A July 9 US airstrike in Afghanistan killed a senior leader of the Tariq Gidar Group responsible for multiple attacks on targets in Pakistan. The US Forces-Afghanistan strike on Islamic State-Khorasan Province Members in Nangarhar Province killed Umar Khalifa, the mastermind behind a January 2016 attack on Bacha Khan University, a September 2015 attack on Badaber Air Force Base, and a December 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar that killed more than 130 children, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
Army Building Up New Space Operations Branch
Oct. 15, 2026
The Army has long been dependent on space capabilities to navigate terrain, communicate in hard-to-reach areas, and identify and strike targets. Now, the service wants to deepen its space operations expertise and is making plans to expand its own cadre of operators in the coming years.