic missile in test

Raytheon's AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar, the newest piece of radar for the U.S. Navy, cleared tests in Hawaii last month.

The company announced this week the AN/SPY-6 radar tracked multiple threats at the same time, as well as a ballistic missile through intercept.

It was the first time the radar had achieved the feats. The AN/SPY-6(V) radar rollout has operated at or ahead of its schedule since 2014, Raytheon said.

The radar, currently in active production, is expected to be delivered to the future USS Jack H. Lewis next year.

"AN/SPY-6(V) continues to impress through consistent performance against complex, surrogate threats," said U.S. Navy Captain Seiko Okano, Major Program Manager for Above Water Sensors, Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems. "With production now underway, we're progressing -- with confidence -- toward delivery of this exceptional, game-changing radar, which will transform our naval capabilities for decades to come."

The radar will work with all variants of the Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6, Raytheon said. The company expects it to improve on the range, accuracy and durability of existing radars.
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October 15, 2018

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Military and Defense US News

BAE to deliver 18 Howitzer artillery guns to U.S. Army

BAE to deliver 18 Howitzer artillery guns to U.S. Army
The U.S. Defense Department has contracted BAE Systems to deliver 18 Howitzer artillery guns to the U.S. Army.
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The order for M777 155mm Ultra Lightweight Howitzers was announced by BAE Systems in a news release Monday.

The new order will add to the 1,000 M777 guns already used in the Army and Marine Corps and through logistical support contracts from the Defense Department.

The first Howitzer will be delivered to the Army in 2021. BAE Systems did not disclose the terms of the contract.

"This battle-proven capability leverages technical insertions, long-range precision guided munition developments, and flexible mobility options, to make the M777 a very effective artillery technology," Joe Senftle, Vice President and General Manager of Weapon Systems at BAE Systems, said in a statement.

"This order further demonstrates a strong and collaborative working relationship between BAE Systems and the Army."
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October 09, 2018

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Military and Defense

Teledyne Gavia deploys Sonar Transponder Module for ASW training

Teledyne Gavia has announced the recent delivery to an undisclosed military customer of a Sonar Transponder Module for anti-submarine warfare training.
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The STM module has been constructed by Scanmatic AS of Norway and forms part of a Gavia payload module capable of receiving and transmitting sonar signals for training purposes, the company said in a press release.

The STM is a flooded transducer compartment, an electronic compartment and a towed hydrophone behind an autonomous underwater vehicle. The STM can be programmed to simulate a wide variety of submersible targets, emitting different sound signals that emulate submarines and torpedoes.

The Gavia AUV is an autonomous sensor system that is modular and reconfigurable depending on the user. It can use several types of sensor, navigation and battery modules depending on the mission.

Gavia claims that it has low logistics costs and maintenance requirements. Modules include acoustic systems for ASW training, side scan sonars, multibeam sonars, cameras and environmental sensors to determine water conditions.
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September 12, 2018

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Military and Defense

GE contracted for F414 engine support on Super Hornet, Growler aircraft

General Electric has been awarded a contract for support of the F414 engine, found in the Super Hornet and Growler aircraft.

The contract, announced Monday by the Department of Defense, comes under a $37 million modification to an existing contract for the repair, replacement and general support of 773 F414 engines for the F/A-18E and F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fighter aircraft.

The F-18 series of aircraft -- the Growler is an electronic warfare variant -- is the primary naval fighter of the United States, as well as a number of allied nations. The fighters specialize in jamming enemy aircraft and ground defense systems.

Work will be performed at General Electric locations across the United States, as well as the Fleet Readiness Center at Jacksonville, Fla. Work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2018.

Fiscal 2018 Navy funds in the amount of just over $37 million has been obligated to GE, and the funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

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July 03, 2018

kogonuso

Military and Defense

Boeing to build 4 new Chinooks for U.S. Special Operations

Boeing has been awarded an $80 million contract to build four new MH-47G Chinook helicopters for the U.S. Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, is a cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order and will fulfill an urgent need for more aircraft due to increased Special Operations Forces operational demands.

