Four U.S. troops were wounded in a helicopter raid in Syria that killed a senior ISIS leader on Thursday night, according to the U.S. military.The U.S. troops, as well as a working dog, were wounded during the raid when there was an "explosion," U.S. Central Command said in a statement. The raid killed Hamza al-Homsi, a senior ISIS leader.Officials told CNN that U.S. forces were "close to" al-Homsi when the explosion happened, killing al-Homsi and wounding the U.S. service members. It is unclear at this point if the explosion was the result of a suicide vest, a booby trap, or something else, two officials said.Three of the service members are in stable condition, according to another military official familiar with the operation, as is the working dog. The fourth service member suffered minor injuries and has returned to duty, the official said.Three of the troops and the dog are currently receiving treatment in a medical facility in Iraq. The U.S. service members may be transported to the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for further treatment, according to the two officials.The joint raid was carried out by U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces, said CENTCOM.No Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) troops were injured in the raid, the two officials told CNN.CENTCOM also announced in a tweet that a separate raid on February 10 killed "Ibrahim Al Qahtani, an ISIS official associated with planning ISIS detention center attacks."The raid also "resulted in the seizure of multiple weapons, ammo, and a suicide belt," according to the tweet.Two other ISIS leaders were killed in Syria in October last year, when the U.S. carried out an airstrike in northern Syria. The strike killed Abu 'Ala, ISIS' deputy leader in Syria and one of the terror group's top five leaders, as well as Abu Mu'Ad al-Qahtani, an ISIS leader in charge of prisoner affairs.Another senior ISIS leader, Bilal al-Sudani, was killed just last month in a U.S. military operation in Somalia.

Four U.S. troops were wounded in a raid that left an ISIS leader dead, according to CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino.

Hamza al-Homsi was the target of the raid. Military officials said he oversaw the group's terrorist network in eastern Syria.

Buccino said the four troops and a working dog were wounded when al-Homsi triggered an explosion during the raid.

No other ISIS fighters were killed or captured in Thursday night's raid, Buccino said. However, he noted that a separate raid on the same night resulted in the death of an ISIS assassination cell leader.

No civilians were injured in the operation, according to Buccino.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in northeast Syria. They are operating in areas controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces.

A senior defense official says President Joe Biden has approved the deployment of 3,000 more U.S. troops to Poland.

They will join 1,700 other members of the 82nd Airborne Division who have been heading to Poland in recent days. Combined, the 4,700 soldiers comprise an infantry brigade intended to reassure fellow NATO member Poland of a U.S. defense commitment amid the crisis in neighboring Ukraine.

As CNN reported, a person familiar with the plan said that President Biden will speak with Russia's Vladimir Putin on Saturday. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the two leaders will speak by phone.

The additional U.S. troop deployment comes as the White House warns that Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch an invasion of Ukraine any day now.

Earlier on Friday President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, warned all American citizens in Ukraine to leave the country as soon as they can. Sullivan issued the public warning saying Russia's President Vladimir Putin could instruct his troops to invade Ukraine at any time.

The announcement that the U.S. would be sending thousands of additional troops came just after that public warning to American citizens.

CINCINNATI —

Hospitals jammed with the highest number of COVID-19 patients on record are beginning to get some relief as the Ohio National Guard arrives and reinforcements of a different kind step up to the task.

The National Guard sent 70 troops to UC Hospital to help out in several clinical and non-clinical roles. They add to the 20 already there to help with the testing efforts.

The troops are needed because of the high number of COVID-19 patients and the high number of staff out because of COVID-related issues.

There are also other efforts to reinforce hospital health care workers.

"Our teams are doing a great job, but our teams are tired. It’s been a tough couple of years," said vice president and chief nursing officer for the Good Samaritan region at TriHealth.

TriHealth has a program called Helping Hands that puts more nursing staff in the hospital.

"We've reached out to these other areas which could be our physician practices or anyone that's not working at the bedside that can come in and help," Macy said. "We can use these resources anywhere because it's going to help in all of our units."

So far, about 100 nurses have stepped up to help out.

St. Elizabeth has a similar program that recruits nurses from outside the hospital to help relieve the pressure of the staffing situation.

"If there are opportunities for folks who do not have front-line patient care jobs, if there are opportunities for them to volunteer and help, we're asking them to do that at this point," said St. Elizabeth COVID Dr. Jim Horn.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The Pentagon says that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has put up to 8,500 troops on heightened alert, so they will be prepared to deploy if needed to reassure NATO allies in the face of ongoing Russian aggression on the border of Ukraine.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday no final decisions have been made on deployments.

