Daily Report

March 28, 2016

Secretary of State John Kerry announced Friday that two Americans were killed in the March 22 terrorist attacks in Brussels. The Air Force previously announced that a USAF lieutenant colonel assigned to NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command in the Netherlands and his family were injured in the attack. Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Melissa Milner confirmed Friday the airman was not among the two Americans killed, but said she could not confirm the status of his family. Fox News reported that four members of the airman’s family survived the attack, but his wife was killed. “The United States, I want you to know, is praying and grieving with you for the loved ones of those who have been very cruelly taken from us, including Americans, and for the many who were injured in these despicable attacks,” said Kerry, who was speaking alongside Belgian Prime MInister Charles Michel in Brussels on Friday. Michel said the victims come from more than 14 nationalities. “We—all of us representing countless nationalities—have a message for those who inspired or carried out the attacks here, or in Paris, or in Ankara, in Tunis, San Bernardino, or elsewhere: We will not be intimidated. We will not be deterred. And, we will come back with greater resolve, with greater strength, and we will not rest until we have eliminated your nihilistic beliefs and cowardice from the face of this Earth,” added Kerry. Defense Secretary Ash Carter also noted on Friday that many countries, including Belgium, at his request stepped up support in the coalition’s fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria following the Paris attacks. (Transcript of Kerry, Michel briefing.)