Flashpoints - Military News and World News

Poland cleared to buy F-35 fleet

Poland wants 32 F-35A models to replace its legacy Russian fleet of fighters.

By: Aaron Mehta September 11

Rocket blast at US Embassy in Kabul on 9/11 anniversary

A rocket exploded at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan just minutes into Wednesday, the anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the United States, but officials at the compound declared all-clear about an hour later and reported no injuries.

By: Cara Anna, The Associated Press September 10

Turkey accuses US of stalling on Syria ‘safe zone’ plans

Turkey accused the United States on Tuesday of taking only "cosmetic steps" toward the creation of a so-called "safe zone" in northeast Syria and renewed Ankara's threat of unilateral military intervention to form a buffer area along its border.

By: Suzan Fraser, The Associated Press September 10

Air Force F-15s, F-35s dump 80,000 pounds of bombs on Iraqi island

The U.S.-led coalition countering ISIS in Iraq and Syria dumped 80,000 pounds of bombs on Qanus Island in Iraq on Tuesday to prevent the Islamic State from using the island as a source of refuge.

By: Diana Stancy Correll September 10

Why the US needs to improve intelligence sharing on Russian military activities with NATO allies

The U.S. should step up its distribution of intelligence with all NATO members to weaken Russian influence attempts and to help unify the alliance, in the event Russia targeted an attack against a NATO ally, a new report says.

By: Diana Stancy Correll September 10

South Korea military says North launches 2 projectiles

South Korea’s military says North Korea has launched two unidentified projectiles into the sea.

By: The Associated Press September 9

North Korea fires projectiles after offering talks with US

North Korea launched two unidentified projectiles into the sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, hours after the North offered to resume nuclear diplomacy with the United States in late September.

By: Hyung-Jin Kim, The Associated Press September 9

US troop reduction in Afghanistan unclear as Trump says peace talks with Taliban are now ‘dead’

U.S. peace talks with the Taliban are now “dead,” President Donald Trump declared Monday, two days after he abruptly canceled a secret meeting he had arranged with Taliban and Afghan leaders aimed at ending America’s longest war.

By: Deb Riechmann, The Associated Press and Matthew Lee, The Associated Press and Robert Burns, The Associated Press September 9

Iran’s nuclear program takes another step away from accord as atomic deal unravels

Iran announced Saturday it had begun using advanced centrifuges in violation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

By: Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press September 8

To set up ‘safe zone,’ US wades into muddled Syria politics

U.S. flags fluttered on the back of coalition armored vehicles as they whizzed past tiny hamlets in northeastern Syria. Once part of the sprawling territories controlled by the Islamic State group, the areas are now under threat of an attack from Turkey, which considers these villages’ liberators, the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish-led forces, to be terrorists.

By: Sarah El Deeb, The Associated Press September 8

How Trump upended US-Taliban peace talks

With a series of tweets, President Donald Trump has upended nearly a year of U.S.-Taliban negotiations on ending America’s longest war.

By: Cara Anna, The Associated Press September 8

Pompeo: Taliban ‘overreached’ in attack that killed American service member

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that Taliban “overreached” with their car bomb attack in a diplomatic area near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, killing an American soldier — and that led President Donald Trump to pull back from planned Afghanistan peace talks at Camp David.

By: Jonathan Lemire and Deb Riechmann, The Associated Press and Rahim Faiez, The Associated Press September 8

Trump calls off secret Camp David meeting with Taliban, Afghan leaders

President Donald Trump said Saturday he canceled a secret weekend meeting at Camp David with Taliban and Afghanistan leaders after a bombing in the past week in Kabul that killed 12 people, including an American soldier, and has called off peace negotiations with the insurgent group.

By: Jonathan Lemire and Deb Riechmann, The Associated Press September 8

Turkish president threatens to allow Syria refugees to leave unless ‘safe zone’ created with US

Turkey’s president on Thursday threatened to “open the gates” and allow a flood of Syrian refugees to leave Turkey for Western countries unless a so-called “safe zone” is established inside Syria soon in negotiations with the Americans.

By: Suzan Fraser, The Associated Press September 5

Iran poised for faster centrifuges as nuclear deal collapses

Iran was poised Thursday to begin work on advanced centrifuges that will enrich uranium faster as the 2015 nuclear deal unravels further and a last-minute French proposal offering a $15 billion line of credit to compensate Iran for not being able to sell its crude oil abroad because of U.S. sanctions looked increasingly unlikely.

By: Amir Vahdat, The Associated Press and Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press September 5

US, Romanian service members killed in Kabul

This year has been the deadliest for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the mission to the country scaled down at the start of 2015 and changed names from Operation Enduring Freedom to Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

By: Diana Stancy Correll September 5

US adds new sanctions and reward to further pressure Iran

The Trump administration stepped up pressure on Iran on Wednesday, imposing sanctions on an oil shipping network with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and offering a reward of up to $15 million for anyone with information that could disrupt its faltering economy even further.

By: Matthew Lee, The Associated Press September 4

US troops and allied Kurdish force patrol Syria-Turkey border

U.S. troops and an allied Syrian militia conducted a joint patrol Wednesday in a town on the border with Turkey, a Kurdish news agency and a Syria war monitor reported. The move appeared to be part of an agreement to set up a safe zone along Syria’s northeast border.

By: Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press September 4

US-Turkey ‘safe zone’ in Syria off to a good start, says Kurdish official

The creation of a so-called “safe zone” in northeastern Syria has gotten off to good start, with U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces pulling back from a small, initial area along the Turkish border, a Syrian Kurdish official said — but calm can only prevail if Turkey also removes its troops.

By: Sarah El Deeb, The Associated Press September 4

US-backed Syrian Kurds to remove fortifications from Turkish border as part of ‘safe zone’ deal

A U.S.-backed mostly Kurdish force in Syria on Tuesday carried out a patrol along with the U.S.-led coalition near a border town with Turkey to select fortifications to be removed as part of an agreement to set up a safe zone along the country’s northwest border, a spokesman for the group said.

By: The Associated Press September 3