5 US troops wounded in Afghanistan – military
WASHINGTON, DC: Five US special forces the Islamic State group in eastern Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, the US commander, said Thursday.
Two of the troops have returned to duty after being treated for their wounds, while the other three were expected to recover fully, Nicholson, who heads the NATO force in Afghanistan, said in a video conference from Kabul.
The Americans were wounded “in the last several days” while taking part in a joint operation with Afghan army troops in eastern Nangarhar province, Nicholson said.
operations against IS since the jihadists claimed two bombings over the weekend in Kabul that left 80 dead and 231 wounded.
Afghan’s defense ministry has said the army is on the verge of dismantling IS in the eastern border region
“retreating south into the mountains of southern Nangarhar as we speak.”
The group has an estimated 1,000 from about 3,000 in January, he said.
There are about 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan with a mission to advise and assist the Afghan military Al-Qaeda or IS.
“We will continue to stay after Daesh until they are defeated here in Afghanistan,” Nicholson, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
CELEBRITIES GO ALL OUT FOR CLINTON AT CONVENTION
Donald Trump had promised to bring showbiz pizzazz to the Republican convention, but it was instead the Democrats who put on a slick show of A-list entertainers in their bid to elect Hillary Clinton. Shortly before Clinton’s high-stakes speech to accept the presidential nomination on Thursday (Friday in Manila), the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia brought out one of the biggest stars there is—Katy Perry. The 31-year-old pop singer briefly gave the arena the aura of one of her shows, with delegates dancing with their illuminated phones in the air. Clutching a microphone decked out in a sparkling US flag, Perry sang two songs that Clinton could easily take as anthems—her hit “Roar” and her latest single “Rise.” Perry’s voice returned at the end of the convention as Clinton and her running mate Tim Kaine came out to her blockbuster song “Firework,” as real fireworks erupted from the stage at a packed Philadelphia sports arena. Perry, noting that her own parents supported Trump’s Republican Party, urged young Americans to vote on Nov. 8.
MELANIA TRUMP’S WEBSITE DELETED AFTER DEGREE QUESTIONS
NEW YORK CITY: Just over a week after she blazed into controversy for plagiarizing Michelle Obama, the website of Donald Trump’s third wife Melania mysteriously vanished following questions about her university education. “The website in question was created in 2012 and has been removed because it does not accurately reflect my current business and professional interests,” the mother of one tweeted on Thursday (Friday in manila). The website disappeared after US media questioned whether the wife of the Republican nominee for President had a degree in architecture from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, as the online biography stated. Trump told MSNBC in February only that she “studied” design and architecture. A follow-up interview with magazine published in April said she dropped out after a year to pursue a modeling career in Milan and, later, Paris. Those who try to access www.melaniatrump.com are now automatically diverted to her husband’s company website.