Afghanistan

U.S. military airstrikes against terrorist groups in Afghanistan have reached the highest level in nearly a decade, according to the Military Times.

“In support of Afghans and the Afghan government, the U.S. and our international partners will continue using military pressure to drive the Taliban to reconcile,” said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, as quoted by the Military Times.

With the war’s 17th anniversary quickly approaching, the number of strike sorties is now the most since November 2010.

Earlier this week, the world learned that one of those airstrikes killed the leader of ISIS in Afghanistan. Abu Sayeed Orakzai, who the U.S. government said was responsible for murdering hundreds of innocent Afghans, was hit by a drone strike in the mountainous Nangarhar province, which is near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.

As ISIS learned the hard way, U.S. troops are relentlessly targeting terrorists with no signs of slowing down. We are grateful to the approximately 14,000 U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan, as well as their families here at home.

Iraq and Syria

To make matters even worse for ISIS, American airstrikes and raids continue against terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

On Sunday in Iraq, “coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets near Mahkmur,” according to the Pentagon.  On Saturday in Syria, a series of three strikes hammered terrorist positions near Abu Kamal. “The strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, and destroyed an ISIS supply route, an ISIS-held building and an ISIS vehicle,” also according to the Department of Defense.

As for recently captured ISIS terrorists, they could be heading to the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to NBC News, or an Iraqi prison. NBC’s report quotes five U.S. officials as saying the recently apprehended terrorists “include two ISIS fighters who participated in the murder of Americans and other Western hostages.”

Thank you to our brave men and women in uniform for helping rid the world of ISIS and its evil ideology.

Coming Home

After a six-month deployment, a group of U.S. Marines from the Combat Logistics Battalion 26 of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group has returned to North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune.

A U.S. Marine takes a photo with his daughters after returning to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina on August 5, 2018.

Welcome home!

Tom Sileo is a contributing senior editor of The Stream. He is co-author of three books about military heroes: 8 Seconds of Courage, Brothers Forever and Fire in My Eyes. Follow Tom on Twitter @TSileo.