Since May 1, the original deadline for the U.S. and its partners has nurtured to the tune of $8.5 billion since 2010, is now the governmentÕs spearhead in its fight against the Taliban. it takes off for the next mission, at Kandahar Airbase in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Thursday, May 6, 2021. KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - MAY 6, 2021: Afghan maintainers refuel and re-equip an A-29 aircraft before. And even should the Taliban eventually seize population centers, there are segments of Afghan society likely to continue resisting the Pashtun-dominated group, particularly amongst the Tajik and Hazara minorities heavily represented in the Northern Alliance of old. The Afghan military does have an improving combat aviation capability and an veteran core of special and quick reaction forces. To be fair, Kabul could yet possibly reverse Taliban momentum in the war of perception. ![]() That could foretell the Taliban transitioning to a more conventional warfare oriented posture. The staggering equipment losses in June suggest that more and more Afghans are concluding that a Taliban military victory is inevitable. ![]() reached an agreement with the Taliban in 2020, it notably did not involve the Afghan government-and despite a brief March ceasefire, the Taliban has generally carried on attacking government forces. The former de facto government went back to the hills and kept on fighting despite two decades of U.S. But after the 9/11 attacks the Taliban’s heavy weapons were swept away by U.S. Supported by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, the Taliban was gradually prevailing in a protracted civil war with the opposing Northern Alliance. (Photo by Roger Lemoyne/Liaison) Getty Images The Taliban army faces opposition by the guerrillas of Ahmas Shah Masoud, allies of the ousted Afghanistan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, whose ultimatum ordering the removal of Taliban forces from Kabul resulted in the displacement of hundreds of civilians fleeing the city. The Cold War howitzers aren’t hi-tech weapons but they remain deadly and can bombard targets up to 9.6 miles away with conventional shells-a capability likely to be exploited in an urban siege scenario.Ģ83892 01: Members of the Taliban army defend the area of a road leading toward Charikar and Bagram. Marty/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) LightRocket via Getty ImagesĪs for artillery, alongside thirteen shorter-range mortars, the Taliban notably captured seventeen 122-millimeter D-30 towed howitzers-the equivalent of an artillery battalion. These pictures show the Commandos and Special Forces during training and in the field also right before and after an operation in the restive western Afghan province of Farah. strategy to turn the grinding fight against the Taliban and other insurgents around. Afghanistans elite military forces the Commandos and the Special Forces are one of the key elements in the Afghan and U.S. ![]() Vehicle (a version of the M1117 Armored Security Vehicle) in Shindand Military Base, Herat province. SHINDAND MILITARY BASE, HERAT, AFGHANISTAN - 8: Afghan Commandos on a Mobile Strike Force. The Taliban has also used captured Humvees to infiltrate government perimeters to mount deadly suicide bombings.Īrmored vehicles losses include a handful of old M113 APCs and Soviet tanks-but also 27 fifteen-ton M1117 armored cars armed with a machineguns and Mark 19 automatic grenade-launchers. The vehicles may also serve as carriers for heavy support weapons such as mortars, heavy machineguns and recoilless rifles. its ability to mass forces across Afghanistan. If the Taliban can source the necessary fuel, its growing vehicle inventory could improve the group’s operational mobility, ie. AFP PHOTO/Peter PARKS (Photo credit should read PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Around 140,000 foreign troops are deployed in Afghanistan within the UN-mandated, NATO-led, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the US-led coalition Operation Enduring Freedom, which overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. 7-101 AVN during a sandstorm at FOB Wilson in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan on March 27, 2011. An Afghan National Army Humvee jeep drives past a US army Blackhawk helicopter from Alpha Company.
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