US Defense Department

Pentagon says 34 US military personnel diagnosed with brain injuries after Iran missile strike

34 US military members have been diagnosed with brain injuries due to Iran's missile attack on two Iraqi airbases earlier this month

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Iran designates US military ‘terrorists’ over Soleimani killing

Iran has designated the U.S. armed forces a terrorist group over the killing of top commander General Qassem Soleimani. Iran’s lawmakers on Tuesday, January 7 unanimously approved the bill to designate the U.S. Army and Department of Defense as terrorist organizations, Tasnim news reported. The bill designates U.S. forces, Pentagon employees, affiliated organizations, and those who ordered Soleimani’s death, AFP reported. Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force – the IRGC’s external operations arm – was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike outside Baghdad International Airport. Killed with him was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of the Kataib Hezbollah group and de facto commander of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi militias. In April the Trump administration designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, the first such designation of a state’s armed forces. The U.S. designated the Quds Force a foreign terrorist organization a decade ago. Also on Tuesday, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said 13 “revenge” scenarios had been drafted in response to the Soleimani’s killing. Soleimani was to be buried in his hometown of Kerman on Tuesday. The general’s killing has sparked a new crisis in the region, with Iran and its surrogate forces vowing revenge on …

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Esper says $10bn Pentagon JEDI contract awarded fairly after Amazon claims ‘bias’

The U.S. Defense Secretary said a $10 billion cloud computing contract was awarded to Microsoft fairly after Amazon alleged "bias" in the process

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US to send ‘additional military assets’ to Syria’s oil region amid troop withdrawal

The US said it planned to increase up its presence in eastern Syria in order to protect oil fields from being retaken by ISIS

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Joint US-Turkey ground patrols set to start in Syria buffer zone, Akar says

Joint US-Turkey ground patrols along Syria's northeastern border will begin on September 8, Turkey's defense minister said

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Iraq PMU leaders blame ‘external’ forces for mysterious base explosions

The deputy leader of Iraq's Hashd al-Shaabi militias said the US bore responsibility for a series of recent explosions at their bases

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US tests medium-range cruise missile after INF treaty pullout

The US announced the test of a medium-range ground-launched cruise missile after tearing up the INF deal eliminating such potentially nuclear-capable weapons

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Mark Esper sworn in as US defense secretary

Former soldier Mark Esper was sworn in as US secretary of defense after Senate confirmation, filling America's longest Pentagon leadership vacuum

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USS Boxer downs Iranian drone near Strait of Hormuz, Pentagon says

The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer brought down an Iranian drone near the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon and President Donald Trump said

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US gets third acting defense secretary as Trump nominates Esper for permanent job

US President Donald Trump's administration named its third acting defense secretary in seven months as he nominates Mark Esper for a permanent job

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