The US military supporting Afghan Forces bombarded Taliban command and control center and seven militant drug labs.
The precision air raids hit the militant safe havens in south and southwest of Afghanistan. With a shift in strategy, strikes such as these will become the new normal, the top US commander in Afghanistan noted.
The coordinated air raids were conducted in three Taliban militants’ controlled or bastion districts in northern Helmand province: Musa Qala (four strikes), Kajaki (three), and Sangin (one).
Musa Qala and Sangin are controlled by the Taliban, while Kajaki is hotly contested, according to ongoing analysis by security experts of Afghanistan’s districts. At least 45 districts of Afghanistan’s 407 districts are Taliban controlled and another 115 are contested. The Taliban claims to contest another 24 districts but their claims cannot be independently verified.
US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) sortied F-22A Raptors, B-52 strategic bombers, unmanned aerial vehicles and US Marine High-Mobility Rocket Systems have been used in these air raids against the Taliban targets.
