A B-52 conducting an airstrike in Badakhshan province on Feb. 4, 2018, using 24 precision-guided munitions, the most ever for a B-52, the Air Force said.
Earlier in the week, the Air Force released video of a B-52’s airstrike against a Taliban drug lab; now, here’s what the Air Force says is a B-52 airstrike against a Taliban training camp.
The Air Force says that the strike happened on Feb. 4 and “took out three defensive fighting positions around the camp, degrading the Taliban’s ability to conduct training and operations.” To take out the camp, the aircraft used “24 precision-guided munitions were dropped, the most ever launched by a B-52.”
U.S. Forces-Afghanistan has begun launching precision airstrikes in Northern Afghanistan in an effort to degrade the Taliban’s revenue streams, training facilities and support networks.
A B-52H Stratofortress flies during exercise Cope North 15 off the coast of Guam in 2015. A similar aircraft launched an airstrike against a Taliban position in Afghanistan on Feb. 4, 2018. (Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson/Air Force)
“You are using the military to create fear in the minds of the people," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley wrote in a never-sent resignation letter.
China said it is extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns.