{"id":23082,"date":"2018-03-14T18:30:53","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T18:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/14\/us-focusing-anti-taliban-effort-inside-kabul\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:57:08","slug":"us-focusing-anti-taliban-effort-inside-kabul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/14\/us-focusing-anti-taliban-effort-inside-kabul\/","title":{"rendered":"US focusing anti-Taliban effort inside Kabul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan \u2014 The Afghan capital is now the main focus of the anti-Taliban fight, with U.S. special forces conducting raids in the sprawling city and additional American military advisers arriving to help beleaguered local police, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve increased the number of special operations we\u2019re doing in and around the city to target the networks that are attacking the city,\u201d Gen. John Nicholson said in an interview with a small group of reporters. \u201cSo Kabul is our main effort right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-929543078.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-929543078.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-929543078.jpg.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-929543078.jpg.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-929543078.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Afghan security forces keep watch near the site of an explosion in Kabul on March 9, 2018. (Shah Marai\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the Afghan government has replaced the top five police officials in each district inside Kabul as part of a plan to more effectively counter the militants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis leadership element is key because what we found is many failures at the local level in terms of local security,\u201d he said, noting that the Taliban in recent months have managed to carry out large attacks with high numbers of civilian casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nicholson said that some members of a newly arrived brigade of U.S. Army advisers are being assigned to mentoring Afghan police in Kabul as part of a comprehensive plan for improving security in a city of an estimated 5 million residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2018\/03\/14\/watch-as-an-a-10-airstrike-takes-out-a-taliban-drug-lab\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4183737.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Watch as an A-10 airstrike takes out a Taliban drug lab<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Air Force released Wednesday video of what the service says is a March 8, 2018, airstrike on a Taliban drug lab in Helmand province, Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the interview, Nicholson also talked up prospects for peace negotiations with the Taliban, arguing that after 16 years of war the militants are weary of a stalemate on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nicholson, who commands more than 14,000 U.S troops in an American-led coalition, acknowledged that peace talks, which the Taliban definitively rejected just two years ago, likely would take years to bear fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His emphasis on a push for peace coincides with the Trump administration\u2019s injection of new resources into the war effort and the start of the traditional fighting season this spring. It also comes as turmoil in the State Department raises questions about the steadiness, depth and effectiveness of American diplomatic clout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, security in Afghanistan is so tenuous that parliamentary elections set for July could slip to autumn. Nicholson said pursuit of a second key feature of Trump\u2019s strategy \u2014 pressuring Pakistan to halt its support for Taliban-linked militants who use Pakistan as a sanctuary \u2014 has yet to produce clear-cut results.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/15\/new-marines-arrive-in-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Marines-Afghanistan-small.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New Marines arrive in Afghanistan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The 300 Marines are the second rotation for Task Force Southwest in Helmand.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked whether Pakistan had changed its behavior in this regard, Nicholson said: \u201cNo changes yet that wouldn\u2019t be potentially reversible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. and its Afghan partner have said many times during the course of America\u2019s longest war that the Taliban were faltering and edging toward the peace table, only to be proven wrong. By some measures the Taliban today control more of Afghanistan than at any time since they were forced from power in a U.S.-led invasion in October 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Taliban have proven far more resourceful than the U.S. originally anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brig. Gen. Lance Bunch, director of the air campaign against the Taliban, said the militants are believed to be collecting at least $300 million a year in revenue from a variety of sources, including the narcotics trade and illegal mining. He said the air campaign is targeting labs that enable the Taliban\u2019s narcotics trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Taliban have not yet responded to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani\u2019s recent unconditional offer of peace talks. They have, however, insisted that they would only talk peace with Washington. The U.S. position is that the Taliban must talk to Afghan leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/23\/a-10-warthogs-are-back-in-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/a10.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">A-10 Warthogs are back in Afghanistan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The A-10 Thunderbolt II arrived in Afghanistan Jan. 19, and flew their first mission within 24 hours of landing at Kandahar, according to U.S. Air Forces Central Command.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nicholson spoke to reporters Wednesday at Bagram Airfield north of Kabul shortly after consulting for a second day with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Mattis has a long history with the conflict: As a Marine general, he commanded a unit that established a crucial foothold in southern Afghanistan in November 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis told reporters on Tuesday that while getting the entire Taliban leadership to the peace table may be \u201ca bridge too far,\u201d some elements of the group \u201cclearly are interested in talking to the Afghan government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senior U.S. military officers in Kabul voiced similar views in interviews this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brig. Gen. Michael R. Fenzel, the coalition\u2019s director of strategic plans, said small numbers of Taliban fighters are \u201ccoming in\u201d to express interest in reconciling with the Afghan government. He declined to be more specific beyond describing them as groups of 10 or 20 fighters \u2014 \u201cnot a critical mass\u201d of militants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nicholson said the U.S. government needs to focus more attention on the possibilities for a diplomatic opening to the Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would like to see a real concentrated effort on this,\u201d he said in the interview. \u201cWe need to focus on this more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Afghan capital is now the main focus of the anti-Taliban fight, with U.S. special forces conducting raids in the sprawling city and additional American military advisers arriving to help beleaguered local police, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,12,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2380],"class_list":["post-23082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"5C2N3CPLQFAPRLMYUVV3O6CNLI","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/14\/us-focusing-anti-taliban-effort-inside-kabul\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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