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.
The U.S. military conducted strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz on May 7, as the conflict with Iran flared up again—though officials say the ceasefire remains in effect.