US conducts first airstrike on Taliban since peace deal

 

The US military on Wednesday said it had conducted an airstrike against Taliban forces, just days after signing a historic peace deal with the militant group.

In a tweet, US military spokesman Colonel Sonny Legget said it was a “defensive strike” to counter an assault on government forces in Afghanistan.

This was the first US strike on Taliban forces in 11 days. The two parties had agreed to reduce violence in the lead up to signing the peace deal this past weekend.

The US conducted an airstrike on March 4 against Taliban fighters in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand, who were actively attacking an #ANDSF checkpoint. This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack. This was our 1st strike against the Taliban in 11 days.

— USFOR-A Spokesman Col Sonny Leggett (@USFOR_A) March 4, 2020

On Tuesday, several attacks were carried out against Afghan forces in nine provices, a Ministry of Defense spokesperson said. This resulted in the death of at least 14 security force members.

Leggett accused the Taliban of “squandering” the opportunity for peace and called on the group to uphold their commitment to the agreement.

Taliban leaders and US peace enovy Zalmay Khalilzad on Saturday had signed an agreement that laid out a path for the conditional withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, where they have been present since 2001.

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