WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A US strike against a senior Al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan in October also killed two other senior operatives, the Pentagon said Monday. The Defense Department had already announced the death of Farouq al-Qahtani, Al-Qaeda’s emir for northeastern Afghanistan, who was killed in the October 23 drone strike in Kunar province. On Monday, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook confirmed the strike also killed Bilal al-Utabi, Qahtani’s deputy, as well as Abd […]
Tag: Peter Cook
Senior Al-Qaeda leader’ killed in US strike in Syria: Pentagon
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A US drone strike has killed a senior Al-Qaeda leader in Syria who previously operated in Afghanistan, the Defense Department announced Tuesday. The November 18 strike near Sarmada in northwestern Syria targeted Abu Afghan al-Masri, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said. “He had ties to terrorist groups operating throughout Southwest Asia, including groups responsible for attacking US and coalition forces in Afghanistan and those plotting to attack the West,” Cook […]
U.S.-led forces strike Syrian troops, prompting emergency U.N. meeting
(REUTERS) U.S.-led coalition air strikes reportedly killed dozens of Syrian soldiers on Saturday, endangering a U.S.-Russian brokered ceasefire and prompting an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting as tensions between Moscow and Washington escalated. The United States military said the coalition stopped the attacks against what it had believed to be Islamic State positions in northeast Syria after Russia informed it that Syrian military personnel and vehicles may have been hit. The United States relayed […]
U.S. Navy ship fires warning shots at Iranian vessel
(REUTERS) A U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots toward an Iranian fast-attack craft that approached two U.S. ships, a Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday, in the most serious of a number of incidents in the Gulf area this week. “They did feel compelled ultimately to fire three warning shots and the reason for that is… they had taken steps already to try and de-escalate this situation,” spokesman Peter Cook told reporters. Tensions have increased […]





