We live in a busy world with a lot of information being thrown at you. Don’t feel overwhelmed. OpsLens will give you a weekly briefing on the major stories you need to know about and cut out all the extra information that isn’t important. Here’s your weekly briefing on what’s going on in national security and military news.
Assad Threatens to Attack Region Under Control of U.S.-backed Kurds
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threatened to attack a region of Syria controlled by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. The area is in northeastern Syria and remains one of the many regions not under the control of the Syrian government. During an interview broadcast on Russian television, Assad also stated that the U.S. should leave Syria.
“The Americans should leave,” Assad said. “Somehow, they are going to leave.”
Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters have clashed repeatedly and both have conducted campaigns against the Islamic State at the same time. The United States operates air bases and combat outposts in the Kurdish-controlled region with small contingents of U.S. military personnel—mostly special operations forces.
US Strike in Afghanistan Kills 50 Taliban Leaders
A rocket artillery strike launched by the U.S. military in Afghanistan killed at least 50 Taliban leaders, a U.S. military official announced Tuesday. The May 24 artillery strike was carried out by the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HMARS, and hit a Taliban command and control site in southern Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, attributed the success of the attack to new authorities granted to commanders in Afghanistan by the Trump administration. About 15,000 U.S. troops are still in the country, mostly to provide assistance to Afghan security forces.
U.S.-North Korea Summit Back On
On Friday, President Donald Trump reinstated the June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, days after canceling it. After the cancellation, negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea continued to arrive at agreeable terms on the logistics and agenda of the summit.
While it is encouraging the summit will take place, the Trump administration appears to understand the difficulties that may come in trying to persuade North Korea to denuclearize. President Trump admitted that additional summits might be necessary and experts have noted that it could be a step-by-step process to get Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons program.
Attackers in Kabul Wore U.S. Military Uniforms
On Wednesday, Islamic State or Taliban fighters carried out an attack in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. The attack included at least two suicide bombers, and both appeared to be dressed in U.S. military uniforms.
Afghan forces managed to repel the attackers successfully—a significant victory for the Afghan troops that have often struggled to maintain security in much of the country.
The Stars and Stripes newspaper reported that the attackers were dressed as U.S. soldiers. Gen. John Nicholson, the American commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, said U.S. forces “believe it was a Taliban-Haqqani attack, but we’re still developing that information.”
