WASHINGTON – US Air Force B-52 bomber launched a record-setting series ofstrikes this week in Afghanistan, dropping 24 precision-guided munitions onTaliban positions during 96 hours of air operations, authorities said.
The 24 precision-guided munitions dropped by the B-52 Stratofortress werethe most ever dropped by one of the Air Force’s oldest active aircraft “todestroy insurgent revenue sources, training facilities, and supportnetworks”, the US Forces Afghanistan said in a statement on Tuesday.
Weighing 185,000 pounds, the B-52 first entered service in the 1950s duringthe height of the Cold War — originally designed to serve as long-range,high-altitude intercontinental nuclear bombers that could strike deep intothe Soviet Union, reports CNN.
The newest B-52 entered service in 1962, and the 159-foot plane became aCold War icon and each aircraft can carry up to 70,000 pounds of bombs,mines and missiles.
The strikes come after the Taliban launched a series of attacks in Kabullast week, killing over 100 people, CNN reported.
In one of those incidents, an ambulance packed with explosives detonated ina crowded street outside a hospital. More than 200 people were injured,including 30 police officers.
In addition to Taliban fighting positions, the strikes targeted trainingfacilities in Badakhshan province and “stolen Afghan National Army vehiclesthat were in the process of being converted to vehicle-borne improvisedexplosive devices”, according to US Forces Afghanistan.
“The Taliban have nowhere to hide,” said Gen. John Nicholson, commander ofUS Forces Afghanistan.
“There will be no safe haven for any terrorist group bent on bringing harmand destruction to this country.”
US forces continue to carry out strikes on Taliban support networks inHelmand province and target sources of revenue such as illegal narcotics,the service said, adding that strikes and raids in the region havedestroyed more than $30 million of Taliban revenue since the campaign beganin November 2017.