US combat aircraft in Afghanistan have conducted airstrikes against Taliban fighters who were attacking Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) troops in three districts of Kandahar province, US Forces in Afghanistan (USFOR-A) spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said on Wednesday.
“USFOR-A conducted airstrikes within the last 48 hrs targeting TB [Taliban] fighters actively attacking and maneuvering on ANDSF positions in Zharay, Spin Boldak and Kandahar Districts, Kandahar,” Leggett said via Twitter.
The spokesman also said that the Taliban’s claims to the contrary are false.
Although peace negotiations are underway and a conference is due to assemble in Moscow on Thursday, US combat forces continue to remain active on behalf of the Afghanistan government’s forces, the Leggett said.
“The US continues to defend ANDSF in accordance with the US-TB agreement,” Leggett added.
Afghanistan is still witnessing the confrontation between the government forces supported by the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission forces and the Taliban movement whose militia groups control large rural Afghan territories. Last September in Doha the parties started peaceful negotiations.
Russia Apprehensive
Earlier, Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister said that Moscow worries about the movements of terror groups to various destinations, including Afghanistan.
“What concerns us? Not only us, but the whole region. There are big terrorist groups’ movements to various countries, including Afghanistan. The Islamic State is already there”, Shoigu said in an interview with Kazakh news portal Tengrinews.kz.
According to Shoigu, the most concern is caused by the traffic and production of drugs. The defense minister characterized the Western coalition’s activity in Afghanistan as “we leave but stay,” mentioning that in talks with the USA and the UK he said that the withdrawal is always sensible in case of the full assurance that peaceful life was stabilized.
Afghanistan is still witnessing the confrontation between the government forces supported by the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission forces and the Taliban radical Islamic movement (banned in Russia) whose militia groups control large rural Afghan territories. Last September in Doha the parties started peaceful negotiations.
