Th
e Air Force has sent A-10 Warthogs back to Afghanistan to augment the F-15Es now serving there as NATO and the coalition ramp up efforts to combat an increasingly strong Taliban revival. The A-10s and their air and ground crews deployed from the 354th Fighter Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., and, according to a release from the Combined Joint Task Force-82 at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, it’s the second deployment for the squadron since 2006.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.