The White House has fired Islamic State Task Force chief Christopher Maier and informed him that the office formed to fight the terror group (banned in Russia) has been disbanded, the New York Times reported on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2020) The White House has fired Islamic State Task Force chief Christopher Maier and informed him that the office formed to fight the terror group (banned in Russia) has been disbanded, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump appointed Maier to the post in March 2017, but has now dropped him just three weeks after firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the report said citing three sources whom it said had received official briefings on the affair.
Earlier on Monday, the Defense Department issued a statement saying Esper's successor, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, had accepted Maier's resignation.
Maier's functions would be passed to the offices of special operations and regional policies run by Ezra Cohen-Watnick and Anthony Tata, the report said.
The closing of Maier's office and his approximately 15 staff members was preceded by a similar move at the State Department in November where efforts against the Islamic State were transferred to the department's permanent Counterterrorism Coordinator, the report added.
