US Conducted Airstrikes to Support Afghan Forces: Pentagon

The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed that the US carried out airstrikes across Afghanistan in the last several days as part of an effort to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in their fight against the Taliban.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby in an off-camera press briefing refused to provide details about the airstrikes.

“Without speaking to specifics, I can say that in the last several days, we have acted through airstrikes to support the ANDSF, but I won’t get into tactical details of those strikes,” Kirby said. “But we continue to be able to and we continue to, as the Secretary said yesterday, conduct airstrikes in support of the ANDSF. General McKenzie has those authorities.”

The Afghan Defense Ministry in a statement on Friday said that 17 Taliban fighters were killed in an airstrike by Afghan Air Force on Thursday night. Another airstrike was conducted in Nijrab district in Kapisa province in which 10 Taliban fighters on Thursday night, the Defense Ministry said.

But the ministry has not mentioned anything in its statements about US airstrikes on Taliban targets.

Taliban has rejected the figures provided by the Ministry of Defense.