"This base transfer occurred amid force protection concerns sparked by escalating tensions between the United States and Iran and its proxy militias, which CJTF-OIR said led to an acceleration of the long-term transfer plan."
Bolstered by coalition air-power, Kurdish forces in Syria have entered the second week of fighting to seize the city of Raqqa, where nearly 2,000 ISIS fighters are battling to maintain control of their de facto capital in a bloody street-by-street battle.
U.S. and coalition forces carried out 187 airstrikes June 6-13, targeting ISIS fighters desperately attempting to fend off an assault by America’s Kurdish allies, who launched an operation on June 6 to liberate the terror group’s de facto capital.
A manned U.S. aircraft shot down a pro-Syrian regime drone early Thursday morning after it attacked coalition forces conducting a joint patrol with partner forces near the Tanf garrison in southern Syria, according to Col. Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve.
A March U.S. airstrike on a building in Jineh, Syria, killed dozens of al-Qaida regional leaders and militants and resulted in one civilian casualty, not the dozens of civilians that some human rights groups have claimed, investigation finds.
Over the past several days, the U.S. military has been increasing its combat power at a remote training facility near Syria's Tanf border crossing in Syria in preparation for any aggression by pro-regime and Iranian-backed militias, which have been massing forces in the area.
U.S. aircraft over the weekend dropped a series of leaflets around the Tanf border crossing between Syria and Iraq, warning pro-Syrian regime militia to avoid the deconfliction zone around a small base there.
Secondary explosives placed by ISIS fighters in a large compound struck by U.S. aircraft in the Jadidah district of Mosul, Iraq, March 17, resulted in the deaths of 105 civilians, with a further 36 civilians unaccounted for, according to a formal investigation.