Hellfire missiles fired from an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle took out a mortar position and a number of “hostile individuals” April 11 in Basra, Iraq, Air Forces Central announced May 1. In another incident, a Predator launched a Hellfire April 26 in Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad that destroyed an automobile loaded with weapons, along with some insurgents, AFCENT said in a separate release May 1. In the case of the Basra strike, the Predator tracked a group of suspicious individuals for several hours until they hastily erected a mortar in the middle of the street and began firing at friendly troops. The MQ-1 operators then fired the Hellfires. In the Sadr City case, the Predator was conducting a reconnaissance patrol when it located a group of individuals loading weapons into the trunk of a car. It followed the car and struck once the MQ-1 operators determined that there were no innocent bystanders around. April was a record month for Predator strikes in Iraq, with 11 in total, USA Today reported April 29. The previous high was six in a month.
The Pentagon plans to use U.S. Air Force C-17s and C-130s to deport 5,400 people currently detained by Customs and Border Protection, officials announced Jan. 22, the first act in President Donald Trump’s sweeping promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants and increase border security.