*KABUL – US Army officials have warned that a rain of bombs will fall onthe Taliban following an increase in airstrikes against the militant groupsin parts of Afghanistan, TOLO News has reported. *
The officials said the recent airstrikes in Badakhshan province, in thebordering areas between Afghanistan, China and Tajikistan, targetedstrongholds of East Turkestan Islamic Movement who have had a role inkilling people in China and Taliban attacks in Afghanistan.
“Over the past weekend, United States forces conducted air operations tostrike Taliban and East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, trainingfacilities in Badakhshan province.
The destruction of these training facilities prevents terrorists fromplanning any acts near the border with China and Tajikistan. The strikesalso destroyed stolen Afghan National Army vehicles in the process of beingconverted to vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices” Air Force Maj.Gen. James Hecker, Commander of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary TaskForce.
According to US forces, the Afghan Air Force conducts at least 40airstrikes every week and the US Air Force carries out 25 airstrikes everyweek.
“Obviously, air power is just one part of the effort in Afghanistan, butit’s a very intimidating one. The Taliban trembles as they hear ourapproach. So now they have a constant eye to the sky, as we force them toengage our actual battlefield, where the Afghans are attacking from allsides. The Taliban is looking up, not down, not across at their enemy, andwe are seeing results,” Hecker said.
The US force said the process of deploying at least 1,000 US troops withtheir equipment and airplanes from Iraq to Afghanistan will start withinthe next month.