If approved, 64 Purple Hearts for injuries sustained from the Iran ballistic missile strike would surpass the 47 Purple Hearts awarded to Marines from 2016 to 2018 supporting Operation Inherent Resolve — the U.S.-led mission to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Syrian government forces captured one of the largest and most strategic rebel-held towns in the country's northwest, the Syrian military and opposition activists said Wednesday.
“Second rocket, third rocket came I thought: “This is it, we are getting rocketed.” Lights went out and darkness set in as rockets continued to hail on us."
The latest attack raises concerns of Iran-backed militias orchestrating attacks that could push the U.S. into a broader conflict with Iran — especially as tensions with Iran remain on edge following Tehran’s launch of 16 ballistic missiles targeting coalition troops housed at the al-Asad and Irbil Iraqi bases.
Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi army led a resistance against American troops following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, also called for restraint and patience.
As U.S. troops beef up in eastern Syria to protect oil fields, residents hope their mission will bring stability and prosperity to the remote and resource-rich region — and keep the Syrian government out.
The American commando raid that bagged Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was launched from the sprawling al-Asad airbase in Anbar province Iraq, according to a source on the ground with direct knowledge of the operation.
Turkish forces and their allies attacked Syrian government troops in northeastern Syria on Thursday, killing some of them, and they also clashed with Kurdish-led fighters, the state news agency in Damascus and a war monitoring group said.
Once again, Syrian President Bashar Assad has snapped up a prize from world powers that have been maneuvering in his country’s multifront wars. Without firing a shot, his forces are returning to towns and villages in northeastern Syria where they haven’t set foot for years.
Turkey’s president is to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in talks crucial to the outcome of Turkey’s latest incursion into northern Syria , and to the broader Syrian war.