KABUL – A more aggressive U.S. strategy in Afghanistan has put the Talibanon the back foot, soldiers and police say, but bloody recent attacks inKabul show the insurgency remains potent and a prolonged stalemate looms.

President Donald Trump in August unveiled a more hawkish military approach,including a surge in air strikes, aimed at forcing the Taliban to thenegotiating table.

While Afghan security forces say the impact has been significant, theTaliban still roam huge swathes of the country and, with foreign trooplevels at about 15,000 compared with 140,000 in 2014, there appears littlehope of outright military victory.

“The American air strikes have broken their back,” said Nasrullah a soldierin Kunar province on the Pakistani border.

“They don’t dare attack in large numbers because they know they’d all getkilled. Without air support we’d be struggling.” – Agencies