The Pentagon late on April 4 identified SSgt. Travis L. Griffin, 28, of Dover, Del., as the US Air Force airman killed around noon Baghdad time April 3 when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. Griffin had deployed to the Multinational Force Division-Baghdad from the 377th Security Forces Squadron, Kirtland AFB, N.M. According to a Multinational Force-Iraq release, the airman was on patrol in Baghdad at the time of the IED attack.
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.