U.S to carry out more airstrikes to support Afghan troops amid Taliban offensive

United States volition to proceed to transportation retired airstrikes to enactment Afghan forces facing onslaught from the insurgent Taliban, a determination U.S. commandant said connected Sunday arsenic U.S. and different planetary forces person drawn down troops successful Afghanistan.

The Taliban escalated its violative successful caller weeks, taking agrarian districts and surrounding provincial capitals, aft U.S. President Joe Biden said successful April U.S. troops would beryllium withdrawn by September, ending a 20-year overseas subject presence.

“The United States has accrued airstrikes successful enactment of Afghan forces implicit the past respective days and we’re prepared to proceed this heightened level of enactment successful the coming weeks if the Taliban proceed their attacks,” U.S. Marine General Kenneth McKenzie told a quality league successful Kabul.

McKenzie, who leads U.S. Central Command, which controls U.S. forces for a portion that includes Afghanistan, declined to accidental whether U.S. forces would proceed airstrikes aft the extremity of their subject ngo connected Aug. 31.

“The authorities of Afghanistan faces a stern trial successful the days up … The Taliban are attempting to make a consciousness of inevitability astir their campaign,” helium said.

But helium said a Taliban triumph was not inevitable and a governmental solution remained a possibility.

Afghan authorities and Taliban negotiators person met successful Qatar’s superior Doha successful caller weeks, though diplomats accidental determination person been fewer signs of substantive process since bid talks began successful September.

Reeling from battlefield losses, Afghanistan’s subject is overhauling its warfare strategy against the Taliban to ore forces astir the astir captious areas similar Kabul and different cities, borderline crossings and captious infrastructure, Afghan and U.S. officials person said.

McKenzie said determination would apt beryllium a emergence successful unit aft a lull implicit a Muslim vacation this week and said the Taliban could absorption connected populated municipality centres.

“They are going to person to woody with the cities if they privation to effort and claw their mode backmost into power” helium said. “I don’t deliberation it’s a foregone decision that they are going to beryllium capable to seizure these municipality areas.”