Fiscal procurement funds amounting to more than $80 million will be obligated at the time of the award. A majority of the work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

The twin-rotor aircraft has been in use since its first iteration, the CH-47, was introduced in 1962 to transport troops and large payloads at high speed and long ranges.

The MH-47G, the most recent upgrade of the helicopter, has been in use by the 160th "Nightstalker" Special Operations Aviation Regiment since the first model was delivered in 2014.
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June 29, 2018

kogonuso

Military and Defense

Air Force contracts for next generation space launch propulsion system

Aerojet Rocketdyne will work to develop the AR1 booster engine and RL10CX upper stage engine for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program to benefit national security-related space launches.

Aerojet Rocketdyne has been awarded a contract for rocket propulsion engine development for the U.S. Air Force.

The deal, announced Friday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $69.8 million under the terms of a modified contract that enables Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop the "AR1 booster engine and the RL10CX upper stage engine for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program," the Pentagon said.
The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle provides the U.S. "assured access to space," said a U.S. Air Force fact sheet. The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, or EELV, program has conducted more than 70 launches to support the U.S. Air Force, Navy and National and National Reconnaissance Office.

The contract is part of a mandate under Section 1604 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2015. Section 1604 requires the U.S. military to begin developing a "next-generation rocket propulsion system that will transition away from the use of non-allied space launch engines to a domestic alternative for National Security Space launches."

Work on the contract will occur in multiple locations across the United States and is expected to be complete in December 2019, with the work on the RL10CX upper stage engine slated to be complete in December 2021.

More than $63 million will be obligated to Aerojet Rocketdyne at time of award -- the funds will be allocated from fiscal year 2017 research, development, test and evaluation. In additional, $20 million will also be obligated to the company from fiscal year 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds, the Pentagon said.

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June 25, 2018

kogonuso

Military and Defense

GenDyn wins contract for foreign sales of rockets, warheads

General Dynamics OTS has been awarded a foreign sales contract to produce missiles and warheads, the Department of Defense announced.

The $149 million modification to a previous contract covers procurement of various quantities of M151, M274, M257, M278, M156, M264, M278, and WTU-1/B rockets, warheads, vehicle motors and associated components. Buyers include the governments of Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Kenya, Jordan, Nigeria and Qatar, a Defense Department statement said on Thursday.

Fiscal 2016, 2017 and 2018 other procurement funds of $149 million were obligated at the time of the award. The work, to be completed by Feb. 28, 2021, will be conducted at General Dynamics' facilities in Williston, Vt., and Hampton, Ariz.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command, at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting party.
By Ed Adamczyk

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June 23, 2018

kogonuso

Military and Defense

Girl sent to buy garri raped to death in Anambra

A 17-year-old girl has been gang-raped and killed in Ogwugwu village, Oba, in the Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The deceased, who just finished her West African Senior School Certificate Examination, was said to have been attacked and raped by six young men while on her way to buy garri for dinner around 7pm on Wednesday.

A source told our correspondent that the suspects believed to be known to the victim had lured her to an uncompleted one-storeyed building where she was raped and killed.

The source said, “The boys lured her to an uncompleted building, where they took turn to rape her until she became weak.

“They threw her down from the storey building so that she would not expose them.”

He added that the girl’s corpse had been deposited in a morgue.

The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ojoto Police Division, Prince Ezejiofor, confirmed the incident, saying no arrest had been made.

The DPO said, “They perpetrated the act about 7pm, but we are closing in on the suspects.”

Reacting to the incident, the President General of Aboji Akanano Union, Oba, Dozie Nweke, described the murder as wicked.
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June 21, 2018

kogonuso

Military and Defense

Army officer says ‘I’ve messed up haven’t I’ after soldier shot in head during training

An officer said ‘I’ve messed up haven’t I?’ after a young soldier was shot in the head and killed during an Army training exercise. Ranger Michael Maguire, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, died after coming under machine gun fire during an exercise at the Castlemartin Training Area in Pembrokeshire in May 2012.

