Ghazni Battle: U.S. Air Force, Army’s 101st Airborne Division Called in to Help Defend Major Afghan City
Ghazni Battle: U.S. Air Force, Army’s 101st Airborne Division Called in to Help Defend Major Afghan City by Kyle Rempfer - Military Times
Late last week, less than 100 miles from Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul, Taliban forces launched a major assault that overwhelmed the strategically important city of Ghazni and allegedly captured portions of it.
That battle in eastern Afghanistan was still waging Monday morning when the U.S. Air Force and elements of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division were called in to support Afghan government troops.
“Ghazni City remains under Afghan government control, and the isolated and disparate Taliban forces remaining in the city do not pose a threat to its collapse as some have claimed," Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in the country, told Military Times.
American troops operating under the command of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan have been advising Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and conducting airstrikes since Friday.
“U.S. advisers are assisting the Afghan forces, and U.S. airpower has delivered decisive blows to the Taliban, killing more than 140 since [Friday]," O’Donnell said. “In addition to the initial strike and close-air support on Friday, U.S. forces conducted five strikes Saturday, 16 strikes Sunday and two thus far today.” …