Air Force Apologizes for Yanny-Laurel Tweet

The Air Force has apologized for bringing the "Laurel or Yanny" debate into an update on a battle in Afghanistan. "Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10," the Air Force said in a now-deleted tweet, referring to a viral audio file that some people hear as "Laurel" and others as "Yanny," the BBC reports. The post was deleted after reporter Thomas Watkins asked the Pentagon whether it was appropriate to put out such a "lighthearted comment essentially kind of making war a meme in light of the heavy casualties that the Afghans took."

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said she would look into what critics called a crass and flippant tweet, the Air Force Times reports. "We apologize for the earlier tweet regarding the A-10," the Air Force later tweeted. "It was made in poor taste and we are addressing it internally." The A-10 "Warthog" fighter aircraft the original tweet referred to took part in the fight to defend the provincial capital Farah from Taliban attackers earlier this week, Vox reports. At least five civilians and 25 members of the Afghan security forces were killed in the Taliban attack. Officials say hundreds of Taliban fighters were killed in the counterattack that drove the militants from the city. (More Air Force stories.)