The 21-year-old from County Cork, Ireland, was shot in the forehead and killed during training that was preparing the troops for deployment to Kenya. Captain Jonathan Price, 32, now of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish, is accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Ranger Maguire through his failure to set up and supervise a safe exercise. Prosecutors say he failed to attend a recce of the range where Michael died when preparing a Range Action Safety Plan (Rasp). He is also accused of placing targets too close together and failing to ‘deconflict’ the two exercises. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Bell, 45, and Warrant Officer Stuart Pankhurst, 40, are both accused of negligently performing a duty.
Bell, the senior planning officer, is accused of failing to review or counter-sign the Rasp produced by Price and failing to supervise or support him. Pankhurst, who was supervising the exercise involving the soldier, is accused of failing to ‘express any caution or concern’ despite having attended the recce and knowing how close the targets were in the shooting area.
Steven Philipps-Harries, a range officer at Castlemartin, told the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, of a conversation he had with Captain Price in the aftermath of the fatal shooting. Mr Philipps-Harries, a retired Army warrant officer and now a Ministry of Defence employee, said he had driven to the range after the incident and saw some targets sticking in the sand. ‘I said what is that target over there, and he said it is a switch-fire target. ‘He took me to the position where he had triangulated the target from,’ Mr Philipps-Harries said. ‘We looked to the extreme left where the grass was to show him how out of arc his targets were and you could quite clearly see where the casualty was.
‘I said, “you can see how out of arc your targets are”. He said “I’ve messed up haven’t I? What do you think will happen to me?” I said I didn’t know.’ Mr Philipps-Harries left the range to check the submitted Rasp but found the shooting activity was not mentioned. Nigel Lickley QC, prosecuting, asked him: ‘Not being on the Rasp – does that mean it was planned or unplanned activity?’ Mr Philipps-Harries replied: ‘Unplanned.’ All three defendants deny the charges and the trial before a board of seven senior officers continues.
Zoe Drewett

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May 25, 2018

kogonuso

Military and Defense

US gathers allies on next steps in Islamic State fight

STUTTGART, Germany: The United States gathered defence ministers from 11 other countries for talks on Wednesday about ways to strengthen the campaign against Islamic State, a day after a U.S. Navy SEAL was killed in Iraq during an attack by the militant group.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the defence ministers that despite recent gains "this fight is far from over".

Image result for US gathers allies on next steps in Islamic State fight

That point was brought into stark relief by yesterday's attack on Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq, which unfortunately claimed the life of an American service member," Carter said, speaking at the start of talks at the U.S. military's European Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

The talks included ministers from France, Britain and Germany and were planned well in advance of Tuesday's news that a U.S. Navy SEAL was killed in northern Iraq when Islamic State fighters blasted through Kurdish defences and overran a town.

The elite serviceman was the third American to be killed in direct combat since a U.S.-led coalition launched a campaign in 2014 to "degrade and destroy" Islamic State and is a measure of its deepening involvement in the conflict.

In mid-April the United States announced plans to send an additional 200 troops to Iraq and put them closer to the front lines of battle to advise Iraqi forces in the war against the militant group.

In late April, President Barack Obama announced he would send an additional 250 special operations forces to Syria, greatly expanding the U.S. presence on the ground there to help draw in more Syrian fighters to combat Islamic State.

Obama's critics have said the gradual steps are still insufficient.

Carter said the U.S.-led coalition needed to look for opportunities to do more, even as he expressed confidence the campaign would ultimately succeed.

"With your help, it will go faster," he said.

The Islamist militants have been broadly retreating since December, when the Iraqi army recaptured Ramadi, the largest city in the western region. Last month, the Iraqi army retook the nearby region of Hit, pushing the militants further north along the Euphrates valley.

But U.S. officials acknowledge that the military gains are not enough.

Iraq is beset by political infighting, corruption, a growing fiscal crisis and the Shi'ite Muslim-led government's fitful efforts to seek reconciliation with aggrieved minority Sunnis, the bedrock of Islamic State support.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; editing by Ralph Boulton)

May 04, 2016

Kogonuso

Military and Defense

Islamic State must be pushed back in northern Syria - Turkish foreign minister

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that Islamic State (Daesh) militants must immediately be pushed back from an area in Syria near the Turkish border and work to achieve that was underway.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news briefing in Tbilisi, Georgia, in this February 19, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili

ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that Islamic State (Daesh) militants must immediately be pushed back from an area in Syria near the Turkish border and work to achieve that was underway.

