An Alaska Air National Guard C-130 cargo aircraft airdropped 10 bundles of supplies—comprising 11,840 pounds of rice, oil, blankets, and other emergency relief material—to a mountain village 9,000 feet above sea level. The Afghanistan government made a special request for the US to aid the villagers last week when the locale’s roads were closed by snow.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
