Pentagon: US Airstrikes in Afghanistan 'Having an Effect' on Taliban
Voice of America
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."A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.