US aircraft bombed a hospital on Wednesday in the ISIS-held city of Mosul to help pinned-down Iraqi forces, and for now does not believe any civilians were hurt. ISIS fighters were using heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades inside the Al Salem hospital to batter an Iraqi Security Forces unit, which requested air support. Iraqi forces were hit with heavy counterattacks and six vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, the US-led coalition said in a statement. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said during a Thursday briefing that the strike hit the hospital and helped Iraqi forces move back to a safer position. Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, has directed a review of the strike, but there are no indications that civilians were harmed, Dorrian said.
Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…