Coalition airpower integrated with ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during operations Feb. 21 according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. Air Operations in Afghanistan: Close-Air Support Asmar Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon pilots provided armed overwatch and area reconnaissance for a dismounted patrol and convoy. The pilots received orders to destroy two enemy fighting positions in an adjacent area.

An Afghan-international patrol found a weapons cache in the Nurgaram district of Nuristan province last night. The cache consisted of 12 107mm rockets, two rocket-propelled grenades and two 75mm recoilless rifle rounds. In the Garm Ser district of Helmand yesterday, an Afghan civilian told a joint patrol about a weapons cache buried in a field.

Clearance operations continue and are still meeting with some resistance, more so in Marjah than in Nad-e Ali. IED's remain the main threat to the combined force, with some intense small-arms engagements still occurring. Afghan and British forces are pressing on with clearing operations in Nad-e Ali and the South Bolan Desert while ANSF and U.S. forces clear Marjah. The combined force is meeting determined pockets of resistance in both the north and east of Marjah city. The main effort has been on clearing IED's and minefields.

An Afghan-international security force searched a compound outside the town of Waser, in the Washer District of Helmand province after intelligence information indicated militant activity. The security force detained two insurgents during the search. As the joint force was leaving, a small team of militants attempted to set up a small-arms ambush. The security force engaged them and killed one insurgent.

Yesterday, Gov. Gulab Mangal travelled to Marjah to observe Operation Moshtarak. During his visit an Afghan flag was raised over the town, and the governor met with some of the combined-force service members who are conducting counter-insurgent operations. Subsequently, the governor travelled to Camp Bastion to visit with injured civilians from Marjah. He was accompanied by Deputy District Governor Haji Zahir, three Marjah elders and members of the local Afghan media. Mangal held a shura yesterday to discuss the security situation in Nad-e Ali to present his plans for the way ahead.

Afghan National Army Air Corps members led a rescue operation in which they, along with their U.S. advisors from the 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group, rescued 83 Afghan villagers during a flash flood Feb. 8 in Kandahar. The victims were a group of Kuchi nomads who lived in a small village on a sandbar located in the middle of a river.