Pentagon official overseeing counter-IS effort has resigned
Washington: The civilian official overseeing the Pentagon's campaign to defeat the Islamic State group in the Middle East has resigned in the latest jolt to Pentagon leadership in the waning weeks of the Trump administration.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, on Monday accepted the resignation of Christopher Maier, who had provided policy oversight of the military's counter-IS effort since March 2017.
Maier was director of the Defeat-ISIS Task Force, which has been disbanded. Its responsibilities have been absorbed by counterterrorism staffs headed by appointees who President Donald Trump placed in senior Pentagon positions in a shakeup that included his firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Nov. 9.
Maier's departure was first reported by CNN. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Maier had been forced out.
In its statement, the Pentagon gave no reason for Maier's departure but said the decision to disband the task force he led was a recognition of the success of the military fight to destroy the Islamic State's grip on territory in Iraq and Syria. Critics say that while the militant group has lost its physical empire, it remains a threat and has been biding its time in search of ways to regroup and re-emerge.
The Department of Defense will continue to engage with our partners and allies to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS and encourage the repatriation of foreign terrorist fighters for prosecution, the Pentagon said.
Nearly 900 U.S. troops are still in Syria to work with local groups aiming to prevent an IS resurgence. The U.S. also has about 3,000 troops in neighboring Iraq working with local security forces toward the same goal.
The counter-IS campaign began during the Obama administration and in some respects was accelerated by Trump.
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IRGC mourns Khamenei, vows revenge: Reports
Tehran: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has reportedly issued a statement responding to the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying “we have lost a great leader and we mourn him,” Al Jazeera reported citing Fars News Agency.
According to the report by the Iranian news agency the statement described Khamenei’s “martyrdom at hands of the most vicious terrorists and executioners of humanity is a sign of the legitimacy of this great leader and the acceptance of his sincere services.”
The statement added that “the Iranian nation’s hand of revenge…will not let them go” and affirmed that the IRGC will remain “firm in confronting domestic and foreign conspiracies.”
