US Central Command confirmed May 15 that another successful air strike had been carried out recently against enemy forces in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. The air strike—this time by A-10 aircraft and a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle assigned to Bagram Air Base—killed at least four enemy fighters and destroyed a truck and cave complex, in which they had stored rockets. (Earlier this month, a strike by F-15Es destroyed another cave complex.) Afghan National Army and US ground forces had seen men moving rockets from the cave and linked them to recent attacks on a nearby coalition base. The A-10 and Predator aircraft fired precision guided munitions against the target, sealing the cave complex.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3