{"id":5445,"date":"2021-07-23T13:20:55","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T13:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/?p=5445"},"modified":"2021-07-23T13:20:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T13:20:55","slug":"5445","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/2021\/07\/5445\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. carries out airstrikes against the Taliban insurgents"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONITORING (SW) \u2013 The U.S. carried out airstrikes across Afghanistan in the last several days as part of an effort to support the Afghan security forces fighting Taliban insurgents, the Pentagon has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The news of U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan came a day after America\u2019s most senior military officer admitted that the Taliban had gained \u201cstrategic momentum,\u201d with their forces now controlling about half of Afghanistan\u2019s more than 400 district centres.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon, however, refrained from giving any specifics of its airstrikes in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout speaking to specifics, I can say that in the last several days, we have acted through airstrikes to support the ANDSF (Afghan National Defense and Security Forces) but I won\u2019t get into tactical details of those strikes,\u201d Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Thursday at a news conference in Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we continue to be able to and we continue to, as the Secretary said yesterday, conduct airstrikes in support of the ANDSF,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

12 members of a family killed in an airstrike<\/a><\/p>\n

American troops target Taliban in air raid in Kandahar\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The commander of U.S. forces in the region, Central Command\u2019s General Kenneth \u201cFrank\u201d McKenzie, would retain the authority to call for airstrikes in support of Afghan forces until the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was complete.<\/p>\n

According to a defence official, the U.S. military has carried out approximately six or seven strikes in the past 30 days, mostly using drones to launch the strikes,\u00a0CNN\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n

A U.S. defence official on Thursday said that the strikes targeted \u201ccaptured military equipment that the Taliban [were] able to seize from the ANDSF,\u201d the\u00a0Voice of America\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were enemy forces, enemy personnel targeted\u201d alongside the captured equipment, the official added, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.<\/p>\n

The Taliban in recent days swept across Afghanistan, pushing back the Afghan military and taking over significant swaths of territory as the U.S. nears the ends of its withdrawal.<\/p>\n

U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of Afghanistan, said recently that the withdrawal of U.S. forces is more than 95% complete.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Joe Biden has said the withdrawal would be complete by the end of August.<\/p>\n

Approximately 650 troops are set to remain in the country to secure the U.S. diplomatic presence in Afghanistan, including the embassy, and to assist in securing Kabul\u2019s international airport, which is a necessary facility for the movement of diplomats.<\/p>\n

General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Wednesday that Taliban forces were putting pressure on 17 of Afghanistan\u2019s 34 provincial capitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a possibility of a complete Taliban takeover or a possibility of any number of other scenarios, breakdown, warlordism, all other kinds of scenarios that are out there. We\u2019re monitoring very closely, I don\u2019t think the end game is yet written,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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