A July 9 US airstrike in Afghanistan killed a senior leader of the Tariq Gidar Group responsible for multiple attacks on targets in Pakistan. The US Forces-Afghanistan strike on Islamic State-Khorasan Province Members in Nangarhar Province killed Umar Khalifa, the mastermind behind a January 2016 attack on Bacha Khan University, a September 2015 attack on Badaber Air Force Base, and a December 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar that killed more than 130 children, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will nominate Pete Hegseth, a Fox News personality, as Secretary of Defense for Trump's second term. The choice rounds out most of the national security selections for the new administration.