As many as five Taliban insurgents have died in the strikes, local reports added. With the Taliban increasing their advances in Afghanistan in the wake of the drawdown of American and Nato military forces, the United States has once again come to the aid of the Afghan security forces fighting the insurgents, the Pentagon said. The local media in Afghanistan, however, stated that at least five Taliban members were killed in the airstrikes carried out by the US over the past few days. The US airstrikes targeted “captured military equipment that the Taliban [were] able to seize from the ANDSF," the official was quoted as saying. The Taliban are putting pressure on 17 of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capital, said General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday.

Source: Hindustan Times July 23, 2021 05:26 UTC