Pentagon: US Airstrikes in Afghanistan 'Having an Effect' on Taliban

U.S. airstrikes are helping to blunt Taliban advances across Afghanistan, although Pentagon officials warn American air power alone will not be enough to push back the insurgent offensive.   #Taliban spokesman claiming the capture of #Farah, the capital of Farah provinceNo independent confirmation or comment from #Afghanistan gvt officials, though residents have told various media that the Taliban had taken some gvt buildings in the cityhttps://t.co/04ajKIl8pw .@US4AfghanPeace "He will press the #Taliban to stop their military offensive & to negotiate" per @StateDeptSpox "If the #Taliban continues down this path we are likely to see a prolonged,protracted period of violence, of instability &that is certainly not in anyone's interest"

For weeks, the United States has been launching "over-the-horizon" strikes from its Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and from its carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf, hitting Taliban targets with a heavy mix of AC-130 gunships and MQ-9 Reaper drones.   But there have been questions regarding the effectiveness of the strikes, with Taliban officials claiming the group has captured seven provincial capitals over the past five days, and tweeting Tuesday that an eighth capital, Faizabad, in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province, was about to fall.   "We have every confidence that those strikes are hitting what we're aiming at and are having an effect on the Taliban," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Tuesday, saying additional strikes have been carried out "in just the last several days."