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The U.S. begins bombing Taliban drug labs as Trump’s Afghanistan strategy takes hold
U.S. and Afghan forces have launched a series of attacks on narcotics laboratories in southern Afghanistan, marking the start of what could become a long, expanded air war there under President Trump.
The initial strikes, which began Sunday and were ongoing Monday, represent the first significant use of new legal authorities granted by the Trump administration in August that enable the Pentagon to target Taliban revenue streams, said Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Previously, the U.S. military conducted strikes only when facing imminent threat or working directly with the Afghans.
Speaking to the Pentagon press corps via satellite from his headquarters in Kabul, Nicholson said Monday that Afghan A-29 warplanes launched the operation. They were followed by B-52 bombers, advanced F-22 fighters, unmanned aircraft and Marine Corps rocket fire.
“There are many, many targets that have been identified,” Nicholson said. “We are striking some, and we will continue to strike these targets as we further refine them.”
[Trump added troops in Afghanistan. But NATO is still short of meeting its goal.]
Asked why the strikes were not carried out until now, nearly three months after Trump approved his new strategy, Nicholson said the operation required extensive preparation and observation by surveillance aircraft. The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates there are 400 to 500 opium laboratories across Afghanistan, he said, and about 10 of them have been bombed so far.
“These strikes required the mapping of their revenue streams, and mapping of their infrastructure in areas where we had not done this before,” Nicholson said.
Hundreds of intelligence analysts have been involved, along with hundreds of hours of aerial surveillance, he added. He indicated that the tempo of airstrikes in coming days will be roughly the same.