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US airstrikes target Taliban in Helmand province
The United States has carried out a number of airstrikes against the Taliban in the southern Helmand province in the past few days as fierce fighting takes place between Afghan military forces and the Taliban.
A US official told VOA late Wednesday that American forces were actively carrying out airstrikes against the Taliban.
This comes after US Forces Afghanistan and NATO officially started their withdrawal process from the country on Saturday.
The airstrikes also come in the wake of repeated pledges by the US to carry on supporting Afghanistan.
The US official who spoke to VOA, on condition of anonymity, declined to share additional details, citing the need for operational security.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby meanwhile said during a briefing that as US forces transition out of Afghanistan they will continue to try to support local forces.
He said that “there’s still quite a bit of robust capability” at the disposal of US commanders on the ground.
“To the degree we can, as we transition out, we’re going to continue to try to support Afghan national security forces in the field,” Kirby said.
The US airstrikes come amid intense fighting around the Helmand capital, Lashkargah, that started over the weekend.
On Tuesday, reports indicated over 1,000 families had fled their homes on the outskirts of the city due to heavy fighting.
MSF Afghanistan (Doctors Without Borders) said in a series of tweets on Tuesday that fighting around Lashkargah city increased significantly on Monday.
“Our medical teams treated 53 war-wounded patients on 3 & 4 May,” Sarah Leahy, MSF project coordinator at Boost Provincial Hospital said.
According to her, MSF teams in emergency room and operating theatres have treated people for injuries caused by bullets and shrapnel.
“Patients and staff tell us that access routes to the city are blocked; we’ve seen fewer admissions of children and pregnant women,” she said.
A nurse described helping his family flee from the frontlines: “There was a lot of shooting, bullets coming into our home. People were afraid, running without shoes, without hijabs, without anything.”
One local government official told AFP on Wednesday that US airstrikes were key to stopping the Taliban advance.
“The bombing was intense,” the official, Atiqullah, said. “I have never seen such bombardment in several years.”
Afghan government forces also faced fierce opposition in other areas in the country – including in Ghazni and Baghlan provinces.
But Kirby told journalists during his Wednesday briefing that the “Afghan security forces are more capable than they have been in recent years.”
He said: “They have been in the lead for quite some time.”
Afghan military officials have been equally insistent that they are up to the task.
Ministry of Defense deputy spokesman Fawad Aman told VOA’s Afghan Service on Wednesday: “Currently, ANSDF [Afghan National Security and Defense Forces] 100% independently plan, command and control, and conduct the military operations.”
“There is no support and physical presence of foreign troops in the battlefields,” Aman said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on Thursday rejected the statements of the Islamic Emirate regarding the use of Pakistan’s soil against Afghanistan by Daesh, calling the remarks as “unwarranted and irresponsible.”
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press conference that instead of such statements, the Afghan authorities should take effective action against all terror groups, based in Afghanistan.
Earlier, the Pakistan Army claimed that last month’s suicide attack that killed five Chinese nationals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been planned in Afghanistan and had been carried out by an Afghan.
In reaction, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan, Inayatullah Khwarazmi, said that in an area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is under the security of the Pakistan Army, the killing of Chinese nationals is either the weakness of the security institutions or their cooperation with the attackers.
He also said: “We have cases where the Daesh entered Afghanistan from Pakistan, and Pakistani soil was used against our soil, and the attacks are planned in that country.”
Pakistan has repeatedly claimed that Afghan soil is being used in attacks against Pakistan, but this was the first time the Islamic Emirate accused Pakistan of not preventing Daesh from entering Afghanistan.
Acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani has said in a meeting with the European Union envoy in Kabul that Afghans will have a good future in peace and under the shadow of the Islamic system.
According to a statement released by the Ministry of Interior on Friday, Haqqani, in his meeting with Raffaella Iodice, the European Union’s Chargé d’affaires to Afghanistan, said that Afghans will work hard, endure hardships and will be on the path of progress.
The EU envoy expressed her hope for continued peace and a better future for Afghans, according to the statement.
Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy prime minister, urged Panjshir residents to encourage their sons living in neighboring countries to return home as the Islamic Emirate has no enmity with anyone.
At a gathering in Panjshir, attended by senior IEA officials, Kabir said that there is currently no space for ethnic and linguistic discrimination as well as hypocrisy in Afghanistan.
He stressed that all Afghans should work together for the construction, development and prosperity of the country.
According to him, IEA’s political and commercial relations with the world are secure and the government is committed to the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan and is doing its best to gain self-sufficiency.
At this gathering, the IEA’s minister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, said that illegal acts in the country have reached zero and that Daesh does not exist in the country. He also said the people of Panjshir will not be deceived by biased people.
“Currently, there is no corruptor and there is no Daesh fighter in Afghanistan, and no one can provide proof [of their existence]. We are one nation. Our religion and beliefs are one,” said Hanafi.
Some residents of Panjshir also said that they support the Islamic Emirate and will share their challenges with the authorities.
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