US strikes Taliban and captured equipment in support of Afghan forces

[Omaha Steve]

Source: CNN

By Oren Liebermann,

(CNN)The US military carried out two strikes against the Taliban overnight in support of Afghan forces in the Kandahar province, multiple defense officials said, targeting captured equipment.

The military has retained the authority to carry out strikes in support of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) during the final stages of the withdrawal of US troops, but the pace of these strikes has decreased in recent weeks. According to a defense official, the US military has carried out approximately six or seven strikes in the past 30 days, mostly using drones to launch the strikes. Previously, the US launched strikes in support of Afghan forces on a more frequent basis, a different defense official said.

"I can say that in the last several days, we have acted through airstrikes to support the ANDSF, but I won't get into technical details of those strikes," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said at a press briefing Thursday.

Three of the last four strikes have targeted captured equipment, one official said. This includes US equipment transferred to the ANDSF that the Taliban then captured as it advanced throughout the country.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/politics/us-taliban-airstrikes/index.html

[msongs]

1. one wonders how much high tech gear will fall into the hands of the taliban after they take over nt

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

2. All of it

The ANA will likely collapse. I know a few guys who were in Afghanistan and tried training them. They have zero expectations that they will hold their own against the Taliban, with exception to a few of their units.

[Javaman]

5. most of the high tech stuff has, more than likely, been...

parted out, moved or destroyed.

While the Afghan Army will still have better weapons than the tailban, they won't have the really great stuff.

That said, all this moment is, right now, is a massive resupply for the taliban.

when the russians left, they scuttled most of their stuff except small arms, I suspect much of the same, but the weapons now that are now considered "small arms" are much different that the ones 40 years ago.

[marble falls]

4. They had no "pay-for" mechanism. Dick Cheney was running around saying "deficits are good for ...

... for the economy."