"Daesh should be cleared from the Manbij region southwards at once and we are doing the necessary work for that," he said in comments broadcast on NTV, referring to a northern Syrian town that has been used as a logistical route by the group.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Daren Butler)

- Reuters

May 04, 2016

Kogonuso

Military and Defense Politics

The Donald Doctrine

Commander In Chief Donald Trump? Military Leaders Disagree On Candidate’s Views As He Becomes Presumptive GOP Nominee

Lydia Tomkiw

With U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas ending his presidential campaign Tuesday night, a November showdown between New York businessman Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems all but certain. While exit polls show voters are mostly worried about the economy, the presumptive Republican nominee’s controversial campaign statements about torture, the Geneva Conventions and NATO have put the American diplomatic and military issues at the center of the presidential election — at a critical moment for civil-military relations.

From the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria (aka ISIS) to Russian aggression in Europe to China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, the next U.S. president will face a sweeping range of geopolitical and military threats. Many Americans' appetite for broad global engagement remains at low levels after the lengthy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military leaders have so far been reticent about naming Trump directly, but concerns about his foreign policy views are increasingly evident ahead of the July 18-21 Republican convention in Cleveland.

“I’ll stay out of any election politics. I have no idea what strategies will be in the future. But we think we can execute what’s asked of us today,” U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. “The real challenge will be for all of us, if something beyond what is currently happening in the world and then we’ll get into some really hard choices.”

The Department of Defense's proposed budget for 2017 calls for $582.7 billion to deal with wide-ranging threats and ensure combat readiness as the military looks to prepare for future wars. The election presents an opportunity for military officials to discuss international goals and resource allocation, said Kathleen Hicks, director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (a Washington think tank), and a former senior civilian official in the Department of Defense. Military officials have offered different opinions on the greatest threat facing the U.S. (both Russia and ISIS have been named), illuminating the complexity of the current global environment and uncertainty over the length of conflicts and commitments, she noted.

“It’s a very taxing period from the view of the leadership of the armed forces and it doesn’t seem to have any clear end state,” Hicks said. “It’s not just a period of high stress — which it is — it’s the prospect that that’s not going to change anytime soon.”

From left to right General Mark A. Welsh III, General Mark A. Milley, Admiral John M. Richardson, General Robert B. Neller and Admiral Paul F. Zukunft discuss the future of the military and strategy at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York May 3, 2016. Photo: Lydia Tomkiw/International Business Times

The 2016 presidential election has been a driving force in discussions about the role of the military, with Trump calling the NATO military and political alliance “obsolete,” saying soldiers are “afraid to fight” because of the Geneva Conventions that govern conduct in war and arguing for the use of torture to “beat the savages,” in a reference to ISIS.

“They won’t refuse [to torture suspected terrorists],” Trump said of U.S. service members during a March debate. “They’re not going to refuse me, believe me. If I say do it, they’re going to do it. That’s what leadership is all about.”

While a majority of Americans — 69 percent — said they consider waterboarding to be torture after the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the CIA's detention and interrogation program in 2014, 57 percent of people think that such techniques provide reliable information some of the time.

Trump’s views on military affairs differ markedly from the commanders leading American forces, with top military leaders from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard arguing Tuesday evening that the 28-member NATO alliance remains necessary for security. Trump has argued that NATO member states do not pay "their fair share," leaving the U.S. to shoulder an unfair financial burden. Trump said he wouldn't mind if the alliance were to dissolve.

“It’s a political alliance that has kept the peace in Europe since the end of World War II. If you look at the overall amount of money it is, it’s really nothing,” said Gen. Robert B. Neller, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. “So if not NATO, then what? I think the only people questioning NATO are Americans.”

Trump’s statements have raised questions over legality and whether service members will heed orders from a Trump White House. In a rare and unusual move, members of the armed services and security community have weighed in on the 2016 presidential election, pushing back on controversial comments usually without naming the candidate.

