A press release has been issued by NATO's Resolute Support Mission,Afghanistan.Dated 6 FEB 2018,it reads:
United States Forces-Afghanistan launched a series of precision strikes in Northern Afghanistan in a direct effort to destroy insurgent revenue sources,training facilities,and support networks.Over the past 96 hours,U.S. forces conducted air operations to strike Taliban training facilities in Badakhshan province,preventing the planning and rehearsal of terrorist acts near the border with China and Tajikistan by such organisations as the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and others.The strikes also destroyed Afghan National Army vehicles in the process of being converted to vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.
During the strikes,a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress dropped 24 precision-guided munitions on Taliban fighting positions,setting a record of the most guided munitions ever dropped by a B-52.The aircraft has played a leading role for decades,and was recently reconfigured with a conventional rotary launcher to increase its reach and lethality.
Continued U.S. strikes disrupt Taliban support networks in Helmand province,as well as destroying their sources of revenue such as illegal narcotics.*
This Blog's Analysis:Such strikes were made possible by President Donald Trump's new South Asia Strategy.In the past four years,the only strikes allowed were those in response to NATO or Afghan troops coming under fire.Proactive operations against the enemy in such areas as the Hindu Kush Mountains were off limits.Thus the Islamist extremists were able to build up an infrastructure for the proliferation of terrorist acts against civilians,as well as the land grabs and blue on green attacks that we have seen over the past four years.
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