In his message, Waltz congratulates Pete - referring to Hegseth, as well as the IC, shorthand for "intelligence community" and Kurilla, a reference to Michael Kurilla, a US Army General who oversees Central Command, a regional combatant command with responsibility over the Middle East and parts of Central and South Asia. The messages do not reveal how the target's whereabouts or movements were tracked. A military expert contacted by the BBC - but who wished to rename nameless - suggested that a combination of aerial platforms, technological tracking capabilities or human intelligence on the ground could have been used, or a combination of various sources. At least 53 people were killed in the initial wave of US airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, which struck more than 30 targets including training facilities, drone infrastructure, as well as weapons manufacturing and storage sties and command and control centres, including one in which the Pentagon said several unmanned aerial vehicle experts were located. It is unclear which of the targets Waltz was referring to in the group chat.

WASHINGTON – Last month, at two newly minted military facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia, US and Royal Saudi air defense units teamed up for live-fire drills to shoot down a series of training drones mimicking the speed and altitude of a variety of Iranian attack UAVs. In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Army Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the top commander of US forces in the Middle East, described the first Red Sands counter-drone experimentation exercise as "very successful." But not everything went smoothly -- and that was the point. One Saudi-owned defense system proved unable to engage at the necessary range, forcing soldiers to improvise. Other weapons hit the targets successfully, including LIDS (Low, Slow, Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System) and Coyote counter-drone systems brought in by the US Army.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. The U.S. military said Tuesday that a drone strike carried out by the American-led coalition in northwestern Syria has killed a senior member of the Islamic State group who was in charge of planning attacks in Europe. Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri was identified as the member killed in the strike, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). The military said the killing "will temporarily disrupt the organization's ability to plot external attacks."

The United States military has said it carried out multiple air strikes in eastern Syria against Iran-aligned groups who it blamed for a deadly drone attack earlier that killed a contractor, injured another, and wounded five US troops, the Pentagon said. The US attacks late on Thursday night were in retaliation for an attack against a US-led coalition base near Hassakeh in northeast Syria at approximately 01:38pm (10:38 GMT) the same day, the Pentagon said in a statement. US intelligence has assessed that the drone was Iranian in origin and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes targeted groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in eastern Syria. "The airstrikes were conducted in response to today's attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC," Austin said in a statement. Austin said he authorised the retaliatory strikes at the direction of US President Joe Biden.

U.S. CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla told senators Thursday that the Pentagon has seen an "increase recently in the unprofessional and unsafe behavior of the Russian Air Force." U.S. Central Command has seen more "unprofessional" and "unsafe" behavior from Russian pilots in Syria since March 1, a commander said Thursday. Gen. Michael Kurilla explained the ongoing harassment of U.S. forces in the region at a meeting of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. Gen. Michael Kurilla testifies during his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in 2022. "What we are seeing, though, is an increase recently in the unprofessional and unsafe behavior of the Russian Air Force in the region," Kurilla stated.