Nangalam, Afghanistan, was a central point of coalition airstrikes July 13, Air Forces Central said in a release July 14. Nangalam, in the Kunar region in northeastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border was the site of a failed attack by a large group of enemy combatants to overrun a coalition combat outpost. The attack left nine US soldiers dead. Helping to repel the enemy, a B-1B bomber dropped 500-pound and 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions, while A-10s hit the enemy combatants with cannon rounds, 500-pound laser-guided bombs, and one general-purpose 500-pound bomb. Additionally, an MQ-1 unmanned aerial vehicle fired a Hellfire missile at them. In total, coalition air flew 60 close air support missions in Afghanistan on that day and 46 in Iraq, AFCENT said.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.