U.S. fighter pilots in Afghanistan
prepare for more air strikes
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[August 25, 2017]
By Josh Smith
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (Reuters) -
For the fighter pilots at the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan,
President Donald Trump's new strategy for the war should mean escalating
an already surging air campaign, and possibly including an unrestrained
offensive against the Taliban.
The number of U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan has already dramatically
spiked since Trump took office in January, from 1,074 in all of last
year to 2,244 as of August 20 this year.
After a months-long review of his Afghanistan policy, Trump committed
the United States last week to an open-ended conflict in the country and
promised a stepped-up campaign against the Taliban insurgents.
Few details have emerged, but the pilots in Bagram are preparing for the
possibility they'll be taking the fight to the Taliban in a way they
haven't since the U.S.-led "combat mission" in Afghanistan was called
off at the end of 2014.
Among their targets since then have been Islamic State militants, who
are also active in the country.
"Between the two groups, the Taliban are definitely smarter," F-16 pilot
Maj. Daniel Lindsey told Reuters. "The Taliban are much harder to kill."
While Islamic State has launched a series of deadly attacks around the
country, it has nowhere near the influence, reach, and community ties
that the Taliban has.
It's those factors that pilots say make the Taliban a more challenging
target, and one that has outlasted years of heavy bombardment.
"The Taliban is often embedded in the community, but nobody likes the
Islamic State, so they are often separate," Lindsey said.
NEW PARAMETERS
In many ways, Trump's policy is less a new plan than the continuation of
a slow slide back into combat for American troops, although officials
are quick to say their mission will remain focused on training and
advising Afghan forces.
On Thursday, the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Gen. John
Nicholson, confirmed that his forces would increase air support for
Afghan troops.
"We know the enemy fears air power," he told reporters in Kabul.
White House officials have said that rolling back territorial gains by
the Taliban will be one of the key objectives of the new strategy.
For a time after former president Barack Obama declared America's combat
mission over in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, U.S. forces were
restricted from attacking the Taliban in most circumstances except
self-defense.
As the group expanded its hold in Afghanistan, however, Obama began to
loosen some of those rules and Trump has gone further in sending U.S.
troops back into battle with their old adversaries.
Asked about the recent effects of U.S. air strikes, Taliban spokesman
Zabihullah Mujahid said the group's fighters had become used to dodging
American bombs.
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A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft takes off for a
nighttime mission at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, August 22, 2017.
REUTERS/Josh Smith
"In 2010, 2011 and 2012 the U.S. air strikes were successful and we
lost many Mujahideen," he told Reuters. "But now we have enough
experience to avoid casualties during their strikes by hiding in
mountain holes and other places."
Still, forcing the Taliban to hide and preventing them from massing
fighters has in some cases been credited with helping Afghan
security forces hold on to some cities and blunt Taliban offensives.
EXPANDING STRIKES
Trump also announced that he would "lift restrictions and expand
authorities in the field," but it remains unclear exactly what that
would entail.
A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, Capt. William Salvin, said U.S.
forces are still limited to conducting air strikes in three broad
circumstances: self-defense, counter-terrorism strikes against
specific groups, and helping Afghan troops achieve "strategic
effects."
He declined to say whether those parameters might change.
The U.S. military does not publicize its rules of engagement, but
Lindsey said compared to when he was a fighter pilot at the height
of the troop surge in Iraq in 2007, the so-called "ROE" in
Afghanistan were less restrictive.
"Some guys can complain about it, but most I know don't seem to have
any problem finding Islamic State or Taliban to kill," he said. "If
you use the rules smartly, you'll get the bad guys."
The surge in air strikes has led the U.S. Air Force units at Bagram
to increase their maintenance and intelligence efforts, said F-16
pilot Maj. Abraham Lehman.
Officials say ramping up the number of strikes further would require
the deployment of more support staff as well as additional
specialized troops on the ground to coordinate the strikes.
While he said he had no information on new plans to deploy
additional aircraft, Lehman said it "made sense" to increase air
support as the Pentagon sends thousands more troops to the country.
"What we do is always a joint effort between us and the ground
troops," Lehman said.
(Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni in Kabul, Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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