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.
ISIS Leader in Afghanistan Killed in Drone Strike
The leader of an Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan has been killed in an American drone strike, according to a U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman.
Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell reported on Sunday the death of Abu Sayeed Orakzai in an airstrike in Nangarhar province, near the border with Afghanistan. Orakzai is at least the third Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) leader killed in Afghanistan since the group began emerging there two years ago.
The death of Orakzai would be significant, considering the timing. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi recently released an audio message calling for more attacks against the West, and heavy fighting has continued around Ghazni in southern Afghanistan.
Although the U.S. military ended combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014, U.S. forces continue to perform counter-terrorism operations against suspected ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Taliban militants.
The U.S. military has doubled its air strikes in Afghanistan over the past year and increased them fivefold over 2016 levels. U.S. intelligence sources estimate that there are around 2,000 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan.
Airman Posthumously Awarded Medal of Honor
Technical Sergeant John Chapman, an Air Force combat controller who was killed in the 2002 battle at Takur Ghar (also known as Roberts Ridge) in Afghanistan, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
The president presented the Medal of Honor to Tech Sgt. Chapman’s widow, Valerie Nessel, in a ceremony at the White House.
Chapman was attached to a team of Navy SEALs during Operation Anaconda, and was engaged in heavy fighting to rescue a Navy SEAL who had fallen from a helicopter during the operation. Chapman charged enemy bunkers and was shot. Despite his wounds, he continued to fight but ultimately succumbed to his wounds. His actions saved the lives of Army Rangers and the crew of a Chinook helicopter that entered the area during the fighting.
Islamic State Leader Releases Recording Calling for Jihad
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, has released a new audio recording calling on Muslims to carry out jihad against the kufar, or non-believers. The recording was released on Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday that commemorates Ibrahim’s willingness to follow Allah’s command to sacrifice his son, and instructs Muslims to carry out attacks on Western nations.
Al-Baghdadi is believed to be hiding in Syria and has been reported dead on numerous occasions. His Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) caliphate controlled much of the two countries at its peak. A United Nations report recently released indicates that there may be between 20,000 and 30,000 Islamic State fighters still active in Iraq and Syria.
The number is around five times higher than originally thought by U.S. intelligence. The Pentagon reported to Congress that they believe there are approximately 14,000 fighters in Syria and 17,000 in Iraq.
Ghazni Remains Under Afghan Government Control
Taliban forces launched a major assault on the town of Ghazni, 100 miles south of Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul, earlier this month and were able to capture a base in the city and many Afghan National Army soldiers.
Government forces counter-attacked and currently control the city but there remain pockets of Taliban militants that continue to clash with Afghan security forces.
Much of the city’s 270,000 people fled the fighting, and civilian life is virtually at a standstill. Many residents remain sheltered indoors amid reports that there are still Taliban forces, supported Islamist militants, still in the city.
The repeated attacks on Ghazni reflect the fragility of the Afghan government’s control of the security situation and highlights the Taliban’s continued capability to mount large-scale attacks.
U.S. Nuclear Disaster Plans Get an Update
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has updated disaster plans to include nuclear attacks in sixty U.S. cities.
The update comes amid a shift in disaster response planning from smaller nuclear devices detonated by terrorists to larger nuclear attacks by countries like Russia or North Korea.
“We are looking at 100 kiloton to 1,000 kiloton detonations,” FEMA chemical and nuclear branch chief Luis Garcia told BuzzFeed News.
The shift towards reacting to a nuclear attack by state actors instead of terrorists is believed to stem from the rapidly evolving situation on the Korean peninsula, where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has promised to discontinue his nuclear weapons program. Experts remain skeptical that the North Koreans have halted the program.
