A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft takes off for a nighttime mission at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, August 22, 2017. Josh Smith, Reuters
CNN: US ramped up strikes in Afghanistan following collapse of Taliban peace talks
The US military ramped up the number of air and artillery strikes it conducted in Afghanistan during the month of September following the collapse of the peace talks with the Taliban after President Donald Trump canceled a Camp David summit with the insurgent group on September 7.
US troops carried out 1,113 air and artillery strikes during the month of September, according to statistics released by the US military compared to 810 such strikes in August and just 465 strikes in September of 2018.
"We had peace talks scheduled a few days ago. I called them off when I learned that they had killed a great American soldier from Puerto Rico and 11 other innocent people. They thought they would use this attack to show strength. But actually, what they showed is unrelenting weakness. The last four days, we have hit our enemy harder than they have ever been hit before, and that will continue," Trump vowed at a Pentagon ceremony marking the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
In that four-day period referenced by Trump the US conducted some 153 strikes between September 8 and September 11, according to the data.
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Update: Almost 40 strikes every day in Afghanistan last month (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism).
WNU Editor: In all fairness the Taliban have launched multiple attacks in the past few months thereby resulting in these U.S. air strikes. There is no question in my mind that the war has exploded this year, and the Taliban are now more confident than ever that they are winning the war .... peace talks or no peace talks.