Kabul (BNA) The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan in the past 48 hours following multiple attacks by the insurgents on Afghan government forces, a US military spokesman said Wednesday.
The strikes targeted Taliban fighters in the Zharay and Spin Boldak districts of Kandahar province as they were “actively attacking and maneuvering on” Afghan security forces, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said on Twitter.
“The U.S. continues to defend [Afghan forces] in accordance w/ the US-TB agreement,” Leggett tweeted. An undisclosed number of strikes were carried out, he said.
The Taliban have continued to attack Afghan forces despite a deal signed last February between the U.S. and the insurgents, under which all foreign forces were to pull out of Afghanistan by May if the Taliban met several conditions.
Among those included in the deal were a pledge to not allow terrorist groups like al-Qaida to use Afghan soil to launch attacks on the U.S. and its allies, or to recruit fighters.
The deal does not explicitly bar the Taliban from attacking Afghan forces but does include a clause that says the U.S. will defend the Afghans against attacks.