“Military leaders are extremely reticent to weigh in on anything political especially during an election cycle,” said Michael Breen, president of the Truman National Security Project and a former Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. “So the fact that they are doing it and these are not isolated examples. … It’s very striking.”

U.S. Army soldiers guard U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters parked in the military air base in Siauliai, Lithuania, April 27, 2016. Photo: Reuters/Ints Kalnins

When asked by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a former presidential candidate, about waterboarding, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, without naming Trump, told the Senate in March that forcing troops to carry out waterboarding or the targeting of civilians would hurt morale.

“Those kinds of activities that you described are inconsistent with the values of our nation. And quite frankly I think it would have an adverse effect,” Dunford said. “And frankly what you are suggesting are things that actually aren’t legal for them to do anyway.”

Trump, who never served in the armed services or in any elected office, said early on in his presidential bid that he would “bomb the s---” out of ISIS. He has argued he would take a “neutral” stance toward Israel and the Palestinians, a departure from decades of strong U.S. support for Israel. And he has espoused a desire to try to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin while at the same time arguing Sunday that the U.S. should shoot at Russian aircraft if they continuing buzzing U.S. Navy vessels in European waters.

“Russia is an enduring concern,” Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, said Tuesday night in New York. “Whatever they are doing now, they are still a very capable military and they clearly have the intent to be disruptive at least in the region. So it’s something we have to be concerned about in the future.”

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton smiles as she listens to her introduction at a campaign event in Athens, Ohio, May 3, 2016. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Young

Democrat Clinton has pounced on Trump’s statements, describing him as an unqualified candidate who “has no business being our president.” Clinton argued during an April presidential debate that she would keep the U.S. in NATO even if member countries do not up their financial contributions.

“Remember, NATO was with us in Afghanistan, most of the member countries also lost soldiers and civilians in Afghanistan,” Clinton said. “They came to our rallying defense after 9/11. That meant a lot.”

Voters have so far largely ignored the national security debate, which could help explain Trump's high support among Republicans. Exit polls show the economy is the top concern, while only 10 percent of Republican and Democratic voters are worried about terrorism.

Trump, who has announced some campaign advisers, including defense adviser Joe Schmitz and retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, has yet to reveal a big-name adviser on military affairs.

“If you take the man at his word, he has committed himself to setting off the largest civil-military crisis probably since the American Civil War,” Breen said. “Of course there’s a possibility he doesn’t mean these things and is speaking off the cuff, but I don’t think that’s defensible in a presidential candidate.”

May 04, 2016

Kogonuso

Military and Defense

Navy SEAL Killed In Iraq ID’d As Grandson Of Banker Charles Keating

Reuters

75711870 — A U.S. Navy SEAL fires his M-4 assault rifle during a training session with Iraqi army scouts, in Fallujah, Iraq, July 26, 2007. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images

Islamic State militants killed a U.S. Navy SEAL in northern Iraq on Tuesday after blasting through Kurdish defenses and overrunning a town in the biggest offensive in the area for months, officials said.

"It is a combat death, of course, and a very sad loss," U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters during a trip to Germany.

U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the dead serviceman was a Navy SEAL.

The SEALs are considered to be among the most able U.S. special operations forces and capable of taking on dangerous missions. The serviceman's identity and rank were not disclosed by the Pentagon.

The governor of the U.S. state of Arizona, Doug Ducey, identified the slain serviceman as Charlie Keating IV, and said Keating had attended high school in Phoenix.

The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper cited unnamed SEALs and their family members in reporting that Keating was the grandson of Charles Keating Jr., a banker who played a leading role in the U.S. savings and loan scandal of the 1980s that embroiled five U.S. senators.

A senior official within the Kurdish peshmerga forces facing Islamic State in northern Iraq said the man had been killed near the town of Tel Asqof, around 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the militant stronghold of Mosul.

The Islamic State insurgents occupied the town at dawn on Tuesday but were driven out later in the day by the peshmerga. A U.S. military official said the coalition had helped the peshmerga by conducting more than 20 air strikes with F-15 jets and drones.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Navy SEAL was killed "by direct fire" while on a mission to advise and assist local forces in Iraq.

