US military and intelligence officials have begun discussing a potential reduction in personnel and facilities permanently stationed in the Middle East if the Trump administration succeeds in ending the conflict with Iran, CNN reported, citing six sources. The informal discussions could lead to another shift in Washington's military and intelligence posture in a region where the US dramatically expanded its presence following the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the report. Officials are considering possible cuts even as about 50,000 US troops remain deployed across the Middle East alongside significant military assets, including two aircraft carriers and more than a dozen guided-missile destroyers. The US military has developed several possible options for changing its force structure in the region as early as next year, two sources told CNN. No formal force posture review has been ordered, however. Shifting defence burden to regional partners Senior Pentagon off...
Israeli strikes on a southern Lebanese town early on Monday killed at least 11 people, including two children and two medics, Lebanon's state news agency said. Israel has intensified its bombardment of southern Lebanon in recent days despite a June ceasefire that was meant to halt fighting between the Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. At least seven people were killed in Israeli strikes on Sunday. Just after midnight, Israeli warplanes hit a residential building in the town of Kfar Rumman in southern Lebanon, killing nine people, including two children, and wounding five more, Lebanon's National News Agency reported. Read: Israel admits killing 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza A separate Israeli drone strike on a civilian vehicle in the town killed two medics inside the car, it said. The strikes on the town came without an online evacuation warning from the Israeli military. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to Reuters' ...