USA Today reports the Pentagon has significantly intensified its air campaign in Afghanistan to the highest levels since 2003. US-led coalition warplanes dropped over 1,800 bombs and missiles in Afghanistan over the first six months of the year. That’s a 40 percent increase from the same period last year. Last week, the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln was repositioned to the region to supply more attack planes. The increase in air strikes has also led to a spike in civilian deaths. A recent Afghan government probe found that a US air strike on July 6 killed forty-seven civilians.