US threatens to continue strikes if Taliban continue attacks
General Kenneth McKenzie, who heads the control body for American forces in the region, at a press conference in Kabul on July 25, 2021. REUTERS - STAFF
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Washington may well continue its airstrikes on Afghanistan if the Taliban offensive that began in May continues.
As US troops pack up, forces in Kabul offer little resistance to the Taliban.
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"
The United States has stepped up its airstrikes in support of Afghan forces in recent days and we stand ready to continue this high level of support in the days to come if the Taliban continue their attacks,
" Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said on Sunday. , head of the US Army Central Command (Centcom)
The Taliban have seized large parts of rural Afghanistan for almost three months, in an
all-out offensive
against Afghan forces, coinciding with the start of the final withdrawal of international forces from the country, now almost complete.
The Afghan forces have so far offered little resistance and essentially control only the provincial capitals and the main roads.
Continued support after August 31
After a relative lull on the ground during the three days of Eid el-Adha, the Muslim feast of the Sacrifice, the Afghan authorities announced that they had launched multiple military operations since Friday in around fifteen provinces in an attempt to regain ground. They decreed on Saturday a
night curfew
on the entire territory with the exception of three provinces, including that of Kabul.
"
We will continue to support the Afghan forces, even after August 31,
" the announced deadline for the end of the withdrawal of American forces, added General McKenzie.
“
This will usually be done from outside the country.
And that will be a significant change
”.
The head of Centcom also announced that after this date, the United States "would
continue to provide important logistical support, in particular to the Afghan air force
", in Afghanistan or on Centcom bases.
The recent lightning advance of the Taliban raises fears that the Taliban will seize power again, almost exactly 20 years after being ousted in late 2001 by an international coalition led by the United States.
"Political solution"
The United States signed in February 2020 in Doha, Qatar, a
historic agreement with the Taliban
providing for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan in exchange for an end to attacks on international troops and the opening of direct negotiations. between insurgents and Kabul authorities.
The Afghan government and Taliban negotiators have met in recent weeks in Doha, but talks that began in September have failed to advance, with both sides accusing each other of not wanting peace.
General McKenzie, however, felt that "
there is a path that can lead to a political solution to this war
."
►
To read also: Afghanistan: in full offensive, the leader of the Taliban "in favor of a political settlement"
In the suburbs of Kandahar, the large city in southern Afghanistan, some 22,000 families have already fled their homes as a result of fighting in recent weeks.
With more than 650,000 inhabitants, Kandahar is the second largest city in the country behind Kabul.
The Taliban had made it the center of their regime, based on an
ultrarigorist interpretation of Islam
, which ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.
(With
AFP
)
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Afghanistan
United States
Taliban
Defense