He said the order is about ensuring that the U.S. is ready to respond if NATO decides to deploy its response force.

Kirby said: "What this is about is reassurance to our NATO allies."

The news comes after the U.S. Embassy and American personnel families in Kyiv were ordered on Sunday by the State Department to leave the country.

Earlier on Monday, NATO said Denmark was sending ships to the Baltic Sea, and planes to Lithuania. Spain was also sending ships and possible fighter jets to Bulgaria. France could send troops to Romania if needed.

On Friday, U.S. and Russian diplomats met in Geneva, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned after a meeting that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be "met with a severe and a united response."

Military, federal and local police joined forces to push thousands of peaceful protesters away from the White House Monday evening.

The officers deployed dispersants to push the crowd away.

Moments after the confrontation, President Donald Trump exited the White House complex to walk to nearby St. John’s Church, where Trump held up a bible and took a few photos before returning to the White House.

Since Friday, the Secret Service, DC Police, and US Park Police have clashed with protesters near the White House. While many of the protesters have been peaceful, demonstrations at times got out of hand, prompting police to fire tear gas to push the crowd back from the White House.

On Monday, President Donald Trump called on governors to be stronger in their response to protesters, and added that many state governors displayed a “weak” response to looting.

The Associated Press reported that Trump spent part of Friday in the White House’s underground bunker amid concerns that protesters would breach multiple levels of White House security.

The call-up of troops also comes as dozens of states have activated the National Guard to provide support for local law enforcement.

KABUL, Afghanistan —

The Taliban have captured a large, heavily defended city in northern Afghanistan in a major setback for the government, and the insurgents are approaching the capital less than three weeks before the U.S. hopes to complete its troop withdrawal.

The fall of Mazar-e-Sharif, the country's fourth largest city, which Afghan forces and two powerful former warlords had pledged to defend, hands the insurgents control over all of northern Afghanistan, confining the Western-backed government to the center and east.

Abas Ebrahimzada, a lawmaker from the Balkh province where the city is located, said the national army surrendered first, which prompted pro-government militias and other forces to lose morale and give up in the face of a Taliban onslaught launched earlier Saturday.

Ebrahimzada said Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Mohammad Noor, former warlords who command thousands of fighters, had fled the province and their whereabouts were unknown.

The Taliban have made major advances in recent days, including capturing Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second- and third-largest cities. They now control about 23 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, leaving the Western-backed government with a smattering of provinces in the center and east, as well as the capital, Kabul.

On Saturday, the Taliban captured all of Logar province, just south of Kabul, and detained local officials, said Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province. She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just 7 miles south of the capital.

Later, the insurgents took over Mihterlam, the capital of Laghman province, northeast of Kabul, without a fight, according to Zefon Safi, a lawmaker from the province.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had flown to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city’s defenses, meeting with several militia commanders, including Dostum and Noor.

On Saturday, Ghani delivered a televised speech, his first public appearance since the recent Taliban gains. He vowed not to give up the "achievements" of the 20 years since the U.S. toppled the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks.

The U.S. has continued holding peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Qatar this week, and the international community has warned that a Taliban government brought about by force would be shunned. But the insurgents appear to have little interest in making concessions as they rack up victories on the battlefield.

"We have started consultations, inside the government with elders and political leaders, representatives of different levels of the community as well as our international allies," Ghani said. "Soon the results will be shared with you," he added, without elaborating further.

Hours later, his forces suffered one of the biggest setbacks since the Taliban offensive began.

Mazar-e-Sharif, home to a famous blue-tiled Muslim shrine, was a stronghold of the Northern Alliance, ethnic militias who helped the U.S. topple the Taliban in 2001.

In 1997, as many as 2,000 Taliban fighters were captured and killed by forces loyal to Mohammed Mohaqiq, a Shiite Hazara leader, and his ethnic Uzbek allies. The following year, the Taliban returned and killed thousands of Hazaras in Mazar-e-Sharif in a revenge attack.

Several makeshift camps had sprung up around Mazar-e-Sharif where mostly ethnic Hazaras had taken shelter after fleeing their homes in outlying areas. They said the Taliban had detained relatives who sought to leave their districts and in some cases burned schools.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled their homes, with many fearing a return to the Taliban’s oppressive rule. The group had previously governed Afghanistan under a harsh version of Islamic law in which women were forbidden to work or attend school, and could not leave their homes without a male relative accompanying them.

Salima Mazari, one of the few female district governors in the country, expressed fears about a Taliban takeover earlier Saturday in an interview from Mazar-e-Sharif, before it fell.

"There will be no place for women," said Mazari, who governs a district of 36,000 people near the northern city. "In the provinces controlled by the Taliban, no women exist there anymore, not even in the cities. They are all imprisoned in their homes."

The Taliban also captured the capital of Paktika, bordering Pakistan, according to Khalid Asad, a lawmaker from the province. He said fighting broke out in Sharana early Saturday but ended after local elders intervened to negotiate a pullout. The small province of Kunar, also bordering Pakistan, fell without a fight, according to Neamatullah Karyab, a lawmaker from the area.

Sayed Hussan Gerdezi, a lawmaker from the neighboring Paktia province, said the Taliban seized most of its local capital, Gardez, but that battles with government forces were still underway. The Taliban said they controlled the city.

The Taliban also took control of Maimana, the capital of northern Faryab province, said Fawzia Raoufi, a lawmaker from the province.

The withdrawal of foreign troops and the swift collapse of Afghanistan's own forces — despite hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. aid over the years — has raised fears the Taliban could return to power or that the country could be shattered by factional fighting, as it was after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. It's also prompted many American and Afghan veterans of the conflict to question whether two decades of blood and treasure was worth it.

Afghans have been streaming into Kabul's international airport in recent days, desperate to fly out, even as more American troops have arrived to help partially evacuate the U.S. Embassy.

The first Marines from a contingent of 3,000 arrived Friday. The rest are expected by Sunday, and their deployment has raised questions about whether the administration will meet its Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.

The U.S. Air Force has carried out several airstrikes to aid its Afghan allies on the ground but they appear to have done little to stem the Taliban's advance. A B-52 bomber and other warplanes traversed the country's airspace Saturday, flight-tracking data showed.

The Taliban meanwhile released a video announcing the takeover of the main radio station in the southern city of Kandahar, which fell to the insurgents earlier this week, renaming it the Voice of Sharia, or Islamic law.

In the video, an unnamed insurgent said all employees were present and would broadcast news, political analysis and recitations of the Quran, the Islamic holy book. It appears the station will no longer play music. It was not clear if the Taliban had purged the previous employees or allowed them to return to work.

The U.S. invaded shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, which al-Qaida planned and carried out while being sheltered by Taliban. After rapidly ousting the Taliban, the U.S. shifted toward nation-building, hoping to create a modern Afghan state after decades of war and unrest.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced a timeline for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of August, pledging to end America's longest war. His predecessor, President Donald Trump, had reached an agreement with the Taliban to pave the way for a U.S. pullout.

Biden's announcement set the latest offensive in motion. The Taliban, who have long controlled large parts of the Afghan countryside, moved quickly to seize provincial capitals, border crossings and other key infrastructure.

"The security situation in the city is getting worse," said Kawa Basharat, a resident in Mazar-e-Sharif, hours before the city fell. "I want peace and stability; the fighting should be stopped."

___

Rahim reported from Istanbul and Krauss reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Ahmad Seir in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden isn't changing his mind. On Thursday, he promised to have all American troops out of Afghanistan by August 31.

Earlier this year, Biden said he wanted it done by September 11.

"We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build," Biden said Thursday.

AMERICA'S SACRIFICE

Afghanistan is the longest war in American history, lasting nearly 20 years.

In that time, 2,448 Americans have died in Afghanistan, according to the president. Another 20,722 Americans have been wounded.

The United Nations estimates at least 35,000 Afghan civilians were killed from 2001 to 2019.

American taxpayers have paid at least $825 billion for operations and recent expenses have totaled around $3 billion/month.

VETERAN REACTION

As the United States finishes its operation, many veterans are reacting and have mixed feelings, mainly because the Taliban is continuing to regain regions of the country.

As a reminder, the U.S. entered Afghanistan because the Taliban was cooperating with Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization behind the September 11 attacks.

Toyia Tucker is an Air Force veteran who lives in Columbus, Georgia. Tucker worries about what will happen to women's rights in the country. The Taliban previously banned high-heel shoes and even reading.

"The Taliban right now is terrorizing those citizens. No, I don't think it will get better for women," said Tucker, an Air Force veteran whose mother and ex-husband served on the ground in Afghanistan.

Robert Couture is a veteran who retired as a Master Sergeant.

"It’s a concern, I remember being in Afghanistan and seeing little girls that were sick in the village and I wasn’t allowed to pick up and hug them, and that always stays with me," Couture said.

Both veterans, however, recognize why Biden has decided to bring the war to a conclusion.

"You have mixed feelings, 20 years is a long time," Tucker said.

"Afghanistan is a sovereign nation," Couture said.