US president eases military strike rules, expanding targeting range

US President Donald Trump has rolled back restrictions on military airstrikes and special operation raids, broadening the range of potential targets, US officials said.

This policy shift dismantles restrictions imposed during the Biden administration and signals a return to more aggressive counterterrorism measures first introduced by Trump in his first term, Caliber.Az reports citing foreign media.

Earlier this month, during a meeting with senior US military leaders from US Africa Command in Germany, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a directive that eased policy constraints and executive oversight on airstrikes and special forces operations. This move grants commanders more flexibility to determine whom to target, relaxing the centralized control put in place during the Biden administration.

According to US officials, Biden’s policies were similar to those implemented during President Obama’s second term, which focused airstrikes primarily on senior leaders of terrorist groups. The Trump-era shift, however, could result in a faster degradation of terrorist organizations, as the lowered threshold for strikes allows for a wider selection of targets, though it also raises the risk of mistaken strikes and unintended civilian casualties.

One senior Defence Department official noted, "Mr. Trump's approach carries both risks and rewards because the streamlined process can potentially degrade foreign terrorist organizations' capabilities faster, given the lower threshold required to strike and widened target selection, but it inherently raises the risk of flawed decisions and unintended civilian casualties."

The directive discusses potential targets such as Al-Shabaab in Somalia and the Houthis in Yemen. However, it’s unclear whether the directive applies to all US combatant commands worldwide.

Additionally, the directive comes amid turmoil within the Pentagon, following the firing of top judge advocate generals for the Air Force, Army, and Navy by the Trump administration. Hegseth defended the dismissals, saying, "Ultimately, I want the best possible lawyers in each service to provide the best possible recommendations, no matter what, to lawful orders and are given, and we didn't think those particular positions were well suited, and so we're looking for the best."

By Vafa Guliyeva