{"id":54468,"date":"2020-06-05T11:19:48","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T11:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/06\/05\/us-forces-afghanistan-conducts-airstrikes-against-taliban-attacking-andsf-checkpoint\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:45:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:45:32","slug":"us-forces-afghanistan-conducts-airstrikes-against-taliban-attacking-andsf-checkpoint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/06\/05\/us-forces-afghanistan-conducts-airstrikes-against-taliban-attacking-andsf-checkpoint\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Forces-Afghanistan conducts airstrikes against Taliban attacking ANDSF checkpoint, first since Eid ceasefire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.S. Forces-Afghanistan conducted two airstrikes in 24 hours against the Taliban<\/a> to disrupt coordinated attacks on ANDSF checkpoint, a spokesman said in a tweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were the first airstrikes since the start of the Eid ceasefire, tweeted Army Col. Sonny Leggett, a USFOR-A spokesman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOvernight, USFOR-A conducted an airstrike against 25 armed TB fighters executing a coordinated attack on an #ANDSF<\/a> checkpoint in Farah Prov,\u201d Leggett tweeted. \u201cThis afternoon, USFOR-A conducted a strike on TB fighters attacking an ANDSF checkpoint in Kandahar Prov.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In accordance with the U.S.-Taliban agreement \u201cWe reiterate: All sides must reduce violence to allow the peace process to take hold. These were the 1st US airstrikes against TB since the start of the Eid ceasefire,\u201d Leggett tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials from U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command, Air Forces Central Command and the Pentagon did not immediately comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attacks come as the U.S. is working to pull troops out of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the Pentagon<\/a> is reportedly preparing an Afghanistan withdrawal scenario that would see more than 8,000 troops brought back stateside by early November, Defense Secretary Mark Esper <\/a>said May 27 that it\u2019s only one option \u2015 and not a particularly strong one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan is still to bring troop levels down to 8,600 by July, Esper said, but any plan to pull out the remainder by the presidential election \u2015 as cited in a Tuesday report by the New York Times<\/a> \u2015 does not seem likely at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s proven not to move as quickly as we\u2019d prefer,\u201d he said on a trip back from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, when asked if it could be done in six months. \u201cI don\u2019t put a timeline on it. We have a timeline of May of next year but that timeline was premised on everything moving at a set pace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a surge of troops on the ground following his inauguration, President Donald Trump has made the Afghan withdrawal a centerpiece of his foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban have proceeded in fits and starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a series of meetings in Qatar last year, Trump in September called off a secret meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David<\/a>, after they took responsibility for a Kabul suicide bombing that killed an 82nd Airborne Division soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cease-fire agreement reached between the Taliban and the Afghan government last week, which includes exchange of prisoners<\/a>, has renewed some hope that the withdrawal of U.S. troops<\/a> could ramp up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Right now we\u2019re encouraged by the steps we see happening in Afghanistan,’ Esper said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a greater exchange of prisoners. It looks like the Afghan government is organizing itself in a way to sometime soon begin inter-Afghan negotiations. That\u2019ll be a good step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, Esper said, American troops are trying to uphold their end of the deal, including taking a break from any offensive attacks on Taliban fighters, because \u201cour ambition is not to be the cause for that agreement breaking down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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USFOR-A conducted 2 airstrikes on June 4 to disrupt coord. TB attacks on ANDSF checkpoints, IAW the US-TB agrmt. We reiterate: All sides must reduce violence to allow the peace process to take hold. These were the 1st US airstrikes against TB since the start of the Eid ceasefire<\/p>— USFOR-A Spokesman Col Sonny Leggett (@USFOR_A) June 5, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>