Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT Monitoring Desk
KABUL: The U.S. is still bombing the Taliban and other militants despite ongoing peace talks and the expected kick off of intra-Afghan talks, military times has reported on Friday.
The high strike figures do not bode well for American hopes that the Afghan Air Force can sustain air power against the Taliban and other militants as American troops seek to exit the 18-year long conflict.
Just three days after Taliban announced on March 2 the resumption of operations against Afghan forces following a partial truce in late February, American warplanes were forced to bail out Afghan troops striking Taliban militants attempting to overrun a checkpoint.
American warplanes dropped 360 bombs on militants across Afghanistan during the month of February — it’s the second highest total for that month since U.S. Air Forces Central Command began tallying munitions releases.
The record number of munitions released during the month of February happened in 2018 with 469 bombs dropped by American aircraft. 2011 and 2019 are the only two other years during the past decade where U.S. aircraft manage to drop more than 300 munitions in February.
The U.S. has started 2020 with a bang, dropping a total of 775 bombs over the last two months, setting a pace reminiscent of the last two bloody years of fighting.
American warplanes dropped more than 14,000 munitions between 2018 and 2019 as the U.S. sought to pressure the Taliban to negotiate an end to the war.
