Washington:
The United States lately carried out air strikes as it backed the Afghan army’s bid to repel a Taliban offensive, the Pentagon stated Thursday, with the withdrawal of international forces from the nation all but full.
“In the last several days, we have acted through air strikes to support to the ANDSF,” stated Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, referring to Afghan government forces.
“We continue to… conduct airstrikes in support of the ANDSF,” he told reporters at a press briefing, adding that head of the US Army Central Command (Centcom), General Kenneth McKenzie, had authorised the strike.
Kirby stated he could not provide information on the air strikes, but reiterated Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Wednesday statement that the United States remains “committed to helping the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government going forward.”
US airpower has lengthy supplied Afghan forces with a tactical benefit against the Taliban — one that quite a few worry will be eroded by the withdrawal of international troops, even though Afghanistan’s personal fledgling air force is flying into the breach.
Also on Wednesday, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, acknowledged the Taliban regime now controls about half of Afghanistan’s roughly 400 districts, but added they had taken none of the country’s densely populated key cities.
He stated the US withdrawal, set to be completed by August 31, is now 95 % full.
The resurgent terrorists have pressed a sweeping offensive against government forces given that May, amid the withdrawal of the American-led foreign forces.
A Taliban spokesman on Thursday told Russian media that the group now controlled 90 % of Afghanistan’s borders, but the claim could not be independently verified. The terrorists are recognized to exaggerate their battlefield claims.