US signals no change in airstrikes as Afghan Taliban advance

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The United States. showed nary motion Monday of stepping up airstrikes successful Afghanistan contempt accelerating Taliban gains there. A Pentagon spokesperson emphasized that Americans present spot the combat arsenic 1 for Afghan governmental and subject leaders to triumph oregon lose.

“When we look back, it’s going to travel down to enactment and what enactment was demonstrated, oregon not," by Afghans, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said astatine a Pentagon quality conference. “It’s their state to support now. It’s their struggle.”

The comments distancing the U.S. further from the struggle came arsenic Taliban militants captured 2 much provincial capitals Monday successful a propulsion crossed overmuch of Afghanistan, aft taking ample swaths of onshore successful the mostly agrarian countryside.

U.S. officials said Monday that subject commanders person bluntly laid retired their assessments that conditions successful Afghanistan are deteriorating. Afghan peculiar operations forces person been capable to clasp disconnected the Taliban successful cardinal centers, including Kandahar and Lashkar Gah, they said. But successful locations wherever the commandos person not been sent in, regular Army forces person been overrun.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his apical Middle East commander, Gen. Frank McKenzie, connected Monday, officials said. But defence and subject leaders person not provided immoderate caller recommendations to beef up U.S. operations successful defence of the Afghans. The U.S. has been launching up to a fistful of airstrikes a time connected the Taliban, and officials said determination has been nary bid yet to summation that tempo.

Senior officials from the White House National Security Council, State Department and Defense Department were successful adjacent interaction with U.S. embassy officials successful Kabul connected Sunday assessing the broader interaction of the autumn of Kunduz, the largest and astir important Taliban takeover, according to a elder medication official.

The medication official, however, indicated that the Biden medication remains determined to instrumentality to its program to extremity the U.S. warfare successful Afghanistan by the extremity of the period contempt the Taliban’s accelerated strategical gains.

The officials spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon ongoing backstage deliberations.

Kirby acknowledged the combat connected the crushed is “clearly not going successful the close direction.”

By Monday, with the U.S. 3 weeks and 1 time from its deadline to extremity the 19-year combat ngo successful Afghanistan, the Taliban militias ousted from powerfulness by the 2001 U.S. penetration were backmost successful power of 5 of the country’s 34 provincial capitals.

After routing the al-Qaeda plotters of the 9/11 attacks connected the U.S. successful the war's archetypal years, the U.S. and its NATO allies stayed connected for agelong years afterward, partially successful hopes of fostering a Kabul-based authorities and subject that was susceptible of withstanding the Taliban erstwhile Western forces yet withdrew.

President Joe Biden has said helium is honoring a withdrawal woody that President Donald Trump struck with the Taliban. But Biden has made wide helium besides is determined to extract U.S. forces from their longest war.

The U.S. is continuing to motorboat airstrikes from different locations successful the portion to effort to assistance Afghan crushed forces sound backmost Taliban fighters emboldened by the U.S. withdrawal. There are nary U.S. onslaught craft successful Afghanistan, arsenic the U.S. unit withdrawal continues. So, U.S. warplanes are traveling from respective hours distant to scope their targets.

Kirby refused to accidental however galore airstrikes U.S. craft person done successful caller days. And helium declined to accidental whether the Biden medication mightiness proceed the airstrikes past Biden's Aug. 31 withdrawal date, fixed the Taliban advance.

In the meantime, "we volition proceed to enactment them....where and erstwhile feasible, knowing that it’s not ever going to beryllium feasible,'' Kirby said of Afghan authorities and subject leaders.

The Biden medication says it volition proceed to enactment the Afghanistan subject financially and logistically, including with contractors helping support the government's aerial force, from extracurricular Afghanistan, aft the withdrawal.

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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.

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