The US has agreed to provide up to 1,000 extra US troops for the NATO mission in Afghanistan next year to fill the gap created by other nations’ unfulfilled troop commitment pledges. About two dozen US special forces led Yemeni troops in a commando raid in eastern Yemen that rescued eight hostages held by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Authorities charged two Somali Americans from Minneapolis, Abdi Nur and Abdullahi Yusuf, with conspiring to support the Islamic State. Nur allegedly traveled to Turkey and communicated online with wanted Shabaab fugitive Mohammed Abdullah Hassan.