Carter's spokesman, Peter Cook, said the incident took place during an Islamic State attack on a peshmerga position some 3 to 5 km behind the forward line.

SNIPERS AND SUICIDE BOMBERS

In mid-April the United States announced plans to send an additional 200 troops to Iraq and put them closer to the front lines of battle to advise Iraqi forces in the war against the Islamic State militant group.

Underscoring the complicated nature of the U.S. role in Iraq, the White House told reporters that even though the serviceman died in a combat situation, he was not on a combat mission.

"He was not on the front lines. But he was two miles away, and it turns out that being two miles away from the front lines between Iraqi forces and ISIL is a very dangerous place to be," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Last month, an Islamic State attack on a U.S. base killed Marine Staff Sergeant Louis Cardin and wounded eight other Americans providing force protection fire to Iraqi army troops.

Such Islamic State incursions are rare in northern Iraq, where the Kurdish peshmerga have pushed the militants back with the help of coalition air strikes and set up defensive lines that the militants are rarely able to breach.

The leader of a militia deployed alongside peshmerga in Tel Asqof said the insurgents had used multiple suicide bombers, some driving vehicles laden with explosives, to penetrate peshmerga lines.

The Kurdistan Region Security Council said at least 25 Islamic State vehicles had been destroyed on Tuesday and more than 80 militants killed. At least 10 peshmerga also died in the fighting, according to a Kurdish official who posted pictures of the victims on Twitter.

The peshmerga also deflected Islamic State attacks on the Bashiqa front and in the Khazer area, about 40 km west of the Kurdish regional capital Erbil, Kurdish military sources said.

But U.S. officials acknowledge that the military gains against Islamic State are not enough.

May 03, 2016

Geezwild

Military and Defense

ISIS In Kenya: Police Foil Alleged Anthrax Attack By Islamic State Group-Linked Medics

Morgan Winsor

Kenyan police officers patrol along a street in the capital of Nairobi, July 23, 2015. Photo: TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images

Kenyan authorities have uncovered a terror cell of extremist medics linked to the Islamic State group that is suspected of plotting a “biological attack” on the East African nation and recruiting university students to Libya and Syria.

A court allowed anti-terrorism officials to keep Mohammed Abdi Ali, a medical intern at Wote Hospital in southeast Makueni County, who was arrested Friday, for an additional 30 days to complete investigations, Kenyan Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said Tuesday.

“Mohammed Abdi Ali’s terror network within Kenya spreads as far as the Coast Region, North Rift Region and Western Region, as well as other countries that include Somalia, Libya and Syria,” Boinnet said in a press release obtained by International Business Times. “His network also included medical experts with whom they planned to unleash a biological attack in Kenya using anthrax. His arrest and those of his accomplices is a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorism in Kenya and the region.”

Boinnet said Ali’s wife, a medical student at Kampala International University in Uganda, along with her associate who is an alleged accomplice, have also been arrested. Two of Ali’s suspected accomplices, Ahmed Hish and Farah Dagane — both medical interns in the western town of Kitale — are still at large.

The terror cell linked to Ali has been allegedly radicalizing and recruiting Kenyan college students and other Kenyan youth. The suspects also were allegedly planning “large scale” attacks akin to the 2013 siege on the Westgate shopping in Nairobi, in which al-Shabab gunmen from neighboring Somalia killed 67 people.

"Kenya is working closely with other agencies in the region to ensure that the terror network is broken completely and those behind the terror plot are apprehended," Boinnet said.

The development comes just days after the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, claimed responsibility for its first terrorist attack in Somalia. Although government officials denied the claim, the incident signaled the extremist group’s desire to make inroads into a war-torn region dominated by its rival, al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab.

This month, a new group calling itself Jahba East Africa gave bayah, or an oath of allegiance, to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and recognized him as the “rightful khalifa [leader] of all Muslims.” The group may be made up of former members of al-Shabab. A representative said the group includes fighters not only in Somalia but also in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and condemned al-Shabab for being a “psychological and physical prison,” according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist activity.

Hussein Mohamed contributed to reporting from Mogadishu, Somalia.

May 03, 2016

Geezwild

Military and Defense

Russia hopes for Syria truce in Aleppo 'within hours'

MOSCOW: Russia hoped Tuesday (May 3) a new ceasefire could be announced within hours for Syria's battered city of Aleppo, where fresh fighting including rocket fire on a maternity hospital left close to 30 dead.

As the city was struck by some of its heaviest reported clashes in days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said efforts were under way to agree on a freeze in the fighting.

"I am hoping that in the near future, maybe even in the next few hours, such a decision will be announced," Lavrov said after meeting UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura in Moscow.

The UN Security Council will meet Wednesday to discuss the crisis in Aleppo that threatens to derail international peace efforts to end the five-year war in Syria.

France and Britain called for the meeting, boosting the major push by world powers this week to end the fighting.

"Aleppo is burning and it is crucial that we focus on this top priority issue," said Britain's UN ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

A February 27 truce between President Bashar al-Assad's regime and non-jihadist rebels raised hopes for efforts to resolve the five-year conflict.

But it has all but collapsed amid renewed fighting, especially in Aleppo.

A surge of violence that erupted on April 22 has killed more than 270 people in the divided northern city and undermined prospects for peace talks.

In Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Assad of "repercussions" if his regime continues to flout a new ceasefire being negotiated for Aleppo.

"If Assad does not adhere to this, there will clearly be repercussions and one of them may be the total destruction of the ceasefire and they go back to war," he told reporters.

"I don't think that Russia wants that. I don't think Assad is going to benefit from that."

- UN condemns attacks -

After a relative lull Monday and early Tuesday, rebels in eastern Aleppo fired at least 65 rockets into government-controlled neighbourhoods, said Syrian state news agency SANA.

The rockets killed 16 people and wounded 68, including at least three women at Al-Dabbeet maternity hospital, it reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, however, said it had counted at least 19 dead and 80 wounded from the attacks on government-held areas.

Fierce fighting also raged on Aleppo's western edges after rebels detonated explosives in a tunnel, an AFP correspondent said, adding the clashes subsided at nightfall.

It was the most violent day for the city's regime-held west since clashes resumed 11 days ago.

New regime strikes also hit rebel-held eastern areas.

As warplanes thundered above, rebel and government forces exchanged nearly non-stop artillery fire.

Civil defence workers said air strikes on the rebel-held east killed 11 civilians, including a child.

The rocket attack was the sixth time a medical facility has been hit in 11 days in Aleppo, the International Committee for the Red Cross said, calling it "unacceptable."

The Security Council unanimously voted Tuesday to condemn the targeting of health facilities in war zones.

'REGIME OF SILENCE'

In Moscow, de Mistura said it was crucial for the ceasefire to be "brought back on track," hailing the February truce as a "remarkable achievement."

Diplomatic efforts were set to continue Wednesday in Berlin, with de Mistura joining the German and French foreign ministers for talks with Syria's main opposition leader.

Washington and Moscow are working together to include Aleppo in a so-called "regime of silence" -- a freeze in fighting -- aimed at bolstering the broader truce.

They have agreed to boost the number of Geneva-based truce monitors to track violations "24 hours a day, seven days a week," Kerry said Monday.

In a nod to Moscow's demands, Kerry said Washington would press moderate rebels to separate themselves from Al-Nusra Front jihadists in Aleppo.

Russia and Assad's regime have cited the presence of Al-Nusra, an affiliate of Al-Qaeda that was not party to the ceasefire, as justifying their offensive.

The Observatory says more than 270 civilians -- including 54 children -- have been killed on both sides of divided Aleppo since April 22.

The city was initially excluded from a deal announced last week to "freeze" fighting along two major fronts in the northwest and in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.

Meanwhile, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said there were "extremely worrying" signs IS may be making its own chemical weapons and may have used them already in Syria and Iraq.

Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 after anti-government protests were put down, and escalated into a multi-faceted war that has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions from their homes.