Hegseth asks US Army's top general to step down

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff Randy George to step down from his post, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on social media that George "will be retiring from his position as the 41st chief of staff of the army effective immediately".

The US Army chief normally serves a four-year term. George, a career military officer who graduated from the West Point military academy, was nominated for the role in 2023 by former President Joe Biden.

The latest shake-up comes after Trump said in an address to the nation that the US-Israel war with Iran was expected to conclude "very shortly".

George served as an infantry officer in the first Gulf War and in recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was not immediately clear why he was being asked to leave.

"We are grateful for his service, but it was time for a leadership change in the army," an unnamed senior defence official told CBS.

Parnell said: "The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement."

He will be replaced by Army Vice-Chief of Staff Gen Christopher LaNeve, who will become the acting army chief of staff, according to US media.

Two other army officials, Gen David Hodne and Maj Gen William Green, have also been removed from their roles, CBS reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Hodne had led the army's Transformation and Training Command, while Green was chief of the army's Chaplain Corps.

Parnell said LaNeve was "a battle-tested leader with decades of operational experience and is completely trusted by Secretary Hegseth to carry out the vision of this administration without fault".

The US Military Academy at West Point posted photos on Wednesday of George meeting with troops, saying he "shared experience-driven guidance with cadets preparing to lead".

Since entering the Pentagon, Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers, including the chief of naval operations and the Air Force's vice-chief